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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Time Management

Time Management

Ever Had One of Those Days?

By Steve Laubeon June 24, 2024
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You are going along with your tidy to-do list decorated with empty check-boxes waiting to be marked.

And then, WHAM!

You get hijacked like the rhino in today’s picture and carried off to some unknown destination.

Hours go by, and you are tossed to and fro by this new crisis and that new task.

Before you know it, the day is done and your eyes find that tidy to-do list. Still pristine as the moment you created it, unsullied by your hand. You glumly pick up your pen and add six new items to that list so you won’t forget to take care of everything tomorrow.

Ever had one of those days?

What about one of those weeks? Or months?

What do you do about it?

Read more books about time management?
Swear off email for a day? [Note that I said “swear off,” not “swear at.”)
Throw away your list and pretend it never existed?
Go on vacation and blame everything on “being away from my desk”?
Work on weekends or evenings when it is blissfully quiet?

Or do you get determined to get it all done if it kills you or those around you?

We all have our busy times. And we all manage the “stress” differently. I’m curious to hear what you do when your best-laid plans for getting things done go awry.

Meanwhile, try not to feel like the rhino in today’s photo.

[An earlier version of this post ran in 2014. I’d rather not think about the number of “rhino flying” days I’ve had in the last 10 years.]

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Category: The Writing LifeTag: Interruptions, The Writing Life, Time Management

Too Much Social Media?

By Steve Laubeon October 25, 2021
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The following article appeared in the UK on November 5th, "Facebook Users Spend Three Solid Days a Year on the Site."

Three full 24 hour days on Facebook per year! Or nearly two full work weeks if you count a work week as 35-40 hours a week. And I suspect the statistics hold true in the U.S. as well.

Not all writers are full-time. Some must juggle day jobs or home-life responsibilities …

Read moreToo Much Social Media?
Category: Social MediaTag: Facebook, Social Media, Time Management, Writing Craft

Meet Writing Goals Like a Pro

By Bob Hostetleron October 23, 2019
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Gregg LeVoy, in his book This Business of Writing, says: All achievements begin as pictures in someone’s mind, and the more clearly they are held there, the more easily they can be hewn onto paper, stone, and playing field. Businesses are no different. They work better when you have a picture to work from. If you can hold solidly in your mind the picture of what you want your writing business to …

Read moreMeet Writing Goals Like a Pro
Category: time managementTag: Time Management

The Automatic Writer

By Bob Hostetleron August 15, 2018
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My coffee maker is on a timer. My thermostat is programmed to different temperatures at night and by day. My computer screen even dims to a softer hue as the day progresses. I try to automate everything I can, believing that the fewer tasks I have to remember every day, the more I can focus and achieve. That may or may not be true, but I’m convinced that automation has helped me—and many of my …

Read moreThe Automatic Writer
Category: Social Media, Technology, The Writing Life, TrendsTag: Technology, The Writing Life, Time Management

How Much Time Should I Budget to Write My Book?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 26, 2018
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New authors have a distinct advantage over established authors under deadline: no deadline. As a new author, you may have fiddled with your novel for years. Perhaps you’ve entered contests and incorporated feedback. Maybe you’ve read books about writing and attended conferences. After all this effort, you landed a contract. Congratulations! Now you may have another happy problem: estimating how …

Read moreHow Much Time Should I Budget to Write My Book?
Category: Career, The Writing LifeTag: Career, Deadlines, The Writing Life, Time Management

How To Decide What You Will and Won’t Do with Your Time

By Karen Ballon March 22, 2017
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I hear it all the time: “So many things are vying for my time. How do I decide, and how do I do it all and still write??” Many of us struggle to know what we should be doing with our time. And there are so many things we can do, most of which seem right and noble and even godly, and many of which take time away from being able to do this task of writing. Before you decide where to spend your time, …

Read moreHow To Decide What You Will and Won’t Do with Your Time
Category: The Writing LifeTag: Faith, The Writing Life, Time Management

The Elephant’s Goin’ Down!

By Karen Ballon September 19, 2012
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by Karen Ball

You remember the old adage:
Q: How do you eat an elephant?
A: One bite at a time!
As I’ve reviewed my calendar this week, I’ve realized that’s what I’ve got on the screen in front of me. An elephant.

Maybe two.

And they’re reaaaaallly big.

SO many things to get done before I board a plane early Wednesday morning and wing my way to Dallas for the ACFW conference. As …

Read moreThe Elephant’s Goin’ Down!
Category: Book Business, Career, Writing CraftTag: Career, Time Management

The Perils of Social Media

By Steve Laubeon January 9, 2012
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Facebook. Twitter. Shoutlife. LinkedIn. Dopplr. Google+. Plaxo. Blogger. WordPress. Shelfari. Goodreads. Writer's loops. Conference loops. Endless loops.

By the time I finish updating my status, writing my blogs, tweeting, pasting my bulletins, my newest pictures, my URLs and YouTube links, recruiting friends, recommending friends, sharing reads, rating reads, ranking reads, ranking friends, …

Read moreThe Perils of Social Media
Category: Book Business, Get Published, Guest Post, Humor, Marketing, Social Media, Writing CraftTag: Agents, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Time Management, Writing Craft

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