Links to Recent Articles and Fiction

Here’s some links to my most recent articles, as well as two flash pieces I wrote for Flash!Friday.

Recent Articles:

The Importance of Reading for Pleasure

5 Great Productivity Hacks for 2015

How to turn your dreams into goals

It’s not too late to make New Year’s resolutions

Flash Fiction

The Last to Leave

Fate's Choice

View image | gettyimages.com

A Plan of Action for Productivity in 2014

Today is my first day back at work for the year. With piles of emails to read and getting back in the thick of deadlines I realised that I need to rethink the way in which I keep track of my tasks and deadlines.

I’ve decided to try a mixture of a diary/planner and the Bullet Journal this year. As I already used a form of bullet journaling (is that a real phrase) I realised that the system Ryder Carroll uses may just work for the scatterbrain half of me. I’ve tried to use digital task management tools and, though I still find something like Wunderlist wonderful, I want something that is offline.

For the love of all that is analogue – theBullet Journal

First off, go and listen to this podcast of The Pen Addict where Ryder Carroll is the guest and talks about the Bullet Journal and how it can be used and adapted to fit in with the way you work. (I think some of the people who have tried it missed the part where you adapt the journal to suit how you work.)

For me the index in the front will help a lot to find meeting notes between random daily to-dos, writing notes, brainstorming for clients and the inevitable doodling. But I also need a diary/planner because of my strict deadlines – those I need to be able to write in ahead of time so I can plan all my other work around them.

I’m also not going to use a Moleskine notebook – though they are beautiful and lovely to work in, I do not want to use such an expensive notebook for everyday notes.

And Some Digital Help as Well...

I also need a bit of digital help, especially when it comes to keeping links handy for different projects or simply to read later. For this I recommend two apps – Wunderlist and Evernote. Both these apps are free for the basic app and quite inexpensive to upgrade.

The Wonderful Wunderlist

While I used to use Wunderlist for everything at work, I found after a few months that I’d rather make notes by hand and carry them around with me. I also remember stuff easier when I write with actual pen and paper rather than just typing.

What is very handy, though, is that it is available for mobile as well. If you would rather have your lists and notes available digitally, this is the app I would choose.

Evernote

When it comes to keeping links and notes for a project I need to have on a computer (or which is just more practical to keep on a computer) Evernote is a definite winner and one I’ll be making more use of this year.

7 Productivity Tips – Tested and Approved*

*by me

After some long hours and lots and lots (and lots) of typing and editing I finally feel that I’m getting somewhere with The Eternal Dissertation. And I am thanking my lucky stars that it’s a subject which I still find interesting! After these few weeks I feel I have some tips on staying productive:

The tips:

• Don’t let you computer catch on fire. Although I would have preferred it if Binky (my poor laptop) didn’t catch on fire on its own account. Very rude.
• A few supportive friends and a great sister (or sibling) who won’t mind you rambling off on a tangent about how much work you need to do on X or Y for a few minutes. Even if they have no idea what you’re talking about. 
• Get your cat to help (or get a cat). Sir T is only too happy to remind me to take breaks by going to sleep on top of my books or in my chair as soon as I get up to make some tea.
• Tea and/or coffee. But don’t overdo the caffeine (rooibos tea is a great option) or the sugar. And remember the biscuits – only to be used as reward, of course *cough cough*. I have yet to meet someone who likes chewing on carrot sticks the whole time they are studying. And a carrot is just not as good a reward as a biscuit – admit it.
• Notebooks! Pens! Sticky notes! While apps are great, I still find pen and paper the best way to get my thoughts ordered.
• Music. Whatever you like, whatever keeps your mind ticking or your fingers typing. My choices usually change during the day. On the days I get up at 4am it’s usually something like Meat Loaf (But not loud enough to wake my neighbours. Because even really nice people don’t want to be woken at 4am by Bat Out Of Hell. You do not want neighbours fervently wishing a lightning bolt would smite you.). During the day some Early Music, a few playlists with my favourite songs or soundtracks and in the evening something like The Parlotones, Theuns Jordaan or Josh Groban.
• Save. Save. Save your work! There’s nothing like losing a file (or losing something because your computer caught on fire) to make you lose all your motivation (Thank goodness this didn’t happen to me. I only lost a few sentences.)

And now it’s back to work for me. 

Image of hand by GraphicsFairy.com