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Guest Blogger: Lynda Kaye Frazier
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

A Quick Note: The She Shifters Blog Tour and Fournicopia Blog Blitz continue!
Up for grab are a ton of great prizes. Be sure to hit Megan Slayer’s blog
and Seductive Musing today for yet more chances to win! ~DD

* * * * *

What Robs You of Your Time to Write

My intentions to stay on track are great or that’s what I like to tell myself. Time management is a balance. A precise schedule that holds everything together. But there are days when no matter what I did nothing worked out and these days would run into weeks. I had to find out what was robbing me of my time so I made a list.

What took up time in my day.

Work, eating, cleaning, feeding animals, laundry, e-mail, blogs and sleep. By the time I got home, cleaned up, ate and worked on e-mails I was exhausted. In my head I had hours during the day to write. Why wasn’t it working out in my real life?

I found an article and it talked about writing out a time log. Spend a few days and jot down everything you do.  It worked out great and showed me how I was wasting so much time.  So I decided to share.

Preparing and writing your time log

You don’t need to keep writing a time log permanently. It is sufficient to do it for 3-7 days.  When you write a time log, make sure you don’t miss even the minor activities. Don’t let your time wasters hide there. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into columns listed below.

  • Time
  • Activities
  • Scheduled
  • Interrupted
  • Urgent
  • People (involved)

Then continue with activities you would normally do that day. On the way, update your time log. Do it either every time you switch to a new activity or at some short time intervals, like 10-20 minutes. Add entries to your “Time” and “Activities” column, and try to put marks like “Yes” or “No” in the “Scheduled”, “Interrupted”, and “Urgent” columns. Where relevant, make short notes on what people you spend time with too.

When you have your time log written, you can move to the most important part, the analysis. Review your records and try to get answers to the following questions.

  • What percentage of your time is spent in each of the      different areas of your life? How is it divided between Work, Business,      Family, Recreational, writing?
  • What percentage of your activities are important?
  • Are urgent?
  • What people you spend more time with?
  • What percentage of your activities go as planned?
  • What are main interruptions?

Then think of possible adjustments and action steps. For example:

  • Are there any activities you can cut back on?
  • Is there anything you can delegate or simplify?
  • Can you save time by grouping related tasks, like      shopping?

Once you see everything you do on paper it will amaze you on how you can add a little more time to your writing.

My time is better spent now on getting my book ready for its release.

 Rescued from the Dark


Set to be released end of 2012
Published through Black Opal Books

What if you woke up from a nightmare, trapped in a world of darkness, with no memory of how you got there? Rescued from the Dark is a passionate, gripping story about FBI agent, Jason Michaels, confronting his duty to his country, and struggling with his feelings for a woman with no memory of their love.

Undercover Agent, Jason Michaels, infiltrates the terrorist cell and risks everything, even his life, to save the FBI intern who stole his heart, then walked away. Once Mercy wakes from her coma Jason struggles with the fact that she does not remember what happened, but anguishes with the idea that she believes their unborn child belongs to her ex. Jason soon realizes the terrorists vow to get her back to claim their secrets locked in her memory, no matter what the cost.In a race against time, Jason and Mercy struggle to fight their attraction, and put their differences aside, as they launch a manhunt to save their country and each other.

 Lynda Kaye Frazier
http://lyndafrazier.blogspot.com
www.lyndakayefrazier.com
Facebook- Lynda Kaye Frazier- Author
Twitter- lynda_kaye
Writing is my passion, Reading is my Love

8 comments to “Guest Blogger: Lynda Kaye Frazier”

  1. kittyb78
    Comment
    1
    · July 25th, 2012 at 6:50 pm · Link

    !Hm a time log… what a great idea! Thanks. 🙂



  2. Marika Weber
    Comment
    2
    · July 25th, 2012 at 6:53 pm · Link

    Major congratulations Lyndia!!!! 😛

    Biggest time suck for me is trying to keep a 7 year old boy (my son) entertained in the summer. We just moved so he isn’t at day camp anymore. 🙁

    Great blog and it has given me something to work on.

    Marika



  3. April London
    Comment
    3
    · July 25th, 2012 at 7:09 pm · Link

    Go Lynda!!!!

    I’d be too embarrassed to read my own time log. I know where i waste time…. lol…

    April London



  4. Joyce Palmer
    Comment
    4
    · July 25th, 2012 at 7:20 pm · Link

    Great post, Lynda.

    Recently, I found out that I function best in all things when I have structure. So, even though I haven’t made a log, I’ve tried to mentally plan each day to include my favorite activity—writing!

    Your book sounds intriguing, and I wish you abundant sales! 😀



  5. Janice Seagraves
    Comment
    5
    · July 25th, 2012 at 7:21 pm · Link

    Good luck finding time to write, Lynda.

    Janice~



  6. Lynda Frazier
    Comment
    6
    · July 25th, 2012 at 8:33 pm · Link

    Thank you Delilah for having me today. I still struggle with time management as you can tell by my late response. Day job and lack of internet sure gets in the way sometimes.
    Thank you Kitty for stopping by. The time log is a really big eye opener.

    Congrats on your move Marika and yes keeping a 7 year old entertained can be a challenge some dys.

    Hey April, I was very surprised to find out I waste a lot of time drinking coffee. My relaxing moments. I’m not giving up coffee just adding a few other tasks to it.

    Hey Joyce. I’m a list person. Mentally I need structure it just doesn’t always work out too well.

    I’ll find time Janice, even if it’s getting up earlier.

    Thanks again Delilah. 😆
    Lynda



  7. Delilah
    Comment
    7
    · July 25th, 2012 at 11:17 pm · Link

    Lynda! Thanks for being a wonderful guest. And I am most definitely a list person too. I’d never remember a thing without one!



  8. Fedora
    Comment
    8
    · July 26th, 2012 at 2:58 pm · Link

    Ah, listmaking is a habit I need to resume! Thanks, Lynda!



Comments are closed.