Happy New Year Everyone! I love the change in years because it is a time when we are able to reflect on our lives and change what we don't like about our lives and add to our lives things we do like. The problem is that a few days later, we are back to the same old routine. We have changed nothing. Experts say that one of the big reasons that we fail is because we try to do too much at a time. A better approach is to take bite sized changes, make them routines and then add to them.
      This is the premise to the program started by The Fly Lady . The fly lady teaches how to clean and keep your house clean. She begins with "shining your sink" and builds habit upon habit throughout the year.
      This is also the premise that I am using in creating my own daily systems for my live including my writing. My system is called SOFF which is an acronym for S-start, O-Organize and Outline, F-Focus, and F-Finish. For an overview of the system check out Daily Planning: Increase Productivity
      This is how this relates to increasing my writing productivity. I will set aside specific times each day to work on writing projects. During this time, I will START the project, I will organize my writing time to do specific things. For instance, if I have designated the time to write my first draft, I won't spend it researching or checking emails. I will ORGANIZE my space to make writing the easiest process to do during that time. I will organize my materials and I will OUTLINE what it is that I intend to write. Once I know where my writing session will begin and where it will end, then I will write. This brings us to FOCUS. During my writing session I will focus on the project at hand. If during the session I think of something that doesn't fit, I will quickly write it down so I don't lose the thought. If I need to further research sometime, I will put the item I need to research into brackets {} but I will make sure that I don't break stride. FOCUS is the key to this whole process. Finally we come to FINISH. At the end of the writing session, I will quickly edit what I have written, I will determine what I will need to do next, then I will be done for the day. In the overall scheme of things, I will finish the projects I start before I start new ones so that I don't end up with a pile of unfinished writing projects. Each time I START writing, I will work on projects already started first and then move onto ones that I want to start.
        I have two published novels in The Locket Saga. When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don't Cry, The Locket Saga Continues. And like most writers, I have many more writing projects in the works. What are you currently working on, and do you have a system that keeps you productive on a daily basis?