Time will continue to move, whether we want it to or not. But, what we do in that time is what makes all the difference. How often have you found yourself writing and then impulsively picking up your phone? Probably a bit more often than one would like to admit.

Enhancing your productivity by focusing on time management, tips to maximize the quality of your writing, and knowing the tricks of the trade to write more efficiently and effectively will be our gift to you in this blog!

It is time to work smarter, not harder!

Productivity Hacks: Create, Write, and Edit to Perfection 

Let's jump straight into how you can enhance your writing productivity. As you probably know, the writing process can be a rather convoluted one, with twists and turns, nooks and crannies, and even a few speedbumps along the way.

By focusing on your productivity, you will find that your writing techniques will become more refined, you will start thinking more clearly, and productivity strategies that once seemed novel will become second nature. It is all about practice, implementation, consistency, and repetition!

Your Next Generation's Writing Productivity Tricks

Everyone has told you to just put your technology away, and your productivity will go through the roof! Well, you and I both know that it isn't that easy, especially when we rely on our cellphones for communicating with coworkers, scheduling meetings, and remaining in contact with friends and family.

But, if you are going to get anywhere with your writing, you need to know how you work, which environments you work best in, and how you can personalize your working style to enhance productivity across all areas of your life.

Here are a few of the next-generation productivity strategies that will enhance your writing output while ensuring your quality remains top-tier! They are as follows:

• Focus on creating a realistic writing goal: Many writers commit to writing their entire novel over the course of one week, forgetting that life goes on. So, start small! Gradually increase your goal as you become more comfortable with the writing process and the direction your work is going.
• Set aside the time: This does not mean waking up every single morning and then writing until dusk. Setting aside a bit of time each day will help you get into a writing routine. Your brain will also pick up that it is time to write, and you will, by default, be more productive! Neuroplasticity for the win, right?
• Limiting distractions: Please don't go ahead and isolate yourself from everyone for hours on end across many days. Tailor your distractions. Yes, you read that right! If you know someone will worry about you, let them know you are going into a writing block!
• Use technology: Yes, you read this right too! There are productivity tools such as Forest that let you grow plants the more time you spend focusing. Open your messages or social media, and your plant dies. Who wants to be the cause of their own plant's death, right? Not to mention, you can compete with your friends to see who has focused for the longest amount of time!
• Make use of AI: By this, we don't mean let it do your work for you! After all, imagine how boring it would be without the human element! Here, we mean using it to generate prompts to get those thoughts flowing.
• Take breaks as you need to: These aren't limited to a 15-minute break after sitting for eight hours of writing. The last thing you want is burnout, which puts you a lot further on the back foot than you originally were!

These may sound trivial, but in today's 'hustle' culture, the current generation has forgotten how to be human while still being able to write effectively and with high quality!

The question then arises: What does it mean to have written work that is of "high quality?" Well, you may think you are a great writer already. But, just imagine your potential after becoming the king or queen of productivity! You will be a force to be reckoned with in the literary world.

Tips, Tricks, and Writing Techniques

The way that you write needs to entice your audience. They need to feel all the emotion and excitement that you feel as you write your masterpiece. But capitalizing on these emotions, especially in the heat of a pivotal event in your story, can prove rather challenging.

So, how do we let the above productivity hacks frame your writing technique in such a way that your final manuscript rivals the literary marvels of our time? Focus on these writing tricks and tips when working on your technique, and you'll be unstoppable. They are as follows:

• Show, don't tell: As you continue to write, keep asking yourself if you can clearly see what you are trying to explain. Rather than telling readers what's happening, make adequate use of sensory details and vivid descriptions to show them exactly what is happening.
• Harness the power of active voice: Active versus passive voice is important when trying to understand how to engage your audience. Doing a bit of research on it will never be wasted. We recommend the active voice, as it makes the reader feel like they are a part of your story!
• Make sure to keep your sentences and paragraphs short: Nobody wants to read one big blob of text with horrible sentence structure. Not to mention, if the sentences are long-winded, you are bound to lose interest. Shorter sentences and paragraphs are not only easier to read and understand, but they will also help keep your writing clear and concise.
• Include strong verbs: Portray your character's action or describe a concept using a good choice of verbs that convey both action and power. Not only will your writing be more interesting, but its impact will be insurmountable!
• Figures of speech are your friend: Making sure to use your metaphors, similes, and onomatopoeia in a way that adds substance can make the most complex of ideas easier for the reader to understand. This, along with using sensory language, will spark a fire in your reader and bring your writing to life!
• Review, review, review: A productivity hack that many writers forget is to constantly revise their work at different times! Not only will your brain be in a different mindset, but you'll be able to hash out your work in a way that improves its clarity, precision, and overall impact!

As a writer, you need to remember that you are not all-knowing. As soon as you believe that you have reached your peak, you have not yet understood the true potential you are capable of. An unspoken productivity hack is to continually improve yourself and your writing technique. That is how you become a bestseller!

All About Your Writing Goals

You need to have goals; it is absolutely imperative. Otherwise, what are you going to be working toward? Even if it is a checkpoint, you need to have instances where you reach little increments of achievement and pat yourself on the back! You know, just for that extra little bit of motivation!

A SMART Goal-Setting Principle

When people want to set goals, they are usually very enthusiastic! What does that do? Well, it sets you up for failure and a downward spiral of negative emotions. So, how do we combat this? You create goals that use the SMART criteria. It stands for goals that are:

• Specific: Do not leave any areas open to interpretation. Make sure all of your goals are concise!
• Measurable: What is your end point? How are you going to quantify whether you have made it or not? As a writer, this will most likely be your word count.
• Achievable: Make sure you can do it! This is where you need to be honest with yourself and your capabilities.
• Relevant: You can't say you want to write 4,000 words of your conclusion when you don't even know what you are writing about just yet.
• Time-bound: Give yourself a realistic timeline. If you know you can write 1,000 words per day, then go for it! But, just make sure to leave room for change. Some days you may feel you are in the zone and write 3,000 words. On other days, you may struggle to write at all.

As you include these characteristics in your goal setting, you will find that your writing will become clearer, your deadlines more concrete, and your productivity will skyrocket. It just goes to show you what a little extra depth can do for you!

In Summary 

Nowadays, productivity hacks are a buzzword for many different authors. But, very few provide you with concrete methods for enhancing your productivity without you paying some sort of fee. Well, we believe in all kinds of writers and want to help you progress your book as far as possible.

By making use of the right technology, shifting your writing style into the active voice, and making sure your smaller SMART goals align with your end goal, you will be gearing yourself toward greatness and success.

Struggling to hit the productivity sweet spot? Well, get in touch with us at The Urban Writers (TUW), and we will expose you to a world of freelancing opportunities that you never knew existed!