I’ve learned a few things in the month since I left the safety of a regular paycheck about what tricks work to make me more productive, and what mistakes result in days with little progress.  One of the things that I’ve found really helps me to be more productive is to make to-do lists. At the very least, this means making a weekly list of goals. This week, my list looks something like this:

• select Seattle Bubble newsletter content
• make 4 advertising contacts
• finish project Artichoke layout
• write 5 project Artichoke stories
• make 3 posts on Thatch Mound

Daily lists can be helpful too.  I haven’t gotten into the habit of making a list every day, but it’s something I’m working toward.  Ideally the best time to make a list for the coming day is at the end of the previous day, when the things that need to get done are fresh in my mind still.

Of course, often things can come up that totally throw a wrench in a well-planned list.  Today when I thought I was going to just make a quick reporting roundup post on Seattle Bubble, and spend the rest of the day writing for project Artichoke.  Instead, I began the day with an email from the producer of the Dave Ross show (a local AM talk show), which resulted in a good chunk of my morning being spent preparing for and speaking on an hour-long segment of the show.  Obviously radio exposure is great, so I had to re-organize my day around this opportunity.

So far this week (with about a day and a half remaining), I’ve completed around half of the list.  I’ll definitely be making a list tonight to set myself up for a productive Friday where I can hopefully complete the remaining items.