Now that the boys are back in school, I’m trying very hard to get back into a daily work routine that leads to finished books. Publishers are rather fond of finished books. And thanks to a comment Mardi Ballou made to me on Twitter a while back, I’ve gone back to the basics when it comes to productivity. Very basic. Like kindergarten basic.
When I meet my minimum word count for the day, I get a shiny star.
I’ve kept an Excel spreadsheet for eons that tracks my daily word count, including how many words I have to write per day to finish a book on a certain date. All very grown up and professional, those Excel spreadsheets. So why am I regressing to elementary school?
In part because my family can see if I’ve made my word count every day. See yesterday’s sticker? So did they. So it’s a little more accountability and a little more nagging. Also a little more cheering, which we can always use.
But mostly because, hey, shiny stickers!
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I LOVE the shiny star idea!
I’m trying to get back to a feasible schedule now that 2/3 kids are off to school each day… it’s not always easy but somehow we get through and maybe if I earned a shiny star I’d be more focused too
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I LOVE this idea! I am very visual and the idea of having something visual up where I can see it — and where HUBBY can see it and nag or praise as the case warrants makes a lot of sense to me. I shall create a writing calendar for the fridge this afternoon.
Great idea!
Nadia
Author of The Cowboys That Spank Series Coming Soon From Black Velvet Seductions
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Hey, what a great idea! My little one just started Kindergarten so I’ve finally got all kinds of time to hit the keyboard. A gold star if I hit my word count will prove to my whole family that I don’t just sit home eating bonbons and watching daytime TV now that both the kids are in school.
Thanks for the idea
(Oh, and best of luck getting a star every day. Though I’m sure you don’t need luck!)
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When potty training my boys we used those long strings of lollipops. It sounds bad now, in hindsight, but it worked!! Now maybe Maybe I could come up with something really good so my husband can give me when I AM good or do something good!!
I can remember getting stars in school for spelling & attendance and in Sunday School ( I think for memory verses)
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I’m a total sucker for sticker type rewards. I read ebooks on my iPad. I tried out the Kobo ereader app, which has some big positives and negatives. One of the things I liked best was the silly rewards/badges/sticker things they give out. Read at midnight for 3 nights in a row and get the “Good in Bed” badge. You’d think I’d be over earning pointless rewards, but no. It still works for me!
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Ironically, I didn’t get a shiny star sticker yesterday. And that makes me sad!
Today…sticker!