Do you calendar out projects to work on each week?

J

jennytg3

0
I've noticed I'm having trouble with projects that repeat each week but don't have a particular due date, for instance: "Blog twice a week for my client." It doesn't have to happen on a particular day, but should happen twice each week. I usually wait until I feel like writing or see something that would be appropriate to blog about, but then other stuff gets in the way or I don't feel like it, then poof, end of week and no blog posts.

Should I just set a goal - i.e. blog on Wed and Fri and then on Tues and Thurs put on my calendar - brainstorm/research blog posts?

Any other suggestions? Thank you!
 
I would use a daily checklist for routine stuff like blogging. I have a morning, evening and workday checklist, and I would add blogging to the workday checklist eg "blog twice a week". You don't need to do it every day but you need a reminder everyday so you can think "hmm, is today a good day to blog?"
I do something similar with my laundry, my evening checklist has "wash whites Tue & Sat", as I usually only need to do full white loads twice a week, but like to be reminded every day in case this week there is more or a different day would suit better.
 
What's do your days look like? Do they have a rhythm to them? Do you like to write? Any particular time of day? How long does it take you to write a blog entry? If you know the answers to questions like these, you will be close to your answer. I do recommend looking at books on writing. For academic writing, I like How to Write a Lot by Sylvia, but the point is the same in all areas: you write effectively by sitting down to write on a regular basis. I write by myself in the mornings at home, with collaborators at work in the afternoon.
 
Suelin23;93455 said:
I would use a daily checklist for routine stuff like blogging. I have a morning, evening and workday checklist, and I would add blogging to the workday checklist eg "blog twice a week". You don't need to do it every day but you need a reminder everyday so you can think "hmm, is today a good day to blog?"
I do something similar with my laundry, my evening checklist has "wash whites Tue & Sat", as I usually only need to do full white loads twice a week, but like to be reminded every day in case this week there is more or a different day would suit better.
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I think this is the simplest and most reliable answer and doesn't involve any special custom processes to handle a soft deadline. You only have one thing to remember, every day check the daily checklist.
 
daily writing versus binge writing

Decades ago, in my research assistant days in grad school, a faculty member asked me to do a literature review on academic writing and what practices resulted in adequate publication for tenure. There was little to be found on this as such so we expanded the search to find out about the practices of people in writing-dominated jobs who were successful. As I recall we read through a lot of studies and did a rather gross analysis. The conclusion was that in all fields of academia and in various fields of writing in general. people who wrote 1 to 3 pages a day were far more successful than "binge" writers. Binge writers felt they worked harder, put in more time, but had more conflict and stress about the tasks. Regular writers were more relaxed, got more positive feedback and worked on manuscripts, correspondence, grant proposals, reports, etc, daily. The take home message was write everyday (every work day at any rate). As I recall, the successful writer wrote between 365 and 1000 finalized pages a year; whereas the less successful were around 100 to 250. So, perhaps a useful context would be "@writing" and make it part of the day as suggested above, some days do the blog, other days whatever other writing you need to do. .
 
Yes, Suelin23's method sounds workable. You can try if it is work for you.

For me, I have a weekly work schedule, such as 2 blogs a week, update facebook and twitter each day, I always check the work schedule every day as reminder. Oh, I also write the work dairy, write the work done today, and review the remaining works.
 
thanks everyone for all the helpful suggestions! That's really interesting info about the writing every day versus 'binge' writing.
 
I like schedules!

jennytg3;93438 said:
I've noticed I'm having trouble with projects that repeat each week but don't have a particular due date, for instance: "Blog twice a week for my client." It doesn't have to happen on a particular day, but should happen twice each week. I usually wait until I feel like writing or see something that would be appropriate to blog about, but then other stuff gets in the way or I don't feel like it, then poof, end of week and no blog posts.
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I like schedules and Standard Operating Procedures.

I blog twice a week and my posts appear on Monday and Thursday before 7am.

No excuses!
 
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