How’s the writing plan going?
Have you been writing at least 2 minutes every day (see Spring Forward)? I know it sounds easy, in fact, too easy, so if it’s so easy, were you able to do it (let me know in the comments)?
Even if I didn’t (and I didn’t) write 2 minutes a day, I did focus on my scheduled writing sprints, which held me accountable for writing. In sprints, the rules are minimal. You can either write or do nothing. Since my groups meet for 2-3 hours at a go, doing nothing is a bit like torture, so writing becomes the lesser of two evils.
Outside of those sprint hours, however, my life (as my friend Deborah says) is like a ball of string. Only mine is unwound, knotted, and somehow strung all over the house. Even the cat won’t touch it.
I stopped writing my weekend to-do list when it hit a full page, but that doesn’t mean the work doesn’t need to get done, and when faced with doing nothing or this entire list—
So far, things not on the list that got done are laundry, dishes, and cleaning out the download folder on my computer. My friend Suraya calls that procrasti-work. So after the procrasti-work, I sat down, looked at my page plus of to-dos, and hit overwhelm.
When you’re busy and you know it
When you’re busy and you know, and your stress will surely show it, when you’re busy and you know it ask a bot.
Which is to say, my executive function has got up and went. And I do not have time to find it. But I know someone or some THING that never tires and has no emotions tied to the activities that I really don’t want to do but must.
AI
I have mixed feelings about AI. I don’t think it’s the end of the world as we know it (but maybe), and I don’t think it’s the cure for cancer or Parkinson’s (although maybe), but rather, I think it’s another tool to use as the world continues down the busy-train to nowhere. So, I headed over to the AI bot and asked it to help me plan my weekend.
I trauma dumped my to-do list on the bot, and it said, “I got you, Sis.”
haha. No, it did not, but the results were still productive:
Absolutely, Cindy. Let’s get you a work plan that breaks this down into doable chunks and makes the weekend feel way more manageable. We’ll also make sure it honors your energy and avoids burnout. Here's a suggested work plan, broken into priority, estimated time, and ideal placement across the weekend. (ChatGPT.com)
It even set aside time for me to write this blog post, something it inferred was “creative [but with] a flexible deadline.”
I know it’s not a sentient being, but I appreciate that it’s watching out for my energy so as to avoid burnout. I’m trying to do the same, with mixed results.
So why am I telling you this (beyond using blog writing as procrasti-work)?
Because while you might be a calendar queen or king, planning your day like the rock star you are, there is surely something in your life, hiding in the deep recesses of your soul, that you do not like and will find any number of ways to avoid.
What's on your avoidance list? Marketing and promotion of your work? Social media posts? Time management? Goal setting? Or the things that keep you from writing like grocery shopping, laundry, house cleaning, and the myriad things and pressures of running a house, a family, or a business on the side.
Outsource
I know writers who pay for house cleaners and social media marketers to look after their online life, so they have more time to write. I recently shifted to having my groceries delivered, and the savings on my time and energy have been greatly appreciated. For me, it’s worth the $10 +tip to have someone else navigate the aisles and crowds in the grocery store. And someday, God as my witness, I will be able to afford someone to clean my house.
What are you willing to pay for?
What if you didn’t have to pay (yet)?
Why not give AI a chance to “honor your energy and avoid burnout?”
So far, there are free versions of AI large language models like ChatGPT that can be your outsourced personal assistant.
DISCLAIMER: Don’t use AI to write. That’s like paying someone to go out and celebrate your birthday weekend for you. Why would you outsource the thing you love? Instead, use AI for ancillary tasks that take up too much time. Be aware that AI can hallucinate, make up sources and methods, and/or plagiarize, so be cautious and verify its output.
Some examples:
Marketing, Promotion, and Social Media: I have a marketing degree, but still hate the marketing that we writers must do. AI works exceptionally well at planning marketing content, social media posts (with hashtags), and largely planning your marketing and promotion in minutes. Things like a 30 or 90-day social media marketing and content calendar are effective and easy. It can also help plan the same for a book launch. Why not outsource it?
Time Management: In Dear Someday Writer, I dedicate several chapters to goal setting and time management. You should still do the work, because a bot cannot know your hopes, dreams, and fears, but if you finish brainstorming your goal and time assessment worksheets, you could feed the answers into a chatbot to help with time management and time blocking (see suggested prompts below).
Grammar and proofreading: While you cannot skimp on a good editor if you’re self-publishing, because an app cannot catch all the errors, running your work through a grammar and spellchecker, even if you’re only using the one in MS Word, is a good way to catch the majority of your errors (but not all, so still pay for a copy editor).
Reading your work aloud: I have used the “read aloud” function in MS word for years to read back my work or a student-writer’s work, because we often catch more errors when we’re listening. When we read, we tend to read what we meant to say instead of what’s actually on the page. Recently, I was invited by Amazon to turn my books into Audible books, so I started with my most recent, and as I listened to the final result, I found 12 typos even after the book went through proofreading. There are plenty of text-to-speech apps if this appeals to you.
I am a bit creeped out by the fact that the AI knew my name, that I was a writer, book coach, and educator when it responded to me because I WASN’T logged in, but do we really think anything online is anonymous anymore? You could always use incognito mode to anonymize (maybe).
So what’s the point?
The point is that we have many demands on our time. Outsourcing the things you don’t love or that suck up too much time is not a character flaw. It’s recognizing that your time is better spent on writing (or sleeping).
One of the hardest parts about writing is that we have to be all things. We’re the business owner, the writer, the marketing department, the PR specialist, and office admin. Even if you traditionally publish, you are still all of these things as most publishers expect the writer to do most of their own promotion and marketing.
When you work with AI (and yes, I know it’s not a person, however, it still has some expectations), it’s best to type direct prompts and give the prompt as much information as the system needs. For example, the first time I used AI for time management, it spread the work over day and evening, even though I had only evenings available. Be specific and willing to play around with the prompt to get the answer you need.
Here are some targeted prompts for you to try in your favorite (or least hated) AI chatbot:
For planning & prioritizing:
“Help me create a weekly work plan that balances writing, marketing, and admin tasks.” You might also include your other work and life tasks so it is more comprehensive. If you use the goal setting worksheets as the foundation of your prompt, you should get more detailed and personalized responses. (If you don’t have a copy of the Dear Someday Writer free workbook, let me know in the comments or by email and I’ll make sure you get a copy… I can’t outsource that (haha) but I’m happy to do it).
“I have 2 hours of focus time today — what are the best ways to use it based on these priorities?” And then include your tasks.
“I’m overwhelmed. Break down this project into smaller steps and help me schedule it.” This is the first prompt I used, and it helped me through the overwhelm.
For habit/routine building:
“Create a realistic morning [or evening] routine that supports creative work.”
“Suggest a time-blocking schedule that leaves room for flexibility.” You will need to give it some parameters so it doesn’t try to schedule your writing when you’re on after-school pickup duty or at the day job.
For social media marketing:
“Create a month of Instagram post ideas for [insert your writing niche].”
“Give me a weekly social media content calendar that promotes my [blog, podcast, YouTube channel, book, type of book, or series].”
“I need a theme for each day of the week for my author platform (e.g., #MotivationMonday).”
Yes, I have a degree in Marketing, but I absolute hate it and would rather spend my time writing, so while I haven’t used AI for this purpose as of yet, I do think I’ll move that direction. But I won’t have it write my blog or books, because those things, I actually enjoy.
I started by asking how the writing plan was going. Now, I’ll ask, how can you make it easier? What shifts do you need to make to the plan? How might you outsource the tasks that annoy you? Why wouldn’t you outsource tasks that take too much of your valuable time?
And finally, with credit to the chatbot, how are you going to “honor your energy and avoid burnout?”
[Keep scrolling for the music vibe of the week]
Cindy Skaggs is a writer, book coach, public speaker, and military veteran who holds an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University and an MA in Creative Writing from Regis University. She is an advocate for military and veteran issues, mom to two humans, and an avid traveler. In 2022, she moved to Ireland to study Irish Literature. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
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I like the phrasing of your prompts. I'll have to try them with my AI helper.
I❤️ the "If you're Happy & you know if" bits! I needed those chuckles.