The One Productivity Tool That'll Up Level Your Food Writing
Photo by @cathrynlavery
You’ve finally grabbed an hour to sit down and write. It seems like there’s never enough time to do what you want, when you want to. Now, the time is yours, and it’s an enormous sigh of relief.
This time is so precious, so you don’t want to waste it.
Should you edit that burrito recipe or work on the essay for it? Wait. You wanted to do some research for your book introduction, so maybe you should start there.
Before you know it, the hour is up and you wrote maybe a sentence or two.
Now, you’ll spend the rest of the day beating yourself up because you didn’t get more done.
Not anymore. Here’s the one productivity tool that’ll up level your food writing and leave you inspired.
Have an Agenda for Your Writing Time
You don’t have time to throw away, so why would you do that with your writing?
If you want your time to be well spent, you need to have a single agenda for each writing session. Nothing distracts you more than hopping into a dozen different idea holes because you show up to work without a plan.
So, what can an agenda look like? Glad you asked. An agenda can include:
Completing a chapter
Writing to a certain word count
Revising recipes or specific sections
Researching a topic
Have 2 -3 questions you need answered for this, so you don’t get lost in research
Organizing your work
Writers rarely give themselves enough time to process their work and where to go next. Take time to re-evaluate chapters, recipes and research. You could also use this time to map out your chapters with index cards to physically outline what you have and see if it’s working.
You want to use this time for one thing. If you complete it and have time for another writing goal, go for it! Just start with one thing and write from there.
So, how do you pick what single agenda you should have for your writing session? It’s a little bit of planning and whole lot of being present in the rest of your life.
Intentionally Mapping Out Your Writing Agenda
Writing isn’t just about the time you spend in front of your computer or with a notebook. You’re writing even when you’re not typing or with a pen in hand.
Have a notebook or online document where you keep all of your ideas for writing projects. Make a section or fresh document for each individual project, so you know what’s what and you’re not scooting off to another project.
Here’s an example of how your document should look:
This running list will keep you on-track for bigger ideas you have and then the smaller pieces you need to do. Once you’ve completed a to-do, cross it off and if it completes a larger idea, cross that off too.
How do you create these ideas and to-do lists though? They’ll appear from:
You need time to not be thinking about things. Go for a walk. Be in nature. Sit on your couch and stare at the wall. When you give your mind a break, new ideas will come crashing in.
Reading
If you’re writing, read. Grab books in different genres, as well as your own. It’ll inform your writing and storytelling and make you more of an authority in your own space.
Recipe development
You’ll have a single recipe you’re working on for this time, and content ideas will absolutely come up.
Have a notepad or page in your phone you can jot down ideas that you’ll move to your larger document. Ideas will pop up when you least expect them, and even if you think you’ll remember, you won’t. The key is to create an automatic system, so pieces aren’t floating around to be forgotten.
As with any productivity tool, you need to refine and reevaluate it constantly. See what’s working and how you feel about it as you move forward. And if you find that writing on your own isn’t working for you, grab your spot on my coaching list now, and let’s get you writing with purpose as soon as the doors open up next.
