Work habits

I had been feeling demoralized about my productivity and work habits. (But then, when haven't I felt that way?) These days I've been thinking a lot about my work habits in general (and lack thereof) and my writing habits. I've been trying to embrace free-writing more with not as much success as I would like. In conjunction with trying diverse writing styles for different audiences, I needed to develop better writing/working habits.

At a friend's suggestion, I picked up the book How To Write A Lot by Paul Silvia from the school library. He makes candid observations about excuses people make to not write, such as "I don't have time to write", "I don't have the proper equipment", or the classic "I need inspiration to write." He refutes each of these excuses, which he calls specious obstacles, and instead claims that productivity and quality of writing will improve if and only if you develop a routine schedule for writing and stick to it no matter what. For example, he writes from 8-10AM each day and for him his writing schedule is like any other schedule or appointment. He must keep them. You wouldn't be late for your class, would you? So why would you be late for your writing schedule?, he writes.

He cites a controlled study (which looks a little flimsy to me, but no matter) which compares the number of pages written and intervals between creative ideas between people who wrote only when they're inspired and those who wrote on a rigid schedule. The difference was significant. Regardless of the validity or reliability of the study itself, I think theoretically Silvia's assertion holds a lot of truth. It's something that my friend, who has completed her dissertation and first book manuscript, had already recommended. But Silvia puts his foot down on not checking emails or any other non-writing tasks during the set schedule. You can do research, you can read articles, you can manage data, i.e. all tasks related to writing itself, but nothing else. No teaching, no administrative tasks.

The writing time can include setting up goals, which he strongly recommends. These should be practical goals, such as "write 200 words today" or "revise this draft of the chapter" but not something too large and amorphous as "finish the thesis." Silvia recommends rewarding yourself when you achieve big goals, but the reward should never be to skip a writing schedule. The point is to make writing routine, mundane and everyday. The purpose of the writing schedule is to make writing a habitual reflex, like watching a TV show when it's on, and to de-mystify the writing process.

Today is the third day that I've tried this regimen. I'm finding it difficult to start writing/working at the same time everyday but I've been doing about the same amount of work per day. I did mostly free-writing, 1300 words total in 3 days, which isn't a polished piece of work but I've written something. I also had two great ideas in those days as I wrote or in between writings. I've done some archival research and read a few journal articles. I feel really great about myself! I am shocked that I can actually discipline myself to sit and write, research or read for about 2 hours a day. Something about making writing a routine, in combination with the minimal pressure of free-writing, is making this work for me. I am amazed. Of course, this is only Day 3 and I haven't tried any non-free-writing yet... but I am so happy that I'm working everyday. I have been infinitely happier in the past five days knowing that I did something productive everyday, even though I may end up discarding what I wrote during the days. Weekend felt sweeter, too.

At Paul Silvia's suggestion, I made a spreadsheet to track my writing progress. I have a few simple columns: Date, Reading, Writing Type, # of Words, Outline/Brainstorm/Ideas, Research and Time. I fill in whatever applies that day. For example, today I wrote on my blog (which I count as reflections on my work process), finished archiving the 1914 issues of CMAJ and contacted the Liaison Librarian for help with archival search. I will finish reading two articles before the day ends and I will have worked from 11:30-3:00, with a lunch break in between. Today wasn't a big writing day but I'm not worried too much because everything I did today will lead to writing on another day. Right now I'm trying not to focus too much on how much I do, but rather that I do something. I'm more focused on developing a habit before gradually increasing the quantity and quality of work I produce. This way, I think I will avoid becoming discouraged from this new routine early in the process.

The spreadsheet is also fulfilling another function. Because it summarizes various types of tasks that I do, it helps me indirectly organize my materials, sources and thoughts in one place. This is particularly useful right now because my ideas are still jumbled and are not yet organized. What a happy happenstance!