“According to a forthcoming study in the American Journal of Political Science, women are the most effective lawmakers in the land. Women sponsored more bills (an average of three more per Congress), cosponsored more bills (an average of 26 more per Congress), and attracted a greater number of cosponsors than their colleagues who use the other restroom. These new laws driven by women were not only enacted—they were popular.”

Read More:

Why Female Politicians Are More Effective | Newsweek.com | 1.22.11

Practically everyone has written a book these days, right? Well, maybe not everyone, but if you’re interested in putting your words in an orderly published package, today’s guest blogger, Anita Paul, has a bit of advice for you.

Everyone has a book in them. You probably know dozens of people who have said for years that they would write a book, but still haven’t. You might even be one of those people. One of the greatest challenges that prevents many aspiring authors from writing and publishing their book is being unorganized.

For an author, being organized is about being efficient, sticking to a schedule,  and making progress.Being unorganized often leads to procrastination. And procrastination leads to a dead end. Consider these inevitable results of being an unorganized aspiring author:

• Lack of confidence

• No clear goals for your book project

• Continual procrastination

• Unprepared for opportunities

• Feelings of failure

• Regret

• Defeat

Like many first-time authors, you probably have notebooks filled with content, sticky notes scattered here and there, and slips of paper onto which you have written random ideas to include in your book. But none of it has any rhyme or reason. Your job as an author is to comb through the content to find the nuggets that will make yours a book worth reading. Not only can the physical scatter be a problem, but so can the scatter in your mind.

You’ve heard the term “scatterbrain,” referring to one who has no clear thought pattern, poor memory, is disoriented, flighty, ineffective, or a simpleton. This is not the picture of a successful author. If you have the desire to write your life, tell a compelling story, or share your knowledge with others in a book, being organized is step one in making your dream of being an author a reality.

How can you turn the scatter of your mind — and that of the notes you have collected over the years — into a quality book that others will want to read? Here are a few tips to get organized to be published:

1. Make a decision that you will finish your book.

2. Set a deadline for when you anticipate finishing the book. This will feel uncomfortable, but you must set a deadline and commit to it.

3. Set goal markers to indicate that you plan to finish a certain chapter or complete a certain number of pages by a specified date.

4. Define your book. What do you want to write about? What is the purpose of your book?

5. Gather your notes and keep them in one place for easy access.

6. Outline your key points and the important takeaways for each.

7. Set goals. How many hours, words or pages will you write each day? Yes, each day. Consistency breeds success.

8. Develop a routine. Try to write at the same time, in the same place each day. Discuss your book project, goals and schedule with your family and/or roommates. Insist that they respect your writing time.

About the Author

Anita Paul owns The Write Image. She is a journaling expert, an author’s coach, a freelance writer and the author of three books. She coaches professionals in Corporate America and successful entrepreneurs to become published authors through her Write Your Life program. For aspiring authors, Anita provides strategies for writing and publishing a book and utilizing it to establish their expertise. Her insight into the process of writing and storytelling invigorates clients and audiences, and inspires them to find the hidden writer within to make their dream of becoming an author a reality.

Connect With Anita: Web | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn| E-Mail

“The best measure of productivity is probably output per hour, not output per person. By that measure, our own Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the United States trails at least two other countries, Norway and Ireland.”

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Even More Productive Than Americans | NYTims.com | 1.26.11

At the end of January (and many, many, many times last year), we had a huge snow storm that led to a two-hour power outage.  Two hours is not so bad when the outage happens in the morning and the sun is out…which, thankfully, was my experience last month.

So, with no TV or internet and a low mobile battery meter, what else is a girl to do? Here are a couple things you can do by sunlight or flashlight. Of course, this is assuming that you have an electric car and that you decided to stay home and not go mooch off your friends who have power. And a Wii.

1.  Write. What better time could there be to write your to do list? Maybe your firm grip on your pen and the movement of your hand will warm you up a bit. You can also write down a couple long term goals, like say switching from electric heat to gas heat. How about menu ideas for the upcoming week or that big bash you’re planning? If you’re a blogger, get crackin’ on that post!

2. Read. There’s lots you can read, right? Like Twitter updates. This one’s a bonus because you can also complain about not having power and read your followers’ replies.  Just be careful, though, because your phone might run out of juice while you’re reading updates. Alternative: Crossword puzzles are a good non-tech two-fer (reading + writing).

More to peruse: business books, organizing books (would include a shameless plug if I had a book to plug), OTR blog (total shameless plus), newspaper, the 5k+ e-mails that are still unread…anything really…even recipes for that menu planning that you’re doing (see #1).

3. Clean. You definitely don’t need electricity to clean. Grab your battery operated Swiffer and attack those floors. Do a bit of dusting, maybe wash the dishes (unless you’re on well water), clean the mirrors, scrub the bathroom…you get the picture.

4. Organize. You can’t really clean and not organize, can you? Put away those files, shred those credit card offers, clear your desk and the kitchen table, take everything out of your closet and then put them back in…neatly…remember, put like items together. You can do it!

5. Make. You could make something but if you’re dependent on electricity, you’ll run out of options fast. So, instead make a quilt or craft of some kind. Finish your scrapbook page. Make your bed. Make a bowl of ice cream. Well, you’re not really making it…you’re rescuing it from the freezer. But you could say you’re making it disappear. ;)

6. Fold. There’ll always be laundry to fold. Go check the dryer…you’ll probably find a few things in there to keep you busy. Or, you could do something a bit more inspirational, like folding paper cranes.  Check out the book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, and you’ll see what I mean. I read that book many moons ago when I was a teacher, and it still touches my heart.

7. Re-design. Who loves to rearrange their house so that it looks totally different? Ooh, me, me, me (frantically waving both arms in the air)!! It may not sound like fun, but it really is, especially if it’s something you’ve been meaning to do for a while.

So, if you’re sick of bumping into that chair, move it. Chances are you’ll have to move a few other things around as well, so go for it.  Pick a room, make a plan (or wing it…it’s not like you have something else better to do), and re-design it.  The best part about re-designing is that you don’t have to spend any money to redecorate.

8. Nothing! Kick it all to the curb (temporarily) and just be. Enjoy the time to do absolutely nothing. Or sleep. Put your feet up. Talk to your fish. You might not get the opportunity again to just do nothing. Unless you live in DC where the power goes out every time the wind blows.

“A paper to be published in the February issue of the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly reveals that when men stare at women’s chests, those women have more difficulty with math questions. While the male volunteers’ test scores were not affected by blatant objectification, the ogled females’ scores were about 17% worse. Women who were not objectified answered 6 of 12 math questions correctly. Those whose frontal projections were stared at got fewer than 5 questions right. ”

Read More:

Ogling Makes Women Less Productive, More Friendly: Study | OpenSalon.com | 1.28.11

“If you’re getting up early, you probably already have a good idea of what you want to accomplish that day – otherwise it would be hard to motivate to get up in the first place. Being an early riser also indicates a natural affinity for ritual and discipline – both key traits of especially productive people.”

Read More:

The 1-Step Plan for Super-Productivity | The99Percent.com | November 2010

Lifehacker, one of my favorite websites, has lots of helpful tips on how to make life just a little bit easier…your tech life, your home life, your work life, your life-life.  Ever notice how we double a word to make it more than what it is? It’s not  just awesome, it’s awesome-awesome.

Well, that’s how I feel about Lifehacker (and Huffington Post and the NY Times, too). In light of their awesome awesomeness, here are a couple of LH time management articles you should check out.

»  Prioritize Your Time Instead of Budgeting It. Throw time blocks out the window.  Simply put all your to do’s on a list and tackle them in order of priority.  Do you agree?

»  Use Your Teapot as a Productivity-Boosting Timer. Trying to get stuff done? Ask not what you can do for your kettle, but what your kettle can do for you.

»  Ignorance is Time Management. Stop stalking the clock while you work and you’ll be surprised by how much you get done.

»  How to Deal With Distractions in a Web Worker’s World. 7 ways to stay on track when you work from home.

»  Devote Four Minutes Every Morning to Actual Couple Talk. Get on the winning side of work-family balance and take four minutes every day to focus on your significant other.

What your favorite Lifehacker article? Share by leaving a comment.

“The holiday season — especially the week right before a holiday break — can actually mean greater productivity at work, according to a new survey from Accountemps.  The survey, which polled more than 300 senior managers, found that 32 percent believed that employees were actually more productive during the holidays, and 44 percent noticed no difference in productivity levels.”

Read More:

Holidays hinder work productivity? | CNN.com | 12.6.10

“Home is where the office is for more than half of U.S. entrepreneurs, according to the Small Business Administration.  In addition to neighborhood noises, some would have to put up with chatty roommates, unwanted visitors or attention-seeking children or pets…working more on household chores than business.”

Read More:

When Home is Where the Office Is | WSJ.com | 11.21.10

Our guest blogger, Marjorie Asturias, is knee-deep in writing a novel. Today, she explains how she stays on track during the writing process.

First, let me dispel any notions you may have about my so-called “expertise” as a writer/entrepreneur successfully juggling many projects. Like most people, I struggle with determining priorities, managing them and then actually executing them.

Still, I need to write. I get jittery and start picking my nails till they bleed if I don’t write at least once a day. I hear my characters whining somewhere above my head, particularly my lead character, a stubborn medical doctor who thinks that it’s my responsibility that I get him out of World War II alive. He’s an otherwise pleasant fellow, but when I don’t open that manuscript at least a few times a week he can get very testy. War does that to you, I guess.

I can’t claim to know the secrets of successful writing. For that I refer you to Stephen King, John Gardner, Natalie Goldberg, and Naomi Wolf, all of whom have written now-classic books on the discipline of being a writer. I can only share with you some habits I’ve developed over the years to help me get through what is often a rather painful, yet fulfilling period of writing.

I write every day.

It’s not that I’m disciplined, but rather because I’m undisciplined that I must write every single day. Consistency is key, and if all I produce that day is a single, terrible paragraph, I still get a tremendous feeling of accomplishment seeing that completed paragraph fill the page.

I write in the morning.

Once upon a time, I tried writing in the late evening, but by then my mind was so weakened from the day’s mental exercises that I could give only a half-hearted attempt at my computer. Now I get up an hour earlier than everyone else and click away at my laptop. My mind is fresh and uncluttered, the perfect launch pad for a writing session.

I write with music.

Some writers insist on total silence while working, but I like to crank up the classic station on Pandora.com. Rachmaninov seems to be the perfect soundtrack to a war novel, by the way.

I write first, then edit later.

Some writers agonize over every line they write before they can move on to the next one. I admire the tenacity of that practice, but it’s never worked for me. I follow the National Novel Writing Month technique of writing with little thought for grammar, punctuation, syntax, or even the pesky details of character and storyline consistency. Good storytellers understand the importance of the meaningful pause in their narration, but I, like many writers, find relief and release in the mad dash to the end of the sentence, paragraph or chapter.

Writing isn’t called a discipline for nothing. You need talent, of course, but without sustained effort, hard work and a lot of focus, you can only dream of being a writer.

About the Author

Marjorie R. Asturias is the president of Blue Volcano Media, an Internet marketing, content and search engine optimization (SEO) firm based in Dallas, Texas. She previously worked as a freelance writer and newspaper columnist, and has published articles and essays in national, regional and local magazines and newspapers. She’s currently hard at work finishing her first novel.

Connect With Marjorie: Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

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