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How to Protect & Nurture Your Genius Time (Guest post by Rochelle Melander)

9/10/2013

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 This past summer, I read a blog post on Life Hacker by James
Clear: You Have 25,000 Mornings as an Adult. Here’s How Not to Waste Them. I had to read it. In the article, Clear offers much of the same advice I’ve shared here in the blog: manage energy not time, don’t check email until noon, prepare the night before, and move your cell phone to another room. 
  All of this is well and good for those of us who use mornings for intellectual and creative work. But in one of the comments, a reader criticized the tip: What about folks who work third shift and sleep in the morning? I’d add: What about people who work days and cannot use their mornings to write? What about those who don’t their best work in the morning?
 This is where genius time comes in. Genius time is that part of the day when you are best able to work on your primary purpose. Mine is writing—and my genius time is mornings. That doesn’t mean I cannot write at other times of day, it just means that I don’t do it as well or as fast in those hours. So I’m with Mr Clear—I don’t want to waste my mornings with email, social media or meetings. I need to use those precious hours to write. But your genius time might be in the afternoon or just before bed or while you’re eating lunch. Your job is to protect and nurture your genius time no matter what happens. Here’s how:

 Step 1. Map your energy.
Take a look at your most productive days. Map when you have performed like a genius at social, intellectual, creative, and  physical tasks. Pro Tip: Your genius time for each type of activity will probably be at different times of day. I’m a writing mastermind at 7:00 AM but don’t make me talk to anyone. (Mornings: Social Dolt, Writing Genius; Early Afternoons: Social   Wannabe, Writing Dolt). You might also have genius times that  overlap—perhaps you’re good at both social and physical tasks in the mornings. This is okay. Just get it all down on paper, real or virtual.

 Step Two: Choose your one thing.
What’s the one thing you want to accomplish this week with your genius time? You’re at a writing blog, so I’ll talk about writing books, blogs or stories, but you may want to use your genius  time to plan a corporate take over or invent an app that will entertain tweens.

 Step Three: Schedule!
If possible, match your one thing (writing) to your intellectual   and creative genius time. When I say schedule, I mean more than “think about it” – as in, I think I might write tomorrow after work. Note the following information:
 When will I work on this project?
 Where will I work? Is the setting conducive to what I need to do?  Do I have what I need to get work done?
 What will I write? Choose the chunk.
 Oops: What might interrupt my plan? How will I deal with that? 
How will I stick to my genius time when the kids are screaming or friends invite me out for drinks or a client needs me or I'm weary and just want to take a nap? Decide now.

 Step Four: Honor the genius time and write: no matter what.
Some tricks:
 +Repeat a mantra like: “When I get home from work, I will write for 20 minutes on my novel.”
 +Record your mantra on paper and post it where you can see it. 
(Cheesy—yes. But it works!)
 +Set up your writing space ahead of time—like you might set the table for dinner—so that you are ready to work when you get to your genius time.
 +Throughout the day before, imagine yourself in your writing place, successfully creating.

 Step Five: Put that butt in your chair and write.
If you have an upset and miss a day, forgive yourself. And show up again the next day.
 Pro tip: It has taken me a really long time to honor my genius time and NOT feel guilty. So accept that you’re going to feel like a fraud when you tell people you cannot meet to plan the Queen’s visit because you are writing. If it helps, don’t tell them what you’ll be doing (and definitely don’t confess that you can’t take a meeting because you’ve got “genius time”). Just say: I can’t meet. I’m in another meeting. And you are: with your muse.

Write Now! Coach Rochelle Melander is an author, a certified professional coach, and a popular speaker. Melander has written ten books including Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It). As the Write Now! Coach, she teaches professionals how to write books fast, get published, and connect with readers through social media.
  Get your free subscription to her Write Now! Tips Ezine at
http://www.writenowcoach.com.
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Looking forward, looking back

26/6/2011

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Looking forward, looking back. I've come a long way down the track...
~Slim Dusty
    I took a moment today (no small feat, considering it's the first day of the school holidays!) to reflect on the past ten years. So much has happened in that time; some circumstances have been amazing and exciting, others more of a challenge. But hopefully, coming out the other side has made me a little wiser and more mature (well, I'd like to think so, lol!).
    I don't think I would have believed it if someone had told me - as a young, newly-graduated, married 24 year-old - that in ten years' time I would be a published novelist (with another manuscript half-completed), happily married to my best friend and with four young children together, and 10 kg lighter.
    In that time, I've also had five different jobs, travelled throughout Europe, and moved to a new town by the sea, five hours' drive away.
    If I could write a letter to my 24 year-old self, these are some of the points I would include:
1. Try to finish things you start
Following through has never been one of my strong points - from completing my novel (which sat unfinished, with just two chapters to go, for around six years!), to getting around to changing our home internet plan. There always seems to be so many other little, mundane things in life that take up all of my time. But even just spending 15 minutes a day on completing a larger project will get it done eventually - it just requires a little focus.
2. Don't confuse activity with productivity
My life always seems to be very 'full' - four kids, a husband, a part-time job and another novel on the way will do that to you - but over the years I've often found myself busy, but really not getting done any of the things I actually had to do that day. Ever heard the story about the rocks and the sand in the jar? The sand had often been going in first, leaving no room for the rock priorities. This is gradually changing for me, but there's still a long way to go. :)
3. KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid
Remember how it felt when you first graduated from school or university, when there seemed to be about a zillion things you could do with your life? Here's a tip: pick one. The confusing array of choices these days - from which career to select, to which hobby we want to focus on next, to the flavour of 31-derful different types of icecream in our sundae - can actually lead to inertia. Or procrastination. Or both (trust me - I know a whole heap about the Big 'P').
4. Waste less time
In the number of hours I've spent over the years in mindless frittering - such as leafing through catalogues, watching useless televsion, or poring over almost every word in the weekend newspapers - I'm sure I could have written ten novels by now. Or learnt several languages. Or anything else you care to name that takes oodles of time to accomplish, and is a whole lot more important than the above activities. You get the picture.
5. Don't wait for perfection
There will rarely ever be the perfect time to do something. The very small portion of melancholy in my character likes to have all the details worked out before I launch into something. But I've discovered that the planets align very infrequently, and it's not likely to happen today. So, with that thing you've been thinking of doing, maybe been planning for awhile now? Just do it.

    The above snippets of advice are just a few I can think of off the top of my head; I'm sure there are many more (and I'd include them here if it wasn't the first day of the school holidays ;) ).
    So, tell me: what 'pearls of wisdom' would you tell your younger self? Share it on my Facebook page.
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Please stop the merry-go-round!

23/5/2011

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    On Saturday, I was reading in the Courier Mail Q Weekend Magazine - over a skinny vanilla latte, extra hot, half-strength on the syrup, thanks :) - about the latest results of a four-year US study that revealed meditation slows down the ageing process. Yes, you read that correctly - we no longer need botox, liposuction, and torturously-intense exercise regimes to keep us looking younger (although I'm sure these all help :) ).
    According to this study's results, Q Weekend reports, "by protecting caps called telomeres on the ends of our chromosomes, meditation might help delay the process of ageing".
    Sounds promising to me.
    Prayer has also been likened to meditation, but really, anything that reduces stress - from going for a long walk outdoors, to cuddling up with a good book, or sharing a laugh with friends or family - has got to be good for you.
    All this got me thinking about the hectic pace of our lives these days. Everywhere we turn, we're bombarded by increasing workloads and responsibilities, multi-tasking, Junior's soccer practice and huge homework assignment he needs help with, and updates on Twitter, Facebook, and email to check and respond to. Aaargh!
    Sometimes we just need to get off the merry-go-round of our crazy lives and take the time to simply 'be'.
    Which is why I decided not to attend the Bundaberg WriteFest 2011 on Saturday. I really wanted to go, especially as regional areas see very little of this sort of thing happening right on our doorsteps.
    But I just couldn't justify it. I guess it was a combination of not having caught up from a two-day work meeting down in Brisbane earlier in the week, us moving house in under two weeks' time (and no, I haven't even started packing yet!), plus the fact it clashed with the kids' soccer games and nap times (yes, I'm one of 'those' soccer mums now, lol!).
    It would have been great to attend and discover more about how to improve my writing craft, but I figure there's probably nothing new that I can't learn about from an online writing course or manual. There's so much information out there already, so missing out on a day-long conference isn't going to 'make or break' my fledgling writing career.
    But not having any time to actually write, will. So instead of learning about writing on Saturday, I took the time to actually do it, sitting down with my notebook and crafting another scene, while my eldest son kicked a soccer ball around a grassy field with seven other six- and seven-year-olds.
    Consequently, my schedule on Saturday felt just that teensy bit more manageable. Saying 'no' to something non-essential, even if it may seem worthwhile at the time, is one sure-fire way to slow down the pace of the crazy carousel of life.
    What's one thing - something that doesn't fit into your core values - that you can say 'no' to this week? There's a high chance that you'll stay looking younger for longer as a result. :)
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I think I can, I think I can...

13/5/2011

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    It's amazing what you can do when you set yourself a challenge. Or in my case, when someone else sets it for you. It's only two weeks into the May: You Write Your Novel Challenge, and already I'm totally surprised (shocked, actually) by my ability to focus and persevere. Even when I have an evening work meeting and don't get home until 8:30pm. Or even worse, when I have a houseful of vomiting children (that was a fun couple of days - NOT!).
     True, my sleep is now suffering in a big way, as writing sessions 'til midnight are scarily becoming the norm. At this rate, I may get my manuscript completed in record time (for me), but I'll look like a complete, worn-out hag by the end of it, lol! This better be worth it...
    I'm finding that just like "the little engine that could", mindset is a big part of this minor miracle (my writing every day, that is - not me looking like an exhausted hag, lol!). I'm daily telling myself that writing every day - with a goal of 1000 words - IS what I'll be doing for the next 80 days. And so far, I've managed to trick myself into doing it.
    They say it only takes 28 days to develop a new habit. This may be a scary thing, if we're talking about that extra chocolate bar you've started picking up each day on your way home from the office :). Or it can be an overwhelmingly positive thing: like when you start getting up a half-hour earlier to go for a walk in the crisp morning air. Or when you decide to turn the tv off a little earlier each night to go to bed, or spend the time chatting with your partner over a cuppa. Or, like me, you decide that you might as well write every day - because the alternative (very occasional weekend writing sessions) just wasn't working for you.
    So, the next time you find yourself a little frustrated over your current life-direction (or lack of direction), remember the little engine that could. 
    And the little, crazy writer who's up at midnight in front of a glowing computer screen, mumbling, "I think I can, I think I can... zzzzz!" :)   
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Hi-Ho, Silver!

6/5/2011

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This week, I’ve finally gotten back on my horse – metaphorically speaking. It’s been so long (almost a couple of months, I’m ashamed to admit) since I’ve worked on my novel, that I’d become a little rusty, a bit “gun shy”. Too long out of the writing saddle had me feeling a touch wary of launching back in. I mean, who really likes being “saddle sore”? (Those infrequent riders like me will appreciate what I’m saying here. :) )

But this week – courtesy of May: You Write Your Novel – I finally decided that I’d had enough of my conscience niggling me every time I spied my writing notebook sitting on the arm of the couch; every time my imagination conjured up images of another inch-thick layer of dust settling onto my book with each passing week.

It was time to grab the reins once more, holler, “Hi-ho, Silver!” (well, maybe whisper it – us creative types can already have a bit of a “loopy” image, lol!), and grab my writing muse by the horns. (Hmm – I seem to be mixing my metaphors here. Whatever.)

The funny thing is that things are rarely as difficult as we imagine they’ll be. Instead of staring out into space for hours with a blank page before me, I actually found it refreshing – even fun – to return to my languishing characters and breathe new life into another chapter of their suspended lives. I realised that, in a way, I had actually missed my regular novel-writing sessions, the endorphin-buzz from finding my flow. From simply creating.

So I’m trying to remember this feeling, would bottle it if I could. And then when those troublesome twins, Lethargy and Complacency, threaten to wrap their bony little fingers around my writing hand, I’ll be able to easily lasso them by the positive memories of my last writing session.

And ride off into the sunset of “happily ever after”… :)

So, what about you? What “horse” have you been avoiding getting back on? Is it launching back into your writing (or some other creative pursuit), or even something to do with your career (maybe applying for a new, more fulfilling job) or relationships (starting over, or improving what you already have)? Whatever your horse is, know that that very first ride – although a little scary – will never be quite as bad as you’ve imagined. And once you start going in the right direction, you’re already heading off towards your own sunset. :)
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What's Your Excuse?

20/4/2011

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    "Wanted: one large box of motivation. Will accept second-hand from someone who has plenty to spare."
    Lately, I've had half-a-mind to post the above ad in Craigslist, the way my writing has NOT been progressing.
    This may come as a surprise to some people. I am a published author, after all, so am obviously capable of writing 70+ thousand words.
    But when I reveal that my novel sat unfinished for six years - yes, SIX! - with just two chapters to go, perhaps you'll understand.
    With my current manuscript, I have a synopsis, character outlines, ten chapters planned and three-and-a-bit already written.
    BUT (there's always a big one of those lurking somewhere! :) ), I haven't written anything for over a month now. And I'm concerned that this month could easily, sneakily, turn into a year. Or two.
    Sure, there's been two house inspections, a couple of bank and real estate property valuations, a job application and interview to prepare for ... not to mention the school holidays, with four energetic ankle-biters running and yelling around our rather small living area.
    However, I'm coming to realise that there'll always be 101 excuses. Heck, I could fill a book with them (I wonder if it would ever get finished, lol!).
    I came across this very true quote recently: "Success is a tale of obstacles overcome, and for every obstacle overcome, an excuse not used." (Robert Brault)
    We're all going to have excuses: too busy, too tired, have too many children, the in-laws are coming to visit, I have to clean my house, I'm moving house, the dog needs to be taken to the vet ... well, you get the drift.
    It's only when we step over all the excuses and begin to walk along the path leading to our values and priorities, that we'll find ourselves actually doing what we were made for: our destiny.
    So in that vein, I'm considering embracing a tool to help give me a proverbial boost up my -ahem- writer's seat and get writing again. It's called May: You Write Your Novel, and is basically a challenge to writers to complete an eighty thousand word manuscript in 80 days (May, June, and half of July).
    There are no prizes for completing the 80K in this time period, nor will there be anyone checking over my shoulder, but the amazing buzz of accomplishment will be well worth the inconvenience of squeezing 1000 words a day out of my rather full schedule.
    Oh, for the record, the excuse listed above about moving house? It's actually true - I will be moving right in the middle of the May: You Write Your Novel challenge.
    But that's really only an excuse, right?!?
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Update

2/2/2011

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During the past couple of months or so since my last blog post, a whole lot has been happening in this little corner of the world. For a start, a few natural disasters have been conspiring together to wipe out Queensland - torrential rain and the resultant flooding, rivers bursting their banks and pouring out into towns and onto rural properties; an inland "tsunami" gushing down the mountain from Toowoomba after a torrential downpour, washing away cars, trees, houses, people, and anything else in its path; and now Tropical Cyclone Yasi, a category 5 cyclone as severe as Hurricane Katrina. At this early stage, no lives have been lost - a testament to plenty of prior warning, adequate safety precautions, and most importantly, the grace of God.

Thankfully, on my little hill overlooking the ocean in the Wide Bay area, the disasters have given us a wide berth. No flooding, no cyclones - just a bit of rain, and plenty of mildew and mould to greet me as I entered our closed-up house after three weeks of holidays.

And in the midst of it all, I've still managed to write. Nothing as prolific as a whole novel, or even half a one. But at least, by plodding away, I've managed to write part 1 of my YA romantic fiction manuscript, and plan the start of part 2. I'm aiming to have ten chapters finished by the end of March, and perhaps even a proposal completed to send off to some unsuspecting publishers or agents.

Will keep you posted. :)

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Itchy Fingers

8/12/2010

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It's been over a week since I've had a chance to do some writing, and I've got itchy fingers. You writers will know the feeling - there's an idea, or plot-line, or snippet of dialogue that's been percolating in your brain, and you're just waiting for the opportunity to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to bring it forth into the universe.

My last writing session was idyllic: at a beach-side cafe on the Sunshine Coast, armed with a skinny, extra-hot, caramel latte (pedantic, I know!) and a serve of raisin toast. When I couldn't quite grasp the best word or phrasing, I could gaze out at the ocean for inspiration. I was able to write two scenes during that session, completing the first chapter of my new YA novel.

The next opportunity I have to write will be far less ideal, I'm sure. It's bound to be a spare (who has spare time these days?!) 30 minutes stolen away from the housework, or the other myriad, inane duties that pile up in a day. It may be sitting in my favourite chair in the living room, or on a park bench while I watch my children play (yes, it's the school holidays!).

But the important thing for me, and for all writers out there, is that I write.  It doesn't need to be perfect, or profound, or even pretty. As long as I get my thoughts out onto paper, then that is enough for today. :)
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Moving - but in the right direction???

8/12/2009

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Well, it's finally official - we're moving to Bundaberg, a city 4 hours north of Toowoomba (where we now live). And less than a week before Christmas! I'm in a complete state of denial regarding how much packing remains to be done - and about how much editing is not getting done (sigh!).
It almost seems like the proverbial "one step forward, two steps back" when it comes to editing these days. Too many steps back and I'll be back right where I started - with a novel that has "potential" (such a loaded word), but that needs some serious polishing. A diamond-in-the-rough.
I do realise (in that rational, rarely-used part of my brain) that doing small chunks of writing/editing -  even 30 mins each - is far better than doing none at all. But ....
Anyway, the house is now quiet, as it can only be after the children are in bed. Packing can wait for another day (maybe). Off to write ... :)
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Hmmm ...

3/9/2009

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Hmmm... this is the sound of me thinking. Been doing quite a bit of it, in regards to editing my book, changing the plot and tightening up the characters and storylines.

Unfortunately, thinking is all I have been doing. I better work out my schedule (run it by the kids first - ha!) and pencil in some serious editing and rewriting time, or this thing ain't gonna happen (better work on that grammar too!).
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    Published author. Dietitian. Mother of 4. Eternally curious. Enjoys life's adventures. Loves dark chocolate and a good coffee.

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