Last month we began our discussion of the three Ps
- Personality Type
- Present Use of Time
- Productive Times
and talked about personality types. This month we’re going to conclude the analysis phase of APODS by looking at time. You’re probably saying, “It’s about time – pun intended,” since one aspect of APODS is time management. But before you can manage time, you need to understand how you’re currently using time and when you’re most productive, which is what we’re going to do this month.
While you may think you know the answer to both questions, I challenge you to spend a week collecting data that will either confirm or refute your opinions. All you need is a simple calendar. You’ll note that this one is divided into half-hour increments and that it covers only the normal working day. You may want to extend this so that it covers all waking time.
Here’s the process:
Set a timer and at the end of each half hour, make a note of what you did for the previous thirty minutes. If you’re tempted to skip this step and simply record your activities at the end of the day, I urge you not to yield to temptation. As someone who used to have to bill her time by half hours, I learned that it’s important – make that essential – to record your time at the end of each half hour. You may think you’ll remember everything you’ve done during the day, but – trust me – you won’t.
If you felt particularly productive during a half hour, highlight it.
At the end of the week, categorize how you spent your time. Suggested categories include but are not limited to writing, work (if you have an outside job), recreation/personal, family, friends, cooking/cleaning/other housework, TV, social media. This becomes key input to our next phase: priorities.
After you’ve characterized your time, note the times that you highlighted as being most productive. Is there a clear pattern?
Do you think you’ll be surprised? You won’t know until you’ve tried it.
And if you’re wondering why we’re doing this, it’s because our goal is to identify the best time to write and ultimately to find a way to write during that time. While it’s easy to say, “I’m a morning person” or “I’m a night person,” the answer is more complex. You need to consider the entire week, since some days may be better for you than others.
We’ve reached the end of the Analysis phase. If we’ve done this well, each of us has a better understanding of who we are, when we’re most likely to do our best writing, and what other activities are keeping us from doing that writing.
Next month we’ll start prioritizing.
(C) 2018 Amanda Cabot
Amanda Cabot is no stranger to getting to “The End.” She juggled a sixty-hour a week job with nonnegotiable deadlines and building a house long-distance at the same time that she wrote two books a year. Whether or not she kept her sanity during that time is debatable. Amanda is the best-selling author of over thirty novels, eight novellas, four non-fiction books, and what she describes as enough technical articles to cure insomnia in a medium-sized city.
Her most recent release is A Borrowed Dream, the second in the Cimarron Creek trilogy.
You can find Amanda at:
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