In part 2 of this 2-part micro-series, Jane will show you how to accurately assess the progress you’re making, so you don’t succumb to fear or feel overwhelmed by your work. You’ll learn the most important factors you should consider in gauging your progress. Then, you’ll learn how to use these factors to evaluate some common thought patterns that can help or hinder your work. If you tend to create a lot of drama in your head about writing, take a listen to this episode.
If you haven’t listened to the first part of this micro-series, go back:
Episode 8: Are you weaponizing your productivity?
Resources:
The Right Prose website: www.rightprose.co
Learn more about Elevate: https://elevate.rightprose.co/enroll/
Connect with me on Instagram
Episode Transcript Available
We look at your calendar, we’d see how much time you have, and we would determine whether it’s possible for you to claim long writing sessions throughout the week. And if it’s impossible, you have to try a different approach. This is where coaching comes in. We don’t just throw your hands in the air and say, well, I don’t have these three hour blocks, so I’m just going to wait. I’m going to wait until the summer. I’m going to wait until I have a sabbatical. I’m going to wait until the magical time in the future when I have all of this uninterrupted time to write my book. We’re not going to do that. And you might be saying, but that’s the way I work. I have to do deep work. I do my best work when I have these long chunks of time.
And if I was your coach, this is what I would ask you. Is the way you work congruent with achieving your goals? If your goal is to write a chapter in the next 12 weeks, but most of your writing time is in 60 or 90 minute chunks, instead of the two to three hour chunks you prefer, you’re going to have to be strategic about using that time instead of just wishing your circumstances were different. You’re going to have to be proactive about making the most of the time you have. So let’s recap The thoughts and emotions you have about your book are valid and important, but you still need to check the data because you got to assess the veracity of those thoughts. It’s fine to have any feeling you want, but you should take action with complete information, not just vibes, right? We need data here, and it’s easy to succumb to all or nothing thinking when it comes to book writing, but you’re going to have to get over it.
I’m going to give you some tough love. Not everything is going to go exactly as you envisioned, and part of practicing self-compassion is being able to course correct without blaming yourself or catastrophizing. So this ends our little micro series on weaponizing productivity and what to do instead. I hope you have found it useful, and I will see you in the next episode, which will be the final episode of this season. Be well, and I’ll see you there. Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. If you like what you heard, please share the podcast with a friend. Or if you’re an Apple listener, leave a review. It helps other folks find the podcast so we can continue the conversation and make sure that when it’s time to write your book, you could do it on your terms your way.