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Sharpening My Writing Saw
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln
In chapter 7 of Stephen Covey’s classic book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he wrote about “Sharpening the Saw”. For the most part he was talking about taking time out to recharge and regroup to avoid burnout.
As writers, we find ourselves trying to beat the clock to cram as much writing time into our day as possible. It as easy for us writers to over-do as it is for us to procrastinate and do nothing. We need to learn to create a balance so that we can recharge our “writing batteries” on a regular basis. Here are some suggestions on how we can “sharpen our saw” in this way.
Scheduling Breaks
One of the ways that people use to schedule breaks is by using the Pomodoro technique. The theory is that we can only focus for a limited amount of time. The technique therefore involves taking a break from what we are doing and take that break on a regular basis. We can only focus for about 50 (many times less) so it is important that we take a short break every hour. This short break can be just long enough to get a drink or check a couple of emails. After several hours, it’s important to take more time off. For instance, taking a lunch break to eat lunch and to run errands.