I'm a big believer in writing sessions, but often mine come in the wee hours and I'm not always able to give it a full 90. I'm curious how other people work. How long are your typical writing sessions? What time of day do you write best?
90-Minute Spurts
In his new book, How We're Working Isn't Working, Tony Schwartz claims that we work best in 90-minute spurts of productivity. His argument is based on research that claims we have awake cycles similar to the 90-minute sleeping cycles we experience (barely asleep, deep sleep and back, repeat), and that after this period, if we continue to hack away on one project, our productivity dwindles. It's an interesting study, though in my experience most people suffer from too many distractions rather than a lack of switching tasks.
I'm a big believer in writing sessions, but often mine come in the wee hours and I'm not always able to give it a full 90. I'm curious how other people work. How long are your typical writing sessions? What time of day do you write best?
I'm a big believer in writing sessions, but often mine come in the wee hours and I'm not always able to give it a full 90. I'm curious how other people work. How long are your typical writing sessions? What time of day do you write best?
4 comments:
I try to write everyday, which doesn't work always and I set 1 hour for really writing. Of course when I have time, during the weekend I write without worring about how long. When I see that I'm tired I try to switch for another project, another story or just write freely with no expectation and I'm usually surprised how the energy comes back again. I write on afternoons after work, because its the only time that I have. For me it's ok because I have time to think about what I'll write, I tryed to "see" the scene in my mind before writing.
I too write late at night when it quiet in our home. Sometimes if an idea hits me square between the eyes and there isn't a distraction in the world that could pull me away, I will write in the early evening. Those occasions are rare! My husband set the rule long ago; write very day. Even if it's a paragraph, write.
This idea came up on the radio awhile back. It's the truth. Watching violinists, the ones traveling the world, you can see that they don't sit there all day. Just 90 minutes. Classes in highschool have been blocked to 1:30 sessions. Everyone tends to lose focus after this time period.
I generally tend to sit down and start writing and, if there are no interruptions or distractions, will work very diligently for a period of time, then stop for a break, run an errand, whatever. I mention this because not long ago my wife actually asked me, "why an hour and a half?" I had no idea what she was talking about. She told me that I work for an hour and a half, then take a break. I hadn't really realized the timing of it. It just feels like the natural rhythm for me to work in. So I guess. The time in between these periods could be anything for 30 mins to two or even three hours. I guess there really is something to the 90 minute theory!
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