The Productive Writer

Book Review - The Productive Writer by Sage Cohen
If you’re reading this blog you probably have a blog of your own. If you have a blog of your own then I’m sure you’re constantly looking for ways to find more time to write. Well after reading this book by Sage Cohen, it’s going to be difficult to make excuses.

The Productive Writer breaks down all of your writing time and leads you down the path of productivity. In 20 Chapters that cover everything from scheduling your social media to using your commute time, no stone is left unturned. One great tip was to have a workstation in a box. A pre-prepared box of everything you need to set up shop is a great solution to those of us that are space challenged. I personal have a desk, but it’s in the living room and it’s a shared space with other family members.

Overall, I found most of the tips and ideas very useful and I look forward to incorporating them into my life. However I do find that these types of books forget how many hours a traditional job takes up. I often feel like I’m not accomplishing enough, then I remember that my full-time job is not eight hours a day. For starters, people don’t get paid for lunch hours. I’ve been working for 26 years now and I’ve always had to be at work for nine hours because of the lunch break. Now if you factor in travel time, cooking dinner, clean up, homework assistance, weekday errands, prepping for the next day…yeah, there’s not a lot of time left. I leave the house at 7:15am, use my lunch hour to pick my son up from school, go back to work, get home at 5:30 (if I don’t have to go to the library, grocery store, bank, hospital pharmacy or lord knows where else!) then start dinner, eat and proceed to do whatever million items need to be tended to. Don’t forget that if you have children they seem to have endless evening functions you must attend. I have two this week alone. All these disruptions make it difficult to stick to a schedule. When I finally do have a free evening, I want to sit on my butt and do nothing.

Yet, we are all here so we must be driven by that force we can’t control. We need to create and we’ll constantly try to find ways to stretch out that same 24 hours. If I didn’t feel guilty for sitting on my butt, I would have never purchased this book in the first place, right?

One great addition with this book is online downloadable charts and schedules. I’ll definitely start using the social media schedule right away.

I’ve tabbed many sections of this book and it’s one that I will keep close by, even though I still feel I’m a ways away from calling myself a productive writer. The tips are practical and useful and the tone of the book is very encouraging. I felt like Ms. Cohen is on my side trying to help me make the most of my scarcely available writing time.