SAHM Writer Blog

Get paid to write – completion ROCKS!

21st September, 2009 - Posted by admin - 1 Comment

Most of the time, this blog focuses on how you can get paid to write. But you know what? There’s a lot more to it than just finding gigs, writing for clients, and getting paid. There’s a whole mindset angle that’s really important.

I’ve heard more than one of my mentors say that if you don’t get the mindset down, all the “how-to’s” in the world will never be enough. It’s like having tools in a toolbox, but not knowing what to do with them.

Today I want to talk about completion.

Balance tends to be my growing edge, and from some of the conversations, comments, and emails we’ve had, I know this is a growth area for many of you, too. It’s really easy to be “all or nothing” about your business – especially if you’re an entrepreneur. We tend to get off balance pretty easily. That shows up on the schedule, among other places.

I’ve got a couple of friends who live by the saying, “Work hard, play hard.” You could take that phrase a few ways, but when I remember it and apply it, my business is more profitable and more fun than when I do either just the work part, or just the play part (although I don’t think I’ve tried that!).

Work Hard
Not that it’s got to be “hard” at all, but this part reminds me to focus, to put in high-quality work time during the time I’ve chosen to work. The focusing piece, I find, is more about habit. There have been times I’ve worked with an egg-timer at my side, vowing not to do anything but focus on the job at hand for 45 minutes or so. No checking email, no going on Facebook, no answering the phone, no taking care of anything except for the project I’m working on. The result? Completion!!!

Nothing feels as wonderful as completing a project. Until it’s complete, it’s a hanging cloud, a poking elbow, a nagging thought. Once it’s done and crossed off the list, there’s this amazing feeling of cleared space, of satisfaction, and freedom. This is true for me no matter how much I enjoy the project.

My friend and mentor, Kimberly Zink (www.klemmer.com) talks about running the 99 yard dash. That’s definitely been MY event more often than I’d like to admit. It’s like the final yard is almost impossible to complete – and I choose to suffer and create all kinds of agony rather than just finish the thing. Another friend, David, says for him, it’s the first 80% of a job that’s the best. After that, it’s more fun to just jump to something else rather than to actually complete it. He was talking about home renovations, but this applies to writing just as well.

When I go to Nitro Marketing internet seminars, they’ve handled the focus thing in an interesting way. Just imagine – a room full of internet entrepreneurs… with their laptops in front of them. How likely are we to pay a lick of attention to the trainer? (Even though we paid to be there to hear him!) They ask us to close our laptops almost all the way – open enough that they don’t shut down, closed enough that we can’t see the screen.

I’ve found a few good ways to hasten completion.

• Go work somewhere that there’s no internet. Of course, this requires some advanced planning so I’ve got whatever I need downloaded. But from there, without having the temptation of going online, it’s amazing how much more quickly I can finish projects.
• Turn off the email notification thingy. Not sure why I ever turned it on in the first place, but HUGE mistake! Even if I didn’t chase after the bunny when it appeared, I sure was thinking about it.
• Turn off the phone ringer. Not that I get THAT many calls, but it’s almost like they all come at once – and they wait until I’ve just gotten back on task before the next one rings. This is why I do not have text on my phone – I’ve been with people who have text, and between calls and texts, there’s not a moment’s peace!
• Check out Google’s calendar. I’ve been using this for a while now, and it’s definitely helping. It pings me 10 minutes before the next task I’ve got scheduled starts. This is a great, automatic way to concentrate for 50 minutes at a time (but requires more self-control because it only works if you’re online… although I think I saw something about an offline version).

Anyway – here’s the scoop with writing: the faster you can complete (with excellence!) a project, the more profitable it is. Also, the faster you complete, the sooner you’re free to enjoy the lifestyle you’re creating by working from home!

LOL – should have taken my own advice about the phones. While I was writing this, my house phone rang once; cell rang twice. So this took nearly double the time I’d allotted because after each call, had to get back into “where was I?” : )

And now, the phones go off for 50 minutes!

Try it and let me know how it works for you today (but don’t call!).

1 Comment

Rob

September 21st, 2009 at 11:13 am    

I’ve started to apply a few of these things (turning off distractions and using timers to work in 50 min. increments). I thought at first that it would be a bit too constricing but it truly has increased my productivity and I really don’t feel very constricted at all. I also wear earplugs (even when I’m alone in a semi-quiet place) – sometimes just a loud car driving by can take me off-thought. This is a favorite topic of mine…to try to discover new ways to get the most out of my human “machine”.

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