Every Minute, Everywhere - Time Management For Authors With Piper J. Drake

  I'd been looking forward to the Out of Excuses Writing Workshop and Retreat 2017 for about a year. Several weeks in advance, it was still way too early to pack but I was burning a lot of brain power making mental notes and hoping I didn't forget things I wanted to take. This episode was about my strategy to free up my free floating anxieties about remembering to bring all the things I'd made mental notes to myself to bring and also have everything in one place for when I was ready to pack. Highlights Where's Piper? Walking! Listening to Mur Lafferty record a podcast episode en route In anticipation of packing  Shout-outs I Should Be Writing - Mur Lafferty Out of Excuses Writing Workshop and Retreat RWA National Conference You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.

  Alyssa Cole is an agent-sibling of mine. Her story, Let Us Dream, is nominated for the 2017 RITA award for Best Romance Novella. She is a science editor, pop culture nerd, and romance junkie who lives in the Caribbean and occasionally returns to her fast-paced NYC life. In addition to writing, she founded and hosted the Jefferson Market Library Romance Book Club and taught Romance Writing for Beginners. She speaks on topics such as writing erotic romance, writing multicultural romance, and self-editing.  She has contributed romance-related articles to publications including RT Book Reviews, Heroes and Heartbreakers, Romance at Random, and The Toast. She has also started a bi-monthly column in the Romance Writer's Report, Romancing the Globe, in which she chats with romance writers from around the world. When she's not busy writing, traveling, and learning French, she can be found watching anime with her husband or tending to her herd of animals. https://alyssaco

Procrastination is a serious challenge for me. I find myself procrastinating all the time and I've rationalized to myself to make it okay. But it's not. Writing doesn't happen while I procrastinate. No matter how much I think I'm getting done, I'm not doing the thing that matters: writing.  So here's a short podcast on recognizing and defeating procrastination. After all, the longer this podcast episode is, the less time either you or I are writing. Give it a listen, then get back to writing. ;) Highlights Where's Piper? In her new recording CLOSET! Recognizing Procrastination Block Out Procrastination Enablers Achievable Goals and Rewards Shout-outs Extreme Makeover by Dan Wells Scrivener Write or Die You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.

Since the publication of her first book in 2004, Melissa has had close to fifty romances published. She writes in genres from historical suspense to modern day erotic romance to futuristics and paranormals. Along the way she has garnered an epic nomination, a multitude of reviewer's recommended reads, over five Capa nods from TRS, three nominations for AAD Bookies and regularly tops the best seller lists on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. http://melissaschroeder.net/ I'm happy to have Melissa join me on EMEPiper, talking about juggling multiple series and time management. Highlights Introduction to Melissa Schroeder and her work Why writing multiple series at the same time works for Mel (and Piper) Shout out to Joyfully Reviewed - Mel's making ribs! How writing something different can make you a better writer What kinds of deadlines does Mel face with 5 series in progress? Mel's routine and how she hits her goals, even dealing with chronic pain Mel's Time Management Tip Shout-outs Joyfully Reviewed En

  Tasks have been identified and prioritized. It's time for getting actual work done. For some, this is very simple. However, it might not be easy when there's a whole lot of life going on in your world. Life is full of distractions. Your mind may dodge work, running in circles or latching onto various things to do in the name of research or administrative clean up when in reality, it's all procrastination. Some simple techniques for eliminating distractions may allow you to buckle down and be productive. Scheduling time and developing routines are very helpful. But more complex considerations may come into play when you travel like I do and can't develop routines or schedule time.  Highlights Where's Piper? In her home office! It's time to actually work So how do I actually get work done?   Sometimes I need encouragement and there's an app for that   What if my Focus needs more Focus? Shout-outs Write or Die myWriteClub Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted Wo

There are times when I've got so much to do, I've got no idea where to start or what the prioritization is. It's just an overwhelming mess of things that need to be done. I'm frozen in analysis paralysis and stressed out. It's time to take a deep breath and apply what I know of prioritization to the chaos of all the tasks piled up in front of me. Sometimes, my approach can be straightforward and simple. Other times, I need to apply my flexible approach to evaluating and organizing my tasks in a matrix to easily decide what to work on next. Highlights Where's Piper? In her home office! When you need to prioritize your tasks How to prioritize: Simple Approach Matrix Approach OMG something else hit my To Do list! Shout-outs Piper's Episode on Task Switching You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.

  Heading into a new year with a fresh set of goals is a great thing. It's even better to take a pause to look back on what did or didn't work in the past year to take lessons learned into the new. This episode is about looking back to move forward effectively. Highlights Where's Piper? In a hotel room closet. The final days of 2016 How have I been working?  Making sure I don't get lost again Staying focused through the coming year Shout-outs Any.Do Asana Erin Condren You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.

I've got a lot to accomplish by the end of the year. Some days, it seems like I won't get it all done unless I do some things simultaneously in order to have massively productive weekends. But in reality, multi-tasking might not be the best idea. So I'm talking about how I do get things done, when it isn't the best idea to multi-task and when I actually do multi-task. Highlights A theoretical I'm not a multi-tasker Why it's not actually good to be a multi-tasker Why it looks like I'm multi-tasking What I'm actually doing When I actually do multi-task Kanban and Trello Shout-outs Task Management and Kanban - Piper's Blog Trello.com You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.

Even when you know how to manage your time, life can happen and things can get in the way. This year I had a whole lot of life going on behind the scenes. Before I could course correct, I was way off track. This is my confession and what I plan to do to get back to where I need to be. Highlights: Piper's Confession The Plan to get back on track Trying something completely new - hypnotherapy? Shout-outs Mary Robinette Kowal Beat procrastination with Andrew Johnson You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.

There's a lot to cover when it comes to managing your time at conventions, which is why this is part 2 of time management at events. For me, managing my time at conventions is a survival skill.   Highlights My room is my sanctuary Knowing where things are in this place, especially the bathrooms Where to find sustenance Read updated information from the convention Planning in time for 2 unusual things: rest/recharge and unstructured social time Looking back on the biggest events in my year Things I could've done better Things I'm doing next year Shout-outs RT Booklover's Convention in Las Vegas, NV (Apr 12-17) Barbara Vey's Reader Appreciation Luncheon in Milwaukee, WI  (Apr 29 – May 1) 2016 Out of Excuses Writing Workshop and Retreat on The Independence of the Seas(Sep 20 – 27) You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.

Why time management at events? It's con season and for many, conventions or conferences become a blur of things to do, people to see, and it's easy to lose the key reasons you attended when overwhelmed by the sheer craziness of it all. I love attending them, learning new things, meeting people, refreshing acquaintances. It can be intimidating and confusing. It can be an onslaught to the senses. And it can be amazing, when I manage my time to make the most of it. Attending conventions and conferences is costly, both in terms of money invested to go and time taken away from writerly things to be there. In this podcast episode, I talk about how I manage my time to prepare and attend cons to make the best use of both my money invested and my time. Highlights I've got a lot of events in 2016 Questions I ask myself before deciding to go Planning ahead: 6 months to a year More Planning ahead: a few months A few weeks in advance: do my clothes fit? Where's the schedule? I've arrived! It starts i

Prioritizing and urgency via deadlines are at the top of my mind as I kick off 2016's run of #EMEPiper at the changeover from January to February. Last year was full of deadlines, possibly the most challenging year for writing I've ever had. As a result, I've got five books releasing this year, as well as two or three short stories as PJ Schnyder. For the coming year, I've got even more planned and I want to manage my time so I can do all the things, enjoying them along the way. There are going to be some tough choices ahead and a lot of prioritization. Highlights Why is Piper podcasting about time management? Nifty friends with creative ideas, coordinating dates with writerly deadlines Setting daily word count targets to hit the deadline "Word count" and the publishing perspective Rewire the brain: word count target vs. chapter target NaNoWriMo and drafting, not editing On contracts and pitching and writing the next book Importance of deadlines, even self-imposed Word counts and genre Lessons Learned from

And it's here, the second episode of Every Minute, Everywhere: Time Management for Authors with Piper J. Drake. Confession: I'd intended to get this episode up in February. I had a major contractual deadline loom. The deadline became my highest priority and everything else fell by the wayside. This podcast included. Because the reality is that everything about being a writer is turning in your manuscript (or subsequent edits) to get your book published on time. There's a time management reality for you. Tough decision have to be made and we can't necessarily get All The Things completed in the time we have. Without further ado, I'm excited to share with you an interview with authors Robin Covington and Katee Robert on time management and using day planners to get organized for 2016. Highlights: Introductions: Robin Covington & Katee Robert How did we hear about EC Planners? Sticker & washi tape love Tracking word count What one thing would you recommend to an author trying to organize them

This is it! It's my first episode of Every Minute, Everywhere. Time Management for Authors with Piper J. Drake kicking off this week of podcasts to celebrate EMEPiper's new RSS feed and hosting home. Highlights: Introduction – What (or who) am I? Why am I podcasting? The New Year and SMART Goals …also scheduling What's in store for this podcast This is just the beginning and my first foray into solo podcasting. I plan to improve as I go and I hope you'll all enjoy #EMEPiper's evolution. You can support EMEPiper and Piper's other writing-related creative content at patreon.com/piperjdrake.