Writing Tool: The Ahead Maneuver

Floor it...

My ideal time for completing my daily 30-minute writing goal is the early morning. Hot coffee. Smooth keystrokes. The stillness of dew-laden air.

Alas, such ideals are rarely met with small children in the mix. My actual writing time tends to be over lunchtime (if I'm lucky) or in the evening after bedtime (most likely). This means increased pressure to write and decreased motivation because I like to get tasks done early and bask in the completion.

So, I've devised a tool to help bolster motivation regardless of my typical writing time. I call it the Ahead Maneuver.

It's simple. I get started on my next day's writing the day before.

That might sound like a lot of extra writing. It really isn't. I just need to write an extra 15, 10, or even 5 minutes once, and I'm already ahead. As long as I keep up my writing to 30 minutes a day from then on, I'm pulling off the ahead maneuver.

Here's an example. On Monday, I write 30 minutes and then an extra 10. On Tuesday, I've already got 10 minutes from the day before, so can write 20 minutes to fulfill my Tuesday goal and another 10 to get started on Wednesday.

In addition to motivation, the ahead maneuver builds a buffer. If I get really busy one day, I can always drop back and just complete the writing for that day (ex. get the 20 minutes done on Tuesday).

Why stop there? Using the ahead maneuver, I can actually increase my writing. If I start with an extra 5 minutes a day, then 10 minutes, and so on, I could either get done with my writing goal for the week early! Even better, I could translate the extra writing into Windfall Rewards.

How's that for getting ahead?

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