Last week I shared my personal online intervention with y’all and was overwhelmed by your response. Thank you so much to everyone who liked and followed! It proved to me that the topic resonates with us in today’s busy, increasingly crowded cyberworld. I hope y’all continue on this journey with me in the coming weeks as I work harder on prioritizing my time & preparing for my next book release. 🙂
Before last week, I had fallen into a familiar trap common to today’s online entrepreneur. Both day and night my work, blogging and writing life have revolved around e-mails, social media and the interconnectivity of it all. Which is a marvel when you think about how things were even ten years ago, let alone twenty. I’m old enough to remember the birth of the internet, AOL chatrooms and the glorious pop ups that permeated the screen. So I am also able to step back occasionally to be gob smacked by how far we’ve come. Also, by how convoluted our lives continue to become. Which may explain my penchant for binge-watching 90’s rom-com’s and sit-com’s…
Anywho, back to the topic.
Like I’ve said, it’s easy to fall into the social media trap while attempting to get shite done. The Women in Publishing conference really inspired me to take a hard look at my habits and dare to make a change.
To date, I’ve seen a legit increase in my productivity, since I started time-blocking my days. Using my nifty Qamber Designs & Media planner (soft pitch lol), I’ve assigned certain tasks to certain days. For example, Sundays I’m scheduling my book, author and fantasy writers’ blogs. If all goes to plan, I’ll have that automated so I’m not scrambling as usual throughout the week to keep up.
Last week I started checking my e-mails only in the morning and evening. Twice-a-day limit folks. Same with my We Write Fantasy Facebook group. Twice a day to interact with my fellow authors, then that’s it. The rest of the day I dedicated to my online job (with lots more micro-scheduling) and family time…a.k.a. chasing my toddler. In the evenings after bath, story and bedtime for my little guy, I was able to sit down to dive back into work. Once again I checked e-mails, caught up on blogger shenanigans and finally settled in to work on Silver Hollow. Personal reading time, I snuck in before sleep, which may or may not be the best idea lol.
Speaking of! I discovered this amazing retelling of Beauty and the Beast. A fellow author buddy of mine recommended it to me and I have to share with y’all…because it’s amazing. Seriously my second-favorite retelling after Robin McKinley’s “Beauty.”
Here’s my review + some nifty links:
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A beautiful, haunting retelling of Beauty and the Beast. In this rare case, I have no words to describe how deeply this novel touched my heart and inspired my imagination to see through to the heart. Proof that fairy tales are truly timeless and once in a while, retellings can achieve perfection.
Conclusion: Time-blocking works. Why aren’t you doing it?
Got a method that works for you?
Let’s talk shop in the comments below!
Jennifer Silverwood 
I’ve never heard of Hunted, but being the sucker for fairy tales that I am, I will definitely check it out! Thanks for the recommendation. Mount TBR is growing taller–and that’s a good thing! I need to get better at time-chunking. I’m definitely going to implement your checking social media and emails twice a day strategy, so I don’t take time out of writing. And only checking email/social after my daily writing quota is completed.
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