Current status: My office looks like an Office Max and a Michaels drank too much, hooked up, and then threw up all over.
As I get ready for 2020 (and I’m really trying to be prepared this year instead of knee jerking my way through the lead up to my book release) I have steeped myself in productivity-porn.**
What is that you ask. Well, productivity-porn is all the many and varied motivation, habit, production, get it done, stay on task (you get the idea) books, videos, planners, etc out in the world aimed at connecting your daily, weekly, and monthly actions with the goals you set.
Admission: I am most definitely their target market audience. I eat this stuff for breakfast–and happily. I could spend hours, and I have, watching YouTube videos that basically are another person talking about their planner.
My current favorite is Sarra Cannon and her Heart Breathings YouTube channel. The great thing about Sarra’s channel is that, in addition to watching her set up her A5 planner, I have also learned about using a Kanban Board and getting my goals (that are now clearly defined) aligned with my projects (also clearly defined). And all of this is now scheduled through Q1!
Now it’s true, I have ALWAYS had a planner and have used it religiously to schedule the multitude of Must Dos across all the many factors of my life as a writer, a mother, and day job holder. But I have never taken the deep dive into planning out my writing career like I have done since being introduced to Sarra’s channel and her advice on: goal setting, prioritizing, and task management.
After learning about her system, I was happy to purchase the planner pages she developed (specific to writers) and add them into my own A5 planner. (I bought the teal Lux Productivity on Amazon). Decoration not included.
Looking ahead to these next six months felt daunting to me. With Her Perfect Life releasing in June, the marketing schedule, and the due date for turning in my next book to Sourcebooks rapidly approaching in March; I was feeling unprepared, scattered, and disorganized with regards to what I should prioritize and how I would execute on any of it.
Honestly, now armed with the knowledge from her videos, the new planner, and a desire to not majorly screw up these next six months, I feel like I have a handle on what needs to be done and the timing for getting it done.
Which, considering the growing panic I had been experiencing, feels like nothing short of a miracle right now.
**I cannot take credit for the term productivity-porn. The first time I heard this was from my dear friend and fellow writer Kristi Helvig during one of our brunches. I have no idea if she can take the credit, but damn if it doesn’t perfectly sum up my feelings about addictively seeking out this stuff!
