"Organizing the Writing Life" Day 2 Update: iPod as "motivational timer"

Photo: would someone please clean this s**t up? by ||peppersmom||

This week's installment, Day 2 of "Organizing the Writing Life", has a great comment thread going: a lot of reader feedback and a couple of additional tips from Sharon Sarmiento, guest blogger extraordinaire and resident goddess of organization.

One tip that Sharon left in the comments is something I want to highlight. It's a fun, efficient use of music that can further help us get things done:

Sometimes I incorporate music by using my iPod as a motivational timer. If I have 10 min or 15 min, I set the iPod to automatically turn off at the end of that time. It's like playing musical chairs--you want to get as much done as you can before the music stops. (I use this more with cleaning and yard work than with writing.)

If anyone wants to use their iPod as a motivational timer, here's the HowTo: If you can't do the 4-hour workday...your iPod is the key.

If you don't have an iPod, I think putting on any of your favorite tunes in combination with an egg timer or the timer on the kitchen stove should work. The keys are to use music as a motivation, and timebox your task.

Sometimes I write really well with music, though this largely depends on the type of scene I'm writing. If I have only 20 minutes to write, I'll put on music and just crank out the words. It's amazing how much ground I can cover in a short amount of time.

Comments

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Wow, Kristin--it's so cool that you can write with music going. I've tried to do that, but I just can't get going. It seems like I need silence or the sounds of nature (really being outdoors)to get into a zone.

I've heard that Andy Warhol used to work in a room full of televisions going at the same time and that he thought the incoming stimuli would positively affect his creativity in his art.

It's so interesting how music and outside stimuli (or lack of) affect an artists' work and productivity.

[KG]

Sharon — That's a great fact about Andy Warhol and the TVs.

And I can only write with music some of the time. Other times, I do need complete, total silence.