Wednesday, January 12, 2011

My formula for productivity

I tend to be my most productive from seven to ten in the morning on Saturdays in November. How’s that for specific? Although I have to admit that it almost sounds too specific now that I’m reading back over it. However, I have proof.

Saturdays: Every Friday night I spend at least an hour talking to a friend who is just now getting to a point where he feels comfortable admitting that he writes for fun. We bounce ideas off each other, do research, and e-mail segments of our stories back and forth. By the time we get off the phone all I can think about it writing, but I can’t because I have to go to bed. As a result I’m raring to go come Saturday morning.

Saturday mornings: Whenever people ask me what time I get up on the weekends I answer “about 10:00 or 10:30” but I’m actually up and dressed by 7:00. I just lie about it. Why? Because around 10:15 my phone starts ringing and e-mails start coming in. This way I can write for a few hours undisturbed before my life invades. If I didn’t have those three hours two or three times a week I’d never get any writing done.

November: In general the whole month of November tends to be a very productive time for me because I’m wracked with guilt. Every year I do NaNoWriMo in November, and signing up for it and making that commitment really helps motivate me. I pride myself on accomplishing anything I set my mind to, and I work my but off so I don’t have to suffer the humiliation of not getting the job done. A little twisted I know, but if it weren’t for November I probably wouldn’t have gotten a first draft of even one book done, let alone two.

Still amped up from the night before + deception + the month of guilt = productivity

There it is my secret formula for being my most productive. Yep, this is what happens when you ask a math nerd to figure out when they are their most productive. Thank goodness I’m cute.

-Aaron

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