organization

MuseHack Members Dish On Writing Tools – And It’s A Small Dish

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We got this question in the mail!

“Hello Musehack’s authors. I have a question. In your opinion what is the best Writing and mind map software out there? At the moment I’m using Scrivener for my novel and having good results, but more insight is always welcome. Still need a good one for mind mapping tho.”

So a lot of us here at MuseHack write professionally or semi-professionally. I did the rounds of the gang to find what they liked to use and the results . . .

We’re not exactly big on mind mapping tools. A few of us have tried Scrivner, and yWriter is an interesting alternative, but really we don’t use them.  Yeah, when it comes to it, the writer’s in our gang of geeks aren’t into specific writing tools.

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The Power Of Thursday

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I’m always trying to find new ways to get organized.  One of my techniques is to consolidate tasks to be done at certain times – this way I know when to do them and if that day gets interrupted, I can move them as a whole to another day.  It’s surprisingly helpful.

The day I found is best to get stuff done?  Thursday.  Consider.

  • Sunday – Sunday is usually a day off but people still use it for light chores, and it’s still the weekend.
  • Monday – Don’t even get me started.  Monday, at best, is a good day to plan your week.
  • Tuesday – You’re getting going.  Also, it’s almost Wednesday.
  • Wednesday – Hump day.  Really, what do you want to do on Wednesday?
  • Thursday – Is the day after hump day and the day before Friday.  It’s a good time to “put everything in order” for the weekend and clean up after the week.
  • Friday – Is Friday.  You want to do chores then?
  • Saturday – Weekend.

So yes, Thursday.  Thursday is a good day to “clean up and prepare.”  Thursday is when you’re just about to the weekend but aren’t starting the week.  Thursday is a good time to clean the house or do shopping or whatever chores you have.

I think Thursday is a bit unappreciated really.  It’s at that ideal time in the workweek you can get a lot done, and you get some perspective on the week to do it.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Own Your Planning

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"I hate to plan"

I hear that a lot.  *I* say it sometime, and I'm a person who uses Project Management techniques to plan his hobbies.  (I use SCRUM, if you must know).

Here's the hard fact of your career – you have to plan.  People succeed with different levels of planning, but you need to be able to plan.

I think a lot of people hate planning as it's been forced on them.  They were told to plan in school, by parents, teachers, bosses, etc. who told them to plan without telling them why – or often how.  When something is forced on us, we really don't like it.

The solution I find is to get INTO planning.  Own it.  Make it your own.  Take it back from the realm of people harassing you to get organized who clearly don't know what you're doing.

Go and own planning.  Do it your way.

A few tips:

  • Set goals you really want and make plans to reach them.  This helps motivate you but also lets you appreciate good planning.
  • Find fun ways to do it.  I confess I love playing with spreadsheets, documents, etc. to find new ways to plan.  You may like drawing things out, using Microsoft Project, etc.  Find what works for you.
  • Read books on it.  Some life coaches and writers get seriously into the planning/organizing thing and they enjoy it.  Their enthusiasm can be infectious – and their advice is helpful.  I reccomend "Getting Things Done" most heartily.

Finally, if you're reading this you're a geek, you're a fan.  You've planned cosplays, conventions, trading card shows, RPGs, and more.  You've probably got the ability and experience, you just don't realize it.

Go and own planning.

– Steven Savage