– Casually logging how I am spending my time in front of the computer, so I can get some better clarity of just how much time I actually spend curating vs. creating.
– Setting some loose parameters on how retweets, reblogs and link shares I’ll do on any given day. I don’t want to get too rigid here, but by establishing some guideposts on the numbers, I keep the amount of time I’m spending on this type of activity in check.
– Setting word count goals — at least 500 words a day. If I accomplish this, I can set aside my concerns about spending too much time on curating and not enough on creating.
– Another goal: at least one solid blog post a week. This used to be so easy — I was writing lengthy blog posts daily, if not more than once a day. I know what happened, and I don’t know what happened. I should probably write about it and try to figure it out. Maybe it will be a blog post. Because I have to write one a week now.
– Being strict about keeping only one window open on my desktop when it’s time to write, going so far as to turning off the internet connection when I can’t myself from popping over to some news site or amazon.com or imdb or who knows what I really don’t need to look up right at that moment but find myself doing it anyway.
– Also, I make a point of firing up the computer at appointed times with a very specific agenda. On Sunday mornings, for example, I wake up and write (and only write) for an hour. Once the hour is up, I head out for a run.
– This sounds silly to write, but I use a reward system as well. Here’s an example: on Sundays, I reward myself with a jelly donut if I’ve gotten up early, had a good writing session, and been able to get out and come back from a run before 11:30 a.m.
Overall, I don’t want to get too rigid in how I strike this balance. If I create a workplan that is too hardline, I’ll end up ignoring it. But I do know that I want tip the balance so that I am spending more of my time creating. This post is actually a good start, though of course now I’ll go spend some time curating around this subject. Let the battle for an ideal balance between content creation and curation begin.
Read the full post here.
