Two Ways Writers Can Get More Done in Less Time

Bestselling author Michael Hyatt offers some great productivity tips on his blog. Below are two gems from his archives that caught my eye.

Keep these in mind to help you carve out more time and space to write books, blog posts, scripts, articles, and more:

1) Touch email messages once - and only once.

"How many times do you read the same email message over and over again? Guess what? The information hasn't changed," Hyatt writes. "I have a personal rule: I will only read each message once then take the appropriate action: do, delegate, defer, file or delete it."

I'm guilty as charged. I often "star" emails in Gmail with the intent to respond later. And later often never comes - which means I not only leave a lot of items hanging out there unfinished; I also create potential bad vibes with people who wonder why I never responded.

Let's all resolve to deal with unanswered emails as quickly as we can!

2) Follow the two-minute rule.

"I do everything I can immediately," Hyatt asserts. "If I need to make a phone call, rather than entering it on my to-do list, I just make the call. If I can complete the action in less than two minutes, I just go ahead and do it. Why wait? You will be amazed at how much this 'bias toward action' will reduce your workload."

He continues, "Conversely, when you don't do it promptly, you end up generating more work for yourself and others. The longer a project sits, the longer it takes to overcome inertia and get it moving again. The key is to define the very next action and do it. You don't have to complete the whole project, just the next action."

Great advice. Read Michael Hyatt's entire blog post, called "How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week," here.

Have you used either of these two ideas to be a more efficient writer? In what other ways do you get more done in less time? I welcome your comments.

Bob

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