With Spring right around the corner, try these quick and easy tips to clear the clutter from your writing, workspaces and schedules and refocus on your writing goals.
Declutter Your Writing
1.Scrutinize your openings.
Go back and look at your opening after you complete a new draft of an article for your website, speech or anything else. Do you need those first few sentences? Sometimes what we initially open with is the equivalent to clearing our throats before we speak. It is an important part of the writing process to warm us up and allow us to get into the story. But, often, a piece is stronger without those first few lines. Try it for a more powerful opening.
2. Identify your filler words of habit.
We all do it. Just like we clear our throats in our initial openings, we also insert filler words when we write. Take 15 minutes to re-read your recent work. Identifying which unnecessary words you tend to use can help you make your current drafts stronger and limit it in the future. Common culprits include just, very, also, so, that, then, really and like.
3. Stick to active voice.
Our verb choice can make a big difference in clearing clutter from our writing. Most of the time, active voice will be the best and simplest choice. In other words, instead of explaining that homecooked meals are prepared by your personal chef business, say that you prepare homecooked meals as a personal chef.
4. Look for double words.
Another bad habit is using two words together that mean the same thing. Take a pass through your piece specifically for this because they can be hard to spot. Common examples include end result, advanced planning, surrounded on all sides, and drop down.
Declutter Your Workspace
5. Remove distractions from your line of sight.
Take an hour to remove any potential distractions from your line of sight when you’re sitting down at your desk, whether it’s a pile of old work you need to go through, bills that need to be paid, or research for another project you’re working on. Keeping your entire office area organized can be overwhelming but focusing on just what you see when sitting at your desk is more manageable. It’s also the most important since the less there is to divert your attention from your writing, the more you can accomplish at each session.
6. Keep your drafts organized.
Keeping your work organized helps when you want to go back to that line you had three versions ago. Imagine how much time you’d save if the 10 minutes you spend looking for each file went into your writing instead. If you work on the computer, develop a naming convention to save all of your files, such as DATE_PROJECT. Whether you use paper or a computer, use one folder as your go-to spot for anything related to the project — whether it’s drafts, research, notes, or pictures.
7. Take 10 minutes to clean up at the end of each writing session.
Set a timer for 10 minutes to organize yourself after each writing session. This should be enough time to clear up your desk and desktop. Keep a notebook on your desk devoted to creating notes for your next session to quickly jot down what you did and where you should start. This way you can jump right in next time.
Declutter Your Schedule
8. Assess where you spend your time today.
Take an opportunity to assess where you spend your time today. For one week, keep track of everything you do and how long it takes. At the end, total up the minutes. Are you spending most of your time doing what is a priority to you? If not, try to find ways to change it. Can you combine exercising with watching your favorite television show? Could you enlist someone else’s help to do dishes after dinner? Pick one or two things and take action. Free up some additional time to create your content.
9. Set monthly deadlines.
A lot of people set goals for the year but never break it down into monthly deadlines to achieve them. If you fall into this camp, take some time to do just that. Set realistic deadlines, such as word counts, number of case studies you’ll add to your portfolio, number of social media posts, or anything else. At the start of each month, pull out your list and knock them out.
10. Add sprints into your writing routine.
Get done with a meeting 10 minutes early? Is your doctors office running behind and you’ll be in the waiting room for a while? Take advantage of brief blocks of time to do a writing sprint. Either type on your phone or write in a notebook. The goal is to write fast and furious and get as many words down as you can. It will not be your best work, and that is okay. You’ll fix that later when editing. But you’ll have gotten in a couple hundred more words than you would have if you spent that same time checking out social media or emails on your phone.
Your Turn to Take Action
The start of Spring is a great time to set aside some time and remove some of our clutter — either physical or mental. Pick a few of these ways to for your writing, work space and schedule that are getting in the way of you advancing your work. You don’t need to take huge actions. You just need to be consistent and keep it up.
If you like this, you might also like our Four Common Writing Mistakes and How to Fix Them blog post.
Cover photo by rawpixel on Upslash
