Today’s post is a guest blog from Charlotte Duzong, one of my close friends and an amazing business woman. She is an expert in using time efficiently. But I’d better let her speak herself:
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Charlotte Duzong
Thank you, Frauke,
for inviting me to share some of my time-saving tips with your readers, to help busy writers get their book written even if they don’t have time.
If you don’t know me yet, here’s little something about me:
I am Charlotte Duzong, born in Aruba, living in The Netherlands with my two amazing children Kate and Spencer, my partner Jan-Willem and our dog Beaxa. I speak English, Dutch, Spanish and Papiamento. I am an ideas-person and I am passionate about helping moms manage their home and business efficiently. I’m also a recovering night owl who thrives on supporting systems and habits, and who enjoys drinking pinja colada virgin in the sun.
I did not consider myself a writer, as I’m a productivity coach for moms who run both a home based-business and a family at the same time. But when I participated in Frauke’s 21 Days Inspirational Challenge earlier this year, I learned that I, too, am a writer! Yeah! I write blogs and articles. I wrote an amazing e-book called “7 Time-saving Secrets for busy moms”. So I am a writer.
When Frauke asked me to write a guest post for her blog I immediately thought about these 5 time-saving secrets that I teach my clients. And I thought this would be a good thing to share with you.
So here they are, adapted for writers:
1. Plan your writing time
You may have a day job, a business to run, a family to raise or other important activities going on that make it hard to find time to actually sit and write your story. Schedule time when you are going to write. Is could be between 20:00-21:00 when kids are in bed, or maybe between 12:30-13:00 during the lunch break at your job. Or maybe are you inspired in the early morning, so use your quite time to write then.
2. Use your small windows of time
I know you would love to have hours and days to be able to write undisturbed. But for most of us that is not possible. In order to complete a blog or an article, I use my small windows of time. When you know you have 30 minutes between a coaching session and picking up your kids from school, decide you are going to write right there!
3. Use a timer
This is one of my favorite productivity tools. When I set the alarm for 45 min my creativity is free until the alarm goes off. No checking the clock if I am on time to go to my next meeting. Set the alarm to 15, 30, or 45 minutes, but no longer than 60 minutes. Then when the alarm goes off, take a break and do something else for 5 minutes, and then set the next writing block.
4. Have an inspirational writing place
We all know we are less inspired when we have a lot of things on our mind (this is called mental clutter). But working in cluttered surroundings is just as un-motivational. Do you write at your computer desk where all your papers, mail and binders are lying around? Is your messy kitchen counter your place to write your story? Not very inspirational, right? Create a space for you to feel comfortable and happy in. This can be a room, a corner of a room or your balcony. You will spend a lot of hours of your life there. Make it inspirational! If you struggle finding or creating an inspirational writing place, contact me so we can see how I can help you.
5. Create a daily writing ritual
When it’s time to write don’t just sit down and write. Most of the time our head is full of other stuff we are doing or task we still need to do. To reduce the noise it is hugely important to have a few minutes to get into the creative writing mood. Think about what you need in order to get inspired to write. Some ideas: tap (EFT), meditate, pray, listen to inspiring music, move your body (and get your brain focused). Then set the timer and start writing.
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Thank you, Charlotte! I use those tips myself all the time, and wow, do they make a difference!
If you want more tips on how you can get your story written in small windows of time, head over to Smart Creative Mompreneur and get your FREE e-book: “The 7 Time-Saving Secrets for Busy Moms”.
