The Organized Writer S Six Rules

The Organized Writer's Six Rules

Are you trying to get organized so you have more time to write? Here are six rules guaranteed to make you more productive and more organized when you add them to your life.

1. Work with Yourself, Not Against Yourself

When you're trying to become more organized, it's tempting to try and fit into the existing organizing system of an "expert." They seem organized and they promise that if you try it, you'll be organized, too.

What's more effective is to understand your personality and what works for you. There are MANY solutions and you may have to experiment to find the system that best fits the way you work--your mind, your body and the way you think. And this might be a combination of ideas from many different experts.

Give something new a fair trial, but if after a month or so it feels awkward or counterintuitive, let it go and find something else!

2. Focus and Pay Attention

If you find that you always seem to be busy but that you never have anything to show for it, this could be the most important tip for you.

When possible, do one thing at a time. Don't let your mind or hands wander to another task. Picture the finished project in your mind, and focus only on that. Get in the "zone" – you're able to be so much more effective when you're giving your whole mind, thought and attention.

When we split our attention between different tasks ("multi-tasking"), most likely none of them will get done right, if at all. As well, you can find yourself in a perpetual state of having many "open projects" started but not completed. Each project moves forward just an inch at a time.

If you choose ONE, you can move it forward to completion much faster. To choose one, you need to estimate which project will give you the best results when it's finished. It sometimes takes an outside perspective and feedback to help you make that choice, and a coach is a great tool for this.

Putting aside other projects clears the clutter from your mind, attention, desk, workload and focus.

3. Invest Your Time

Just like we invest our money, we have to invest our time in the best way. Setting up your new organizing systems can be considered an investment.

Applying this tip can have the greatest impact on your level of organization. By investing your time at the beginning of a project to examine how you can complete it most efficiently, you can save yourself a lot of frustration later. Saving just 20 minutes each day gives you an extra 120 hours each year.

For example, set-up a mailing station with all of the supplies you'll need to ship out book orders. You can also set-up a schedule of weekly errands such as the bank and the post office. If you know you'll be heading out to the post office on Wednesday, then when an order comes in on Friday you don't need to stop what you're doing and prepare that order immediately. You know you have a different time set aside for shipping.

4. Make a Habit of It

Once you have these plans in place, work at making them a habit. You can create a new habit (or lose a bad one!) in 21 days. For only three weeks of effort, you can create a lifetime of good working habits.

As you are creating a habit, you'll need some kind of trigger to remind you to do it – alarms on your computer (i.e. Outlook or PDA), a "to do" list or a written schedule for the day with time blocked out for your specific tasks.

Start small with one new habit at a time, and then see if you can add more (pull back if it gets to be too much).

5. Use the Right Tools

Make sure you have the right tools handy when you need them.

From the low-tech (I only use retractable pens – the kind that "click" on and off – because there's no caps to lose!) to the high-tech, there are many ready-made solutions out there to keep you organized. As we mentioned in Rule #1, it's important to find tools that work FOR YOU.

Another example – did you know that if you use PayPal as your shopping cart, they're automatically tied in with the US Post Office and you can print your shipping labels right from the PayPal site? This has been a huge time-saver for me when shipping my Organized Writer CDs.

6. Work Forward

Organize for your work ahead; don't organize what's already finished. We're often tempted to organize our old bills, receipts and invoices. Sometimes we're afraid or hesitant to move forward until we've finished old stuff.

It's much more important to set-up the system and files for what’s coming at you next. Look at what has been creating the biggest stress in your life and start by improving that area going forward. Then, when you have more of your future work under control, you can deal with the old paperwork (the old bills, receipts and invoices).

As you work on bringing these six rules into your life, you’ll be amazed at how much more time and energy you have to pursue your writing and remember the number one rule – only use what works for YOU!

BONUS : The Path Of Daggers Audio Book - Fantasy At Its Finest

The Path of Daggers book, penned by the acclaimed author Robert Jordan, is a brilliant piece of work and is a great example of the fantasy category of book. As many of you know, not so long ago the fantasy genre had been the classification that many readers looked towards for new and unique subject matters presented in a most creative manner. This is partially what made the fantasy genre a very popular style that grew its dedicated reader base to many millions of people. To the non-initiated this was quite surprising, particularly because most newspaper book reviews ignored the massive growth in popularity of this type of book.

Unfortunately the fantasy genre’s popularity was also accompanied by a flood of low quality, poorly written works. This in turn hurt the appeal of the genre with many undecided buyers electing to steer clear of the fantasy style novels.

The standard of fantasy novels has been somewhat lifted with the release of The Path of Daggers. This is Jordan's eighth book in his 'Wheel of Time' series and is a wonderful example of the fantasy genre at its finest. This amazing tale of all that is magical, interwoven with examples of finest swordsmanship, will prove to be truly enjoyable to all those readers who love this style of fictional writing.

The Path of Daggers Audio Book Version

For those readers who enjoy reading The Path of Daggers, there is another way to enjoy the novel and that is through listening to the audio version. The Path of Daggers audio book is available both online and in bookstores at very affordable price. The high quality recording and audio production is definitely a bonus and makes The Path of Daggers audio book a most enjoyable and entertaining product.

What is particularly appealing about The Path of Daggers audio book is that it is not in anyway a boorish reading of the material. Like many good example audio books The Path of Daggers Audio Book is a captivating production that will engage the imagination of the listener and transport them to a far away place. Without doubt The Path of Daggers audio book is a must have for all fans of Jordan’s work, as well as those who enjoy fantasy genre books in general.

If there is one negative aspect to The Path of Daggers Audio Book, it would be that generally the audio book version of the novel is an abridged one. That is, it is not a complete and uncut reading of the novel, but an edited version, We would however assure potential buyers that none of the major plot points are excluded so the story can still be easily followed. If you do want to read the entire story, you need to get your hands on a hard or soft back of the novel. Actually, the best deal would be to go to the book-sore or online and buy both a copy of the novel as well as The Path of Daggers audio book and you will be able to enjoy both versions of this excellent book.