Welcome back to our five-part series on how to upgrade your screenwriting game. So far, we’ve covered tips to develop your community, technique, and creativity, and today we’re digging into productivity upgrades! Buckle up, because we’re going to put the FUN back in… produFUNctivity!
Don’t worry, these tips will make a lot more sense than that totally new and soon-to-catch-on word.
The most important thing to remember when experimenting with workflow and productivity strategies is that not all of these methods will be the right fit for you. But if you give each one a real try, you might just find a game-changer that brings some new life to your “to-do” pile.
As simple (and skippable) as Write It Down sounds, there’s some psychological oomph in this strategy that’s worth trying out. Studies show you’re 42% more likely to reach your goals if you practice the habit of writing them down.
Writing them down keeps your goals front, center and clear, providing your conscious and your subconscious with reminders to keep your eye on the prize. And sometimes that can be enough to increase your productivity and your mood.
Every major life stressor and unfinished to-do, from fellowship deadlines and pitch meetings to preparing taxes or having an uncomfortable conversation with a friend, sits like an open tab in your brain until it’s completed.
David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done has created the following exercise to help address the mental strain of these open loops.
- First, write down any stressful to-do items, projects or situations that are weighing on your mind.
- Next, after each item on your list, write down the intended successful outcome for that problem or situation.
- Finally, write down the very next action you must take in order to take a step toward that successful outcome.
Allen says that completing this exercise for all of the items on your list should increase your feelings of control, relaxation, motivation and focus. This process simplifies the way you are thinking about your tasks, but does so in a manner that maximizes your thinking efficiency. So you’re literally working smarter, not harder.
Author Marelisa Fabrega offers the following three different methods by which you can break down large goals into bite-sized pieces:
By Time
Give your to-dos a time limit. Writing more, reading more, networking more, are all open-ended commitments time-wise. So by limiting yourself, and setting a timer for 10, 30, or 90 minutes a day can help you stay consistent as you build these activities into regular habits.
By Quantity
Instead of breaking your tasks by time, you can assign a quantity per day or week. Read one screenplay a day. Write two-to-four pages a day. Read one chapter of a screenwriting advice book or one article you have saved in your queue.
By Actionable Steps
Write down the goal you want to achieve and break it into the sub-goals required to reach that goal. Then break each sub-goal into the actionable steps you’ll need to complete in order to complete each sub-goal. Then assign deadlines to each sub-goal.
Whichever kind of chunking you choose, the satisfaction of checking off these incremental actions can provide additional motivation to complete the over tasks, too.
I often hear writers say they don’t have time to write, when nine times out of ten, a more accurate statement would be “I don’t have time to write well.” Or, “I don’t have time to write twenty pages right now.”
If your brain demands perfection or high page counts in order to feel successful, it may keep telling you that you just don’t have time to write. But if your brain is script-blocking you, you can short circuit that sabotage by starting with five minutes a day.
Five minutes may sound like such a short time that it couldn’t possibly offer a worthwhile return on investment, but the shortness is the point. It’s such a small task that it feels ridiculous NOT to try it. And the key to this strategy is simple. You must stop writing after five minutes.
By stopping after five minutes, you are training yourself to work efficiently. The clock may even run out before you have a chance to get distracted.
More importantly, stopping after five minutes teaches your brain that you can trust yourself to set reasonable goals rather than biting off more than you can chew, only to feel discouraged when you didn’t finish an entire new draft on your day off. So start small. Then, once you have a good habit set, you can increase the time as you see fit.
This Five Second Rule has nothing to do with food falling on the floor, but it does aim to jumpstart you into action.
“The rule is simple: The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal you must act on it immediately (or within five seconds) — otherwise your brain will start leaning towards procrastination.”
The key is to bypass your naturally analytical and indecisive nature by jumping directly into action. Is this a mentality you should use in all areas of life? NOPE. But when it comes specifically to your to-do list and even more so to your WRITING, it’s certainly handy.
And the more you practice the Five Second Rule, the more you will begin to identify yourself as the "type of person" who gets started with tasks right away, and that can have a ripple effect, making it even more likely that the next time you’ve got a lot to do, you’ll jump right in then, too.
The hardest thing about trying a new productivity strategy is making time to do so. But if you can jumpstart your action with the Five Second Rule and spend Five Minutes Writing Down Your Goals, then you’re just a hop, skip and a jump away from trying the Open Loop Exercises and Chunking Your Goals as well. If one of these methods works wonders for you, let me know your favorites! Or least favorites! So I can update recommendations going forward.
Happy writing and produfunctivity to you!