Increase Productivity by Alternating Projects

When I started writing full-time, I was sure I was focused and hard-working enough to do it; after all, I had been working intense 10-hours shifts at my job, and had been consistent about revising my book on my days off. And I knew it would be worth trying because writing had been my happy place for years. Writing felt like driving a car down a sunny country road, while going back to work the next day was like suddenly being stuck in traffic. I wanted to feel like I was driving that country road every day.

Right away, working full-time on my book felt different from when it had been just a few days a week. After a month of full-time revising, I was frustrated that my writing felt less like a pretty road of trees and open fields and more like a street full of pot holes and abandoned houses. And worse, I was less productive—it was like I was pushing the car, Flintstone-style, with my own two feet.  

What happened? If writing for a few days of week was so engaging, why was writing every day not? I wasn’t working more hours than before or more intensely than before, just on something different. And that different thing was supposed to be my work happy place.

I kept pushing through. I told myself that I was just in a rough spot, that writing is just hard sometimes. I kept hoping that it would become less sloggy.

It did not. I was starting to think I’d made a colossal mistake.

And then I began taking a class, and something interesting happened: I started finding my happy place again with my book. My writing car picked up speed and moved back onto smooth pavement.

Something about this new schedule was making a positive difference in my energy, focus, interest, and enjoyment for everything I was doing.  What was it?

Meg Selig, in her article for Psychology Today “GIVE ME A BREAK!” lists benefits of taking breaks, including an increase in productivity and creativity, restoring motivation, and preventing “decision fatigue.” This applies to real breaks, like taking a walk or chatting with a friend, but can it apply to changing work tasks? Yes, in part. In the same article, Selig further notes:  “If you can’t take a break, consider switching work tasks. Changing your focus—say from writing an essay to choosing photos or a presentation--can often feel like a break because you are using a slightly different part of your brain…When you return to the original task, you’ll experience some of the break benefits.”

Ah-ha! The act of alternating types of work every day was allowing enough of a change for my brain to be productive, motivated, and engaged again. And since making a living as a writer is tenuous enough without adding the inability to work full-time, I’m grateful that I stumbled on to this method of productivity.

As I play with this new way of creating balance, here are some things that have been helpful:  
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• Prioritize: What is the main project of focus?
  I found it helpful to write out on different colors of index cards my main writing priorities: Book Revision, Learning, Writing Community, and Freelancing. Seeing the visual representation of each of these helped make it obvious to me which one came first, and makes it easy to change priorities as needed and divide time accordingly.
  
  
• Different tasks need different types of schedules:  
  I can draft until the cows come home because my personality type is one that loves open-ended tasks and new possibilities. But revising is a very different animal for me. It’s hard on my brain because I don’t like making final decisions, and doing it a lot creates “decision fatigue” very quickly. Whether it’s a task that I can do every day or just once a week, the important thing is to adjust accordingly so that I can keep working productively—and not making myself miserable in the process!
  
  
• Group projects together: 
  Doing groups of tasks on one day has been an amazing tool for my easily distracted brain. I tend to try and do everything at once, so creating limits is helpful. For example, social media can take up way more time than I intend, so I try to limit that to Tuesday and Thursday along with my class days. I also work on shorter projects, such as essays or flash fiction. On book days, I try hard to just stick with book revision, and any breaks I need are for quick looks at email, taking short walks, tweaking a blog post—anything short that lets me refocus but isn’t going to be too distracting from revision.

 

• Doing multiple smaller projects feels wonderful! 
  When I was just trying to revise my book full time, I felt frustrated at not having time for other kinds of writing opportunities. Having a couple of “non-book” days now leaves room for me to try other things. This is also a wonderful boost to my brain and productivity in that I can finish these other projects in a day or a week. A book is a long, long process (at least for some of us!) and it’s such a lift to my morale to just finish something!
  
  
• Find ways to reinforce your schedule: 
  Taking classes is what currently keeps me on my schedule to alternate revision days. Another helpful limit on book days is working at the local library on computers that do not have access to social media. It’s also helpful to take real breaks; I’m not able to sit for more than two hours at a time, so planning short breaks that involve movement are essential.  
  
  

• Listen to yourself: 
  Other times in my life, certain projects that took me down increasingly unpleasant roads just turned into a full stop dead ends. It happens to all of us. For now, I’ve found a new rhythm and a new engagement with what I’m doing, but it’s also taught me that I need to listen to myself more. My dissatisfaction with trying to revise every day was a clear indicator that I needed to do something else. My refusal to listen made me miserable. It’s been helpful to ask such questions as: Is there some reason I’m feeling impatient, rushed, irritated? Do I need to eat, move, or just not be sitting in front of a computer for half an hour? Is this really what I want to be doing?

 

• Take Real Breaks: 
  Sometimes I’m grumpy because I’m just working too much! No amount of alternating tasks is going to help with that. One of the problems with making my own schedule is that I don’t always take off a week or a weekend, or notice when I need to. The main point of alternating days for tasks is to help create some balance with what I’m writing. Rest, play, connection with other people, exercise, sleep—these are all part of balance, too. And when I’m at my grumbliest about writing, it’s often because something is out of balance.
  
  

Part of me wishes I work on my book in an unlimited manner until it’s done. But I’ve learned the hard way that I cannot. This writing life will continue to be an adjustment, but for now, I’m once again on my sunny country writing road and I’ll just need to use what I’ve learned and take the necessary detours as needed!  ​