Mashing up two systems to try to appease my monkey mind.
The Ninja Writers theme for January is the same as our community-wide word of the year: ADAPT.
We’ve decided to choose a book of the month, to go along with the theme, and this month’s book is Getting Things Done by David Allen. It seemed like a good bet. Lots of people have heard of it, even if they haven’t read it. And it’s one of those things that a lot of people want to start, even if they’re not currently devotees.
It’s also a system that I knew, almost immediately, that I would need to adapt to suit me. My needs, of course, but also my personality and my work style and the way my brain wraps around the things I actually need to do. …
When you’re working at home, the line between work and not-work gets blurry.
I have trouble delineating between work and not-work. Seriously, I work twelve hour days, most days of the week — but really? I never stop working. It’s a function of loving what I do and my personality.
That difficulty has gotten far worse — to the point of absurdity — during COVID, when there isn’t a physical delineation between work/not-work anymore, either.
Used to be, I’d go to my office most days. I have a beautiful office downtown, in a bank building, with a river view. A bald eagle named Walter flies by every afternoon. I love my office.
But it’s in a bank building and for most of 2020, I couldn’t make myself go to it. I’d think about all the people touching everything and just stay home. Staying home meant working in my bedroom. …
Use it to find inspiration, ideas, and keywords.
“I’m going to start blogging, as soon as I figure out what to say.”
I spend hours every week talking to writers who want to blog and that’s, by far, the sentence I hear the most often about why they aren’t just doing it. They want to, badly, but they don’t know what to write.
My answer is so simple that it always feels kind of stupid to say it out loud: Write what your readers want to read.
Figuring that out, of course, is easier said than done. Or it could be. There’s actually a tool (a free tool) that lets you know exactly what your readers want to read. …
A mash-up on my way toward productivity-system peace.
I have a major goal in 2021 of refining my personal productivity methods.
I’m a pretty productive person, in general, but I want productivity peace, you know? I want (need) to find a way to get things done that meshes with my work style, personality, and needs.
I’ve finally come to realize that some other person’s exact method is unlikely to be a perfect fit for me. So, my plan for this year is to do a monthly review of what’s working, what’s not, and refine as needed.
The Ninja Writers word of the year is adapt after all.
My personal adaptation is going to include some mash-ups. Starting with the one I’m sharing with you today: The Ivy Lee Method + a Personal Kanban Board. …
A look into the Spiller Writer archetype.
Last year I came up with this idea that there are five writer archetypes: teacher, spiller, artist, hesitater, and skipper. After talking to thousands of writers and working through the test with them, I’m confident that the idea of Writer Archetypes is a good one.
Today’s post is all about the Spiller Writer, who is a confessional-type writer.
You can click here to take the Writer Archetype test to find out whether you’re a Teacher Writer. I’ll write about the other four archetypes over the next four days.
Read about the Teacher Writer archetype here.
What is a Spiller Writer?
A Spiller Writer is sometimes called a ‘confessional writer.’ Especially if they’re bloggers. Even fiction writers can be Spillers at heart, though. …
A look into the Teacher Writer archetype.
Last year I came up with this idea that there are five writer archetypes: teacher, spiller, artist, hesitater, and skipper. After talking to thousands of writers and working through the test with them, I’m confident that the idea of Writer Archetypes is a good one.
I thought I’d write a little series of posts diving deeper into each one. I’m going to start with Teacher Writers.
You can click here to take the Writer Archetype test to find out whether you’re a Teacher Writer. I’ll write about the other four archetypes over the next four days.
What is a Teacher Writer?
A Teacher Writer is idea focused. Sharing those ideas with other people is the purpose of their work. Even when they write fiction, they are idea forward. They want to make sure their reader learns something. …
There may or may not have been some retail therapy involved.
As you know, Bob, 2020 was a hunka hunka burning dumpster fire of a year.
But, I have a 2021 goal of acknowledging the good things, even when we’re in the midst of a pandemic/social justice crisis/total planet burnout. And you know what? There were good things that happened in 2020. Good things that I’m happy to carry with me into 2021.
Things like Ninja Writers really finding its stride. And the building of a kickass team that I’m so privileged to be able to work with. And — a few products that I found this year that I really loved. (How’s that for a pivot? …
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