Improving Your Productivity without Sacrificing Your Sanity, by Bestselling Author Jessica Jefferson

Today, please make welcome historical romance author Jessica Jefferson. She's sharing her tips for improving your writing productivity without losing your sanity - something we can all appreciate, I'm sure!


When I wrote my first book, I was working full time in a pretty demanding job in healthcare, had gone back to college for another degree, and had two kids—one and five year old girls. Somehow I managed to finish that novel, the first in my Regency Blooms series, which went on to be on the Amazon historical romance best-sellers’ list for several weeks. The question was – how could I ever do it again?  The first time almost killed me.  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept more than five hours, and that was on a good day. I was tired and cranky. My kids missed me and I missed them. My job was suffering and I didn’t have time to fulfill the promotional requirements of a new release.

My career in healthcare is based on looking at different areas throughout a health system and helping them to improve their productivity and efficiency, while lowering costs and maintaining high levels of quality. For the longest time, I couldn’t see how my day job could possibly help me in my writing career.  Short of writing a seedy romance involving a bubbly blonde consultant and a sexy physician, I just couldn’t see how the two connected.

Then it hit me – I needed to take all that information that I taught everyone else and apply it to myself. I needed to become more efficient and improve my own productivity without spending a fortune and hiring an assistant and/or nanny. All the while creating a decent book that could sell.

The first thing I did was look at everything that happened throughout the day. I wrote down what I was doing every half hour and flowed it out on post-it notes on the wall. Just like I would any healthcare process, I needed to capture what I was doing that added value in order to figure out what I could lose. And then I went one step forward and brought in someone with a fresh perspective to question when why I was doing what I did. It’s easy to justify something as necessary to myself, it gets a lot harder when you’re trying to justify it to someone else.
It sounds tedious, and it is. But the results were startling. How much time do you spend looking at emails? I’m not even going to tell you how much time I spent sorting, deleting, replying…it was ridiculous. There were other things, too. When I thought I was doing research on the internet, it turned out I was checking Yahoo news more times than I’d like to admit. Don’t even get me started on Facebook.

It wasn’t just the computer sucking the time from my day. It was extra trips upstairs because I forgot something or wasted time at the grocery store because I forgot my list. Repeatedly cleaning up throughout the day instead of just waiting until the kids were in bed (exercise in futility). I thought I never talked to people, yet when I recorded how often I spent texting, it was enough that I should have just met the friend for dinner once a week.  Little things add up and unless you’re recording them, you never know how much time you’re spending here and there.

I started to eliminate those things that didn’t add value. I opted out of my favorite stores’ emails since I didn’t have time to shop anyways. This saved the constant sorting. I created a routine with the older child so we didn’t waste time arguing in the morning and at bedtime. Before I’d always just told her what the routine would be—not a good idea if you want buy in. This way we were both on the same page. Little things added up and eventually I lost a lot of those “wasteful” post-its. This made me more efficient so I could focus more on my writing.

Now I’m done with college and working part time in the same position. I took the same approach and removed the wasted part of my day job so that I could go from full time to part time and keep doing what I loved. This makes it possible for me to devote more time to writing, without sacrificing time with my kids and husband. I went from one book a year to four coming out this year. 

CHASING THE OTHER TISDALE

She’s the other sister…

  Overshadowed by the beauty of her older sister, Lillian is better known as the other Tisdale; unremarkable and unsure how she will ever deliver on the promise of her family's name.

  He’s a rake in need of reforming…     
   
    Will Colton leads a frivolous existence, embracing notoriety instead of managing his family’s fortune.
Determined to forget his financial burden and his father’s growing resentment, he maintains a lifestyle dedicated to pleasure and
self-indulgence.

  When Will is invited to the Tisdale estate for an extended holiday, he never expects to become friends with the forgettable Lillian. But when a family secret comes to light, he must choose between leaving London and protecting the honor of one woman or staying and risking the reputation of another.
 
  Upon his return, Will finds the girl he left behind has come out of the shadows and into her own. Lillian’s finally the center of attention, and not all of it good. With his own reputation in tatters, can a reformed rake lure her out of the hands of London's bachelors and back into his own arms? Can he escape his past and reclaim her heart, or has he lost her forever? Chasing the Other Tisdale, Compromising Miss Tisdale and Taming Miss Tisdale from Soul Mate Publishing, available now on Amazon! ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Jefferson makes her home in northern Indiana, or as she likes to think of it – almost Chicago. Jessica originally attended college in hopes of achieving an English degree and writing the next great American novel. Ten years later she was working as a registered nurse and reading historical romance when she decided to give writing another go-round.

Jessica writes likes she speaks - which has a tendency to be fast paced and humorous. She is heavily inspired by sweeping, historical romance novels, but aims to take those key emotional elements and inject a fresh blend of quick dialogue and comedy. Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads