This Writing Life 4: Scheduling or, Where Is My COFFEE???

The Schedule:

6 a.m. wake up
6:15 a.m. workout & light stretching
7 a.m. Make girlfriend’s lunch for work, shave, shower, eat breakfast
7:30 a.m. Check email, Facebook, Twitter, webcomics and news
7:45 a.m. Daughter comes over from Mom’s place
8:00 a.m. Workout with daughter: strengthening and Kung Fu
8:30 a.m. Get daughter organized for day camp
8:45 a.m. Bike daughter to day camp and back
9:15 a.m. Home and blog
10:00 a.m. Ghostwriting
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1 p.m. Ghostwriting
3:45 p.m. Bike to day-camp to pick up daughter
4:15 p.m. Home and work while daughter practices piano
5:30 p.m. Make dinner, hang out with family
8:00 p.m. Write.
10 p.m.  Get ready for bed.
11 p.m. Sleep

No excuses, no arguments, no changes. Right?

Riiiiiiiighhhhhht.

The Reality
The tighter the schedule, the less likely it is to work out, unless you have your own administrative assistant.  So far today, the workout happened on time, but we couldn’t find my daughter’s backpack, it took longer to get to day-camp than we thought, I needed to get new pedals for my bike and a loaf of bread for lunch and an apple turnover because apple turnover. And I spilled a pint glass of very cold water over myself and the floor.

It’s already gone 10 a.m. and I still haven’t had a cup of coffee.

Excuse me…

Ah. Coffee. Better now.

Schedule Sanely
Schedules are vital. Knowing when you need to work and what you're working on is the key to running any freelance business, whether it’s writing or anything else. Blocking your time appropriately means you get more done, have more free time, and feel better about each day.  Just don’t block every minute because chances are things will go wrong and then you’ll feel grumpy about it all.

Write your schedule down and keep it someplace where you can see it. I use a notebook that I keep beside me on my desk for the daily stuff. I also have a wall calendar in front of me that shows the week, month and year, because some things need to be planned ahead.

Be Flexible…
Because not everything works out as planned.  Do your best to stay on schedule and try not to go mad when you don’t.   Sometimes you have to pick things to set aside one day, knowing that you will get them done the next. That said...

Hit Your Deadlines
Because you want to do this for a living, and no one hire someone twice who can’t get work in on time.

And that’s it for today because I am behind on my projects.

Next time on this Writer’s Life: Prioritizing and Protecting your Time (Put Down the Smart Phone!)