SHELTER: Step Away From The Computer


comment now!

The computer is an amazing tool. It simplifies work, makes research and communication a breeze and even provides much needed diversion from time to time. But as amazing as it is, it can come at a bit of a price. While it can be a helpful tool to use in the day-to-day aspects of work, it can also hurt you productivity by monopolizing your focus AND by causing you to lose your focus at the same time.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt
Sitting at the computer hour after hour can rob you of the very thing that makes freelancing such a great thing: freedom to work when and where you want. If you’re always at the computer, then you could be at your kitchen table, in a corner office, or in a tiny gray-walled cubicle. What’s the difference when your entire world is encompassed by a 10″ by 12″ piece of class and plastic? Being busy it great, but make sure you’re actually BUSY, and not simply keeping busy.

No Distance= No Perspective
Creative work is best done in short, intense bursts. So, too, is analytical work. Since the majority of a writer’s time is spent concepting and writing (creative) or editing (analytical), your workday should be comprised of several short, intense periods of work, broken up by longer periods of, say, research and business management tasks.

Otherwise, you’ll get locked into one creative/analytical task and stay stuck in it for hours…and end up wasting half a day on something that could have been done more productively in thee separate 15-minute blocks. Write or edit until it starts feeling like you’re forcing it, then stop and take a break. Look at your to-do list and make sure you’re staying on-track.

Take a Break, Take a Breath, Go Low Tech for a Sec
You don’t even have to do all of your writing at the computer. Grab a pen and paper, and go sit out in the front yard and enjoy the day while you work. Or go sit in a museum, surrounded by creative masterpieces. Or out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature.

You’re a freelancer, by god. Don’t forget to act like it! You’ll find yourself being more productive and enjoying the job a whole lot more, because of it.

|comment now!

Comments

Leave a Reply