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One of your most important writing skills is the ability to focus on a single task at a time.
By Nick Usborne
It is something of a cliché to say that writers are scatter-brained.
But for many of us, much of the time, it's true.
As we sit alone at our desks we often find it hard to keep our minds focused on one task at a time. Instead, our minds wander.
We may be working on one writing task, but find our attention scattered, and parts of our mind touching on other ideas or projects we have in the pipeline.
This is fine if you write for pleasure. But it's not good if you write for a living.
Those of us who write commercially, as writers or copywriters, depend on our ability to be productive.
Being productive means being able to sit down and pack enough billable hours into each day to make a good living.
But levels of productivity vary enormously. Some people sit down in the morning and can produce a huge amount of work within six or seven billable hours.
Others will be far less productive and feel horrified by how little they achieve in a day, and how few hours they can actually bill for.
What is the difference between writers who are wildly productive and those who aren't?
Productive writers have fine-tuned a key writing skill – the ability and self-discipline required to prepare for their work tasks in advance, so that their writing time is exactly that...writing time. Not research time. Not preparation time. But writing time.
To perfect this particular writing skill and become more productive and profitable with your own writing work, learn and apply the 5 Rituals set out in Writing Rituals. Nick Usborne is an Author and professional writer with more than 30 years of experience. Learn more about his Writing Rituals...
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