Tip 14: Make writing the highlight of your day
Prioritisation is tough. How do you figure out what's the best thing to work on? Bec shares a highlight from writers Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky.
Hello, it’s Monday which means it’s writing tip day.
While my biog claims that I’m a writing productivity expert, I still get stuck on prioritisation. It’s often said that the secret of working efficiently and effectively is deciding what to work on and deciding what will have the most impact. Therein lies the problem! (We’ve written about the prioritisation conundrum before.)
There are as many approaches to prioritisation as there are items on my to-do list. Choosing which approach to use can be as time consuming as doing the darned thing. Do I plump for the Eisenhower Matrix and sort all my items into urgent or important quadrants, or should I identify my Most Important Thing, or swallow a frog?
Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky shared another approach in their book Make Time. They wrote:
“Asking yourself: ‘What’s going to be the highlight of my day?’ ensures you spend time on the things that matter to you and you don’t lose the entire day reacting to other people’s priorities. When you choose a highlight, you put yourself in a positive, proactive frame of mind.”
Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
What’s your highlight?
This isn’t the same as choosing the biggest, most important or urgent thing. It’s about choosing what matters to you. That could be ticking off a big work project or cooking dinner for your family.
Having a highlight resonated for me - when I think about it, I have an almost instinctive feeling for what ‘feels’ productive, satisfying in the sense that when I look back on my day, it has been well spent. Generally it isn’t those tasks that shout loudest.
Often my highlight is writing my novel, even for a few minutes. It makes me feel good to write. And as we know, feeling positive about your writing will keep you going long term.
How do you prioritise? I’d love to hear your highlights.
Keep writing, Bec
Thank you for sharing Kenzie - I too have learned nothing from your wisdom.
