(Asana screenshot in calendar view)
This week I needed to concentrate on catching up with the ghostwriting work. Right after having one writing marathon and submitting it, I was straight into another, and that isn’t sustainable. Also, if one step was delayed in any way, it pushed the rest along too.
So I took the week off blogging, Medium, my own writing and self-publishing and tried to come up with a system that will work. I did allow myself an hour of handwriting work each day, but even that stalled this week. Unless you count all of the planning and scheduling I did.
The weekend
Saturday was shopping and a Monkey Dust gig. The band had a great time in Doncaster, with a fantastic crowd who reminded them why they do it.
On Sunday I scheduled a handful of posts, including one to Diane’s Gig List Facebook group and a couple to here and on Medium. I did some diary work, and I finished a chapter for Ghostwriting Book 6 Part 2.
Monday
On Monday, the poet’s old company car was being picked up and his new one being dropped off, and my car had its MOT. By the time I got back from the garage (it passed!), the car shuffle had happened and the poet was playing with his new toy.
I also wrote three chapters for Ghostwriting Book 6 Part 2.
Tuesday
On Tuesday I had another look at the diary and also thought about my project management. My Asana had switched from the full product trial to the basic free product and I was working out if it was useful to me now or not without the extras. I decided it was.
I also wrote one chapter for Ghostwriting Book 6 Part 2.
Wednesday
I think that Wednesday was quite possibly my most productive day on the client work. Ghostwriting was the only thing I did all day and I wrote five chapters. By then I had enough words (20,000+) to submit Ghostwriting Book 6 Part 2.
Thursday
Overnight, the ghostwriting client approved payment for Part 2 and raised the contract for Part 3. I then spent the entire morning and some of the afternoon doing extensive diary work and synchronising it with the Asana project management. I think I finally found my rhythm.
I did want a clear day between submitting Ghostwriting Book 6 Part 2 and starting Ghostwriting Book 5 Part 3, but I also wanted to read through Part 2 of Ghostwriting Book 5 as a refresher and to write the last quarter of Chapter 20.
Thursday is gig list day again on Facebook (Yay!), so there was some sharing to do for that. The hairdresser arrived at 4pm to cut both of our hairs, I had Fat Club (maintained but awarded a silver Body Magic certificate), and we did the shopping.
Today
Today I start Ghostwriting Book 5 Part 3 with a vengeance. Aside from the slight indulgence of allowing myself a blog post this morning, that’s all I’m doing.
Saying that, the gardeners did say they might be here and I have a telephone consultation booked in this afternoon with our pharmacist at the doctor’s.
Also, Monkey Dust has another gig tonight, so that means an early finish… and it’s possible that I may be doing work at the weekend. But it really is the last time that I have any weekend work pencilled in.
The diary
The diary did take a bit of a bashing over the course of the week. The ghostwriting was, quite frankly, wearing me out. So I needed that clear day in between instalments for three main reasons:
- The first and obvious reason is to recharge.
- The second reason is so that I can fit other clients in.
- And the third reason is to give me some wiggle room.
I have now added all of the current ghostwriting work to my diary, and to Asana, at a rate of three ‘things’ per day. These things can be made up from the following:
- reading through the outline
- splitting the outline into workable chapters
- transferring the outline to Scrivener
- Internet search for images
- a chapter (roughly 2,000 words each)
- a read-through
- any revisions
- the blurb (up to 500 words)
- the bonus short story (roughly 3,000 words)
Mornings will still be mine, for *my* work. However, I’m not going to fill those three hours chock-a-block. I need wiggle room there too, and if the full clear day and only three things a day don’t give me that, then at least I have extra time in the mornings if necessary.
Afternoons will be client time. While I have the ghostwriting contracts, I’ll do the three ghostwriting things in those four hours and a submission if it’s ready. My current contracts take me up to w/e 10 September.
I’ve also given myself the weekends off again (from next week). Working at the weekend to catch up shouldn’t really be an option. I didn’t give up the rat race to work at the weekends! Or late into the night.
All of this is from next week because I’m still in the thick of it this week. I have my first full, clear day before instalments scheduled, and already it is filled with another client’s work.
Wish me luck! And have a great weekend.
