Gayla McCord at Mom Gadget and Char Polanosky at Essential Keystrokes have invited me to contribute to “The Ultimate Guide to Productivity - What’s Your Secret?”, initiated by Ben at the Instigator Blog. I notice when reading other entries, the importance of focus is a recurring theme.

I agree, but focus aside, for me productivity is also about motivation and strategies. For a writer, productivity is definitely not just about writing. You need to have the rest of the life jigsaw in place too for the writing to be able to happen.

Productivity Tip - Motivation

My major motivation comes from a passion for the project or topic. My motivation may come from an interest in the topic or project, enjoying working with a colleague or client, deadlines, being paid, a feeling of accomplishment, building relationships and trust, not wanting to let someone down, or just wanting to get the job finished.

Productivity Tools

My productivity tools are very basic and unglamorous - a month at a glance fridge calendar with spaces large enough to write in (big picture family stuff), a diary (day to day work commitments) and unlimited access broadband. As an Australian based writer, I also rely heavily on my free online personal world clock. Here’s how and why I use it. You can set one up yourself for free.

Writing Productivity When You’re Not Writing

Strangely enough, on those occasions when I have the luxury of time, sometimes I get the most writing done when I’m not writing. When I mulll something over for a few days, by the time I come to write it, I have pretty much thought it through and am ready to roll. I consider this productive as I can think when I am shopping, in the car, or out walking. As my antennae as an Idea Catcher are always finely tuned, being out and about is also a productive time for gleaning ideas.

Tag Time

I am tagging Mary Emma Allen at Home Biz Notes.

Writing Know How