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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

From Eight to Four

I'm in a unique situation this week to immerse myself in a writing experiment I've always wanted to try.  Maybe it's inspired by FastDraft, of which I'm a faithful follower during draft one.  Maybe it's a little bit Timothy-Ferriss-4-Hour-Workweek for writers with some Focus Booster thrown in for spice. Maybe it's my need to capitalize on the bubble of complete self-centered autonomy of my life this week.  Here's the plan:

To achive a four-hour writing day with maximum-editing output, there must be rules.  No email, no phone calls, no texts, no Restaurant Story (omg, my roast beef will burn!), no Elvis movies, no wandering except to restroom and to keep blood flowing, no snacks, non-distracting caffeinated drinks only, no petting the cats or tossing them a soggy mouse, no checking the mailbox, no emergencies of any kind-save the pants-on-fire kind.  Idle hands are the work of the wicked muse, I tell you! Ferriss has daily goals, so we can too, right?  Though I've learned from doing Write or Die that I often underestimate my output and tend to slack at the end. 

So there you have it...the four hour workday.  My answer to increased productivity.  Will it work? I'll tweet each day to report in.  If you're not following me, why the heck not?  Oh, right.  Because I don't use it much.  Maybe that's something to tackle next week. One hurdle at a time, people.

If you could accomplish in four hours what you previously accomplished in eight, how would you spend those extra four hours?

3 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

The simplest advice is always the best. I just say to your plan. "Exactly."

Pamela Cayne said...

Cool! Consider me to be sitting quietly in the stands, waiting for your four hours to be over so I can stant up and cheer like a crazy person. (And hey--if it gets you near your Twitter account, then I'm doubly for it!)

For my four extra hours, I think I'd work on some of these stories that keep getting kicked to the bottom of the line. Yup.

Anonymous said...

Yes, you can save four hours of your time if you will concentrate and have no distraction in your surroundings. No email, no phone call, NO FACEBOOK.