Increasing Productivity for Freelance Writers - Time Management

I'm always on the look out for ways to increase productivity. Although I haven't written as much as I would like because of school work, I'm slowly gathering tools that are helping me to become more productive when I do find the time to write.

One of the most effective ways I've found to help me stay on task is using a timer. I've found a couple of online timers that will count down. I work in hours slots and give myself a 5 minute break, timing both segments. My favourite timers so far include:

• E.ggtimer - Very easy to set, just type in the minutes and press 'Go'. It'll make's about 2 beeps to let you know when your time is up. After the first hour of article writing, I then input 5 minutes for a break ... and so on. Very user friendly.

• FocusBooster - You can download the application onto your computer, but I won't be doing that. I'll just be using the online version that I linked to above. Click on the 'i' on the top right hand corner of the app to change the settings. The downside is that it only counts down a maximum of 40 minutes. You can set it to automatically start timing a break immediately after the 40 minutes. There's also a ticking sound, which you can switch off. The timer will make a short ringing sound when time's up.

My preference at the moment is for the E.ggtimer because I can set up an hour and it's more user friendly.

Helpful Blogs for Online Freelance Writers

This is just a quick one. I wanted to share these two blogs that have been instrumental in starting my online writing journey. They both cover upfront pay gigs and residual income from revenue sharing sites.

• The Freelance Home Writer - Willow does fantastic reviews. I've heavily depended on her review of up front pay sites. It's not updated as often. But when it is updated, it's always abotu something very valuable.
  

• No Job For Mom - Lots of reviews here too. This blog encouraged me look into revenue sharing sites, which I had previously completely blown off. It's a very active blog and seems to have a large following.
  

Happy reading!!

My First Writing Assignments

I finally managed to get those kinks ironed out from yesterday. I've got access to everything on BrightHub now and have completely finished with all the paperwork for Internet Brands. And.... I've got my first assignment from both!!

• 2 articles from BrightHub
• 1 article at the moment from Internet Brands

The list from BrightHub is quite limited, there aren't that many titles. There is a lot more on Internet Brands. I know I can never run out of assignments there. I'm really spoilt for choice.

I haven't started writing yet. I'm just sorting myself out and finding my rhythm. I've been looking at tips from other writers and I've some really awesome writing tools mentioned on the The Renegade Writer blog (especially in the comments!). I've started using some of the recommendations:

• One comment mentioned Google Notebook. I had a look, but it didn't really appeal to me. But it reminded that there was Google Calendar. I use this to schedule my school and writing assignment due dates. Although, I wish there was a version that could work like an add-on on your browser. Well there is, but it's read-only.

• Microsoft Office OneNote. It comes with the Office 2007 package, so I've had it for a few years, but just never took notice of it. I love it. Easy way to brainstorm, plan articles, gather research etc.

I'm not going to rush myself for this first batch. I'm going take my time, get used to writing again. While building my momentum up over the next couple of weeks.

Wish me luck!!