Famous TV chef, Anthony Bourdain, probably doesn’t even boil water before going through his preparation rituals.
Everything in its place may be his mantra. He studies his recipe, selects his tools and equipment, and assembles the ingredients in proper measurements before beginning.
In other words, he creates an action plan.
“The universe is in order when our station is set … ” he writes in his book, Kitchen Confidential.
Isn’t the single most important ingredient for successful freelance web writers also planning?
We don’t work in a kitchen, but we still need to collect our thoughts, assemble our research, and measure our time.
But what do most of us do when we first close our office door to the world?
- Turn on email
- Check phone messages
- Shove books and papers to the side of the desk (well, maybe not you)
- Gravitate in a zombie-like state to Facebook
As our day progresses, time has slipped away. We react to other people’s wants. Our brain becomes mush.
Another unproductive, unprofitable, and very sad day.
Yes, my friends, this is often the reality of (almost) living the writer’s life.
But it doesn’t need to be if we put a little extra effort into the first 10 minutes of the day.
Imagine what the end of the day looks like
Before you start diving into your day, you need to collect your thoughts, just like you would when you outline an article before writing.
You want to establish the three or four main activities that need to be accomplished this day and create an action plan for each one.
Psychologist, Ron Friedman, in a Harvard Business Review article, prescribes a question that will help get you started …
“The day is over and I am leaving the office with a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
