Tag: business hat

Check This Out- Time Recording

This is not an affiliate post, I’m getting nothing at all for talking about something from the Google Play Store.

Business hat time again.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I’m trying to see my time as something to invest in a project, instead of just rushing to check off as many things from my to do list as I can on any given day.  I’m also trying to, more and more, see writing as my real job.

Well, I clock in at my day job.  I want to be able to clock in for writing time, too.  So, I found Time Recording on the Google Play Store.  It’s my new favorite app this week.

Now, I love this app for a lot of reasons.

  • It helps me stay focused.  When the clock is ticking , I consider those ‘billable hours,’ like a lawyer or a therapist.  I am at work once I’ve clocked in, and I should act like it.  It’s amazing how much that, “I am supposed to be working now,” has helped me.
  • I’ve made a steadfast rule about my time management games.  I don’t look at them when I’m punched in to write.  Even if I’m taking a five minute break, I do something else.  So long as that app is running, no other apps are running.
  • Even so, I can do other things on my tablet while this app is running.  I tried an app that blocked all other apps while I was on it.  It was cool, you grew a little tree for every half hour you didn’t close the app.  Which would have been super terrific, if I didn’t have an e-book version of Broken Patterns on my tablet that I’ve been using to read it and make notes.  Or if I didn’t have my planner on my tablet.  Or if I didn’t need to check my e-mail, or fact check something online, or look at that article I saved on Feedly.  The point is, I have touched my tablet four times in the writing of this article, to check on something I needed to know before I finished writing it.
  • This app tracks the time I’ve spent writing for the day, the week, and the month.  That’s really convenient for me.
  • I am a gamer at heart, and I love having a number to beat.  So if I spent fourteen hours this week writing, I’d damn well better write for sixteen next week.

So check out Time Recording on the Play Store.  See what it helps you create this week.

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Check This Out- By Regina

This week’s check this out is for anyone who considers their writing a business.  Which is to say, my target audience.  By Regina is all about the business side of running a blog, creating a product (your writing) and getting that product to the right people.  It’s all about branding, and thinking like a business person.

Remember, you have to think of your writing in two parts.  First it’s your baby, you’re obsession, your work of art.  Then, it’s a product that you want to share with the world.  That’s a jolt, I’m not going to lie.  When I got paid for Favorite, I was a little in shock.  I’d created something right out of my own head, poured it onto paper, typed it into a computer, and sold it.

Regina calls our brand of business people creativeprenuers.  Pretty sure she made that word up, and it is awesome.  I highly advise reading the blog post 12 ways creativeprenuers are like small children.  It caused me to laugh so hard on the bus all the creepy people scooted away.  Bonus!

When I’m not feeling very energetic or creative, I read Regina’s blog.  She’s just so full of energy that reading her is like taking a b12.  I usually read her blog with a notepad next to me, and by the time I’m done, it’s covered in stuff like “must do this right now!” and “Why aren’t I already doing this?”

You, as my own dear readers, are going to benefit from this, by the way, since the big push of her blog is building a better blog.    Here are just a few things I’ve learned from ByRegina.

  • Utilize bullet points, because they’re fun to read. (Like this one)
  • Work on the images on your blog.  Hence the lovely new pictures for my columns.
  • Love your brand.  You’ll see more of this over the next few months.

There are a lot of other cool ideas I’ve gotten from the site, but to share them would ruin two or three big surprises I’ve got for you all later in the year.  (Hint: I’m planning something big for August to celebrate the first year anniversary of Paper Beats World.  Very hush hush, you know.)

This week, pour a cup of coffee, grab your writing notebook, and check out ByRegina.

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This is one of the great things I learned from the Writing Excuses podcast. They get all the credit for this one.  Publisher’s Lunch is a news feed that updates several times a day with all sorts of different publishing related news articles. That might not sound like a lot, but let me tell you some of the great things I’ve learned after a month of having it on Feedly.

Harper Lee is publishing a new book!

Several agents and editors I’ve queries in the past have moved companies or got new jobs. So, A, I’ll need to remember where they are now so I don’t send them the same material again under a different company name. And B, I know those jobs may likely be filled with new people, seeking new talent.

I know how popular book chains are doing on the market.

This is all business hat stuff. Let me tell you, my business hat is my hat least worn. It’s way back there behind writer hat, mommy hat, editor hat, wife hat and Marathon Warehouse 13 hat. That’s the problem that Publisher’s Lunch helps fix, though. I need to wear my business hat a little more. I need to understand that world, know those people, and sound like a grown up lady when I talk to them. Never forget that when you’re a writer, that subtitle is small business owner. The sweet old guy who owns the coffee shop on Main Street reads the Wall Street Times, and he does it for a reason. Consider Publisher’s Lunch your Wall Street Journal.

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