Managing Your Time

Thanks to my sister for forwarding this link http://procrastinatingwritersblog.com/resources-for-writers/

It has a useful post about managing time by creating an un-schedule :)
If you want time to write, first you need to work out how much time you have - and this shows how to do it.

Further to Tuesday Tip

Ok...here's what I've done. It's untried and untested but I'm going to go with it although it reminds me of being back at school :D

A Writing Timetable

I have so many projects on the go that I'm losing track. Mystery in Morocco is getting attention but all the others are fading away.

Days of the week down the side.
Across the top are the following headings:
M in M (HTRYN) - 10.30-11.15 11.30-12.15 every day except Tues and Fri
HTWAS - Fri 10.30-11.15
Short story (HTTS) - Thur 2.00-3.00
Holly's online workshops - Mon 2.00-3.00
Mini Series - Sat 2.00-3.00
Critting - Wed 2.00-3.00
Blog tba

Tuesday is my day off except for doing my blog - I'm elsewhere all day.

That's based on the times I write now. It isn't perfect, it may not work but I'll give it a go.
At least it ensures I work mainly on MinM but do something of all the other projects on one day a week.

Watch this space for an update.

Tuesday Tip

The Time Sink
There are actions in my life which seem to act as a time sink. When I do these things, it's as if time speeds up and flows down a big hole. You know how it is...you sit down, you only mean to spend ten minutes or so...you look at the clock and half an hour has gone, or a whole hour - and it comes as a surprise or even a shock.

My Time Sinks are:
Surfing the Internet:
It's so interesting and I love doing research.
Bootcamp forum:
But only if I stop to answer a post.
My Blog:
Writing new posts eat up time quicker than anything!
Writing:
When I'm in the story and words are flowing.
Talking to friends:
In person or on the phone.
Playing the piano:
Like writing, it happens only occasionally.

Time sinks are not to be confused with those activities where I have a conscious awareness of time passing. These time-consuming activities are not nearly as enjoyable as Time Sinks.

Time Sinks pose a problem because I have a lot of committments.
The only solution to Time Sinks is to set a timer.
Often, I forget.

So, I'm wondering how you manage your time. Do you have time sinks? Does a timer work for you? Or have you found a different solution which works better?