Pro-Tips

Many of you know that I work full-time as a technical writer when I’m not living the author life. Working full-time while maintaining my author career can be a challenging juggling act. No, not can be. It is a challenging juggling act. Every day, I juggle. But I’m passionate about writing, so making it work is non-negotiable. I know many of you are either thinking about pursuing a dream or are actively pursuing it, so I thought I’d share my tips on how I make this juggling act work for me. Every Wednesday, I’ll share a Pro-Tip on Instagram. Every month, I’ll compile those tips here and flesh them out a bit for those who don’t follow my Instagram page. 

So, without further ado, here are January’s Pro-Tips! 

Pro-Tip #1

Have a plan. When you have a lot on your to-do list, and you don’t know how you’re going to get it all done, the best way to manage it all is to have a plan.

• Start with your HIGH PRIORITY items. What are the most important things you need to accomplish for the week? For example, writing 10K words for the week (when I’m writing a first draft) is a high priority. After all, my author business only works when I have books to sell. Another example would be meeting a publishing deadline scheduled for the week.
• Next, focus on your MEDIUM PRIORITY tasks. What things do you need to get done that are important but not a top priority? For example, daily promo on social media. 
• Last, your LOW PRIORITY items.

Prioritizing your to-do list in advance will help you know what you need to focus on first and what can be set on the back burner for later in the week.

You’ll be surprised how much you can get done when you have a plan in place. 

***Remember to block out personal time to relax and refresh. R&R is just as important as productivity.

Pro-Tip #2

Treat your passion like a full-time job. Create a work schedule for yourself and clock in (figuratively) the way you would on your day job. That means no procrastination. If you plan to get up two hours earlier every morning to work on your passion, get up on time, not an hour later. Sleeping in may feel good at the moment, but in the end, you’re only cheating yourself. If this is your dream, you should be putting the same energy and excellence into it as you put into your day job. In short:

• Show up on time
• Hold yourself accountable – Meet your deadlines and do what you say you’re going to do. You can’t half-ass it at work, so why would you half-ass it for yourself
• Invest in your improvement – Take courses, read books, go to seminars that will help you reach your goals. It’s okay to invest in yourself