Wasting time is exactly what we are working to avoid.
Wether a professional or a student, the odds are that writing takes up a lot of time. The writing process can be extensive, and sometimes there isn’t any way to avoid the time-suck. Still, time wasted is often time that could be saved.
Are you wasting needless time in your writing?
Here’s how you can know.
Daphne Gray-Grant wrote a great article for PR Daily that offers five tell-tale signs that wasting time is exactly what you are doing. I have summarized them here:
Sign one: motionless fingers
When you sit down to write do you stare at the screen without moving a muscle? That may seem typical to the process, but it shouldn’t. Sitting down to write without purpose or direction will leave you spending more time waiting for words to appear and less time being efficient. Begin the writing process having thought through what you want to say, and don’t be afraid of your first draft being perfect. Just write.
Sign two: not knowing how much time you take
Schedule out time for ALL of the writing process. That includes thinking and editing. Does it take you half an hour to write a page? Well, give yourself and hour and a half for the process. Being unaware of the time you’ll take can leave you frustrated and trying to catch up.
Sign three: you procrastinate
We talked a couple weeks ago about budgeting your time, which means we can’t be people who procrastinate. This comes into play when we schedule our writing time. Don’t wait until a deadline is pushing you, push yourself.
Sign four: you let others make your schedule for you
We talked about this too. We need to be people who know when say no to the wrong things and yes to the “write” things (get it?). Give yourself space from social pressures and get your priorities accomplished before you answer the masses.
Sign five: you don’t watch the pros
If you don’t look at how great writers are producing content it will be much harder to improve and use your time to write your best. By spending time looking at the work of writers you look up to, you will be more efficient as you search for direction and you will also be a better overall writer.
These five steps Daphne Gray-Grant shares should be able to reveal wether or not we are wasting time as writers. Whatever you are writing, acknowledge the signs in yourself and work to change your patterns. You will save time,
and you will write content people want to read so that time is not wasted.
