* Another sample column on creativity

* Another submission package for my novel

* Finish the rest of the sales pages for my November Las Vegas writing workshops

However, I’m writing this at 3.30am, so I can’t pretend I did it on the schedule I’d planned…

The lessons I take away from this week:

I have more unfinished projects than I realized, so that’s definitely a pattern to address;

As the statistics suggest, everything takes about twice as along as you think it will;

Something always comes up that you didn’t anticipate and sometimes these happen in clusters;

This experiment is definitely worth staying with for longer.

I won’t write it up daily, but I’ll carry on and perhaps give you an update in 30 days, by which time there could be some tangible payoffs from addressing that 20% more consistently.

I had an email from Nick saying he was able to do further the progress on his blog and he also a plan he has for testing an affiliate marketing arrangement. My anonymous weight loss person reports she’s lost two pounds already–well done!  My Wordpress-learning correspondent has finished watching the video tutorials, found a template he likes, and is installing it tomorrow. Congratulations, all!

If you have any feedback on your experiences, feel free to share them in the comments or email to me at jurgenwolff@gmail.com.

I hope this exercise has been useful for you–of course you can repeat it anytime!

(This is a one-week experiment in using the 80 20 principle–to find out what it’s all about or to join in, just go back to the post for August 2 and then scroll forward to all the posts with big numbers in them).

The video is done! By now it may sound like it should be some kind of Academy Award Winning production, when in fact it’s just a three minute talk about creating great characters rather than stereotypes, but I was using an editing system I had to learn.

I did also write a sample creativity column.

The other task was to do more research for the report I’m writing on crowdfunding (that’s where people pledge a certain amount toward your creative project before you actually do it). And that’s where I learned today’s lesson:

It doesn’t have to be perfect!

My natural impulse when I write a book or report is to want it to be as comprehensive as possible. I’d put out a Google Alert on crowd funding and have been surprised by how much new material there is about it on the internet–enough to keep me researching for another couple of weeks.

But when I thought about it today, I realized that what people want from e-reports and e-books is the most important facts–especially information they can act on now. They don’t want a 300 page ebook with every possible permutation of the subject.

So I’m calling a halt to the research and getting on with completing the report.

Sometimes stretching the research phase is a way to avoid actually writing, of course, but I don’t think that’s the case in this instance. In this case it was more about perfectionism, which is an equally dangerous project-killer!

Maybe you can relate to this. Is there a project that you’ve either avoided starting because you feared you couldn’t do it perfectly? Or one in which you’ve stuck too long to one phase of it, trying to get that perfect before moving on?

If so, repeat after me: “It aint’ gotta be perfect!”

Thanks to the folks have have mailed me about their next steps: Robin is doing an outline, Nick is continuing work on his site/blog, my anonymous wight-loss correspondent has been replacing some of her high-carbohydrate food with low-carb, high-protein meals.

For tomorrow my tasks are:

* Finish the rest of the sales pages for my November Las Vegas workshops, then we will be able to start enrolling people

* Submit my novel to one additional publisher (one of the two to whom I submitted the proposal earlier in this experiment emailed to say they no longer publish fiction–which wasn’t mentioned on their web site)

* Write a second sample creativity column

If you’re participating, let me know how you’re doing and anything you’re learning from the experience.

There’s a statistic going around in the productivity arena that everything takes 4 times as long as you think it will. I’m not sure that’s an accurate figure but it wouldn’t surprise me too much. (Another figure–and I’m making this one up but I bet it’s true–is that it would take you twice as long to do something as you think it should take someone else to do it.)

I say that because today I did achieve the review of additional crowd sourcing material and do a mailing to my list (I made it about the 80/20 principle).

However, the video I set out to do still isn’t done. I did make good progress but didn’t complete it, partly because i”m still learning how to use iMovie9, partly because like most people I’m too optimistic about how quickly I can get things done.

Probably a good rule of thumb from now on will be to double the estimate; then, if it takes less time, it will feel like I’m being extra productive!

Geraldine joined the experiment today–her focus is on weight loss. She’s made good progress in the past but has kind of stalled. Now she’s going to use the 80 20 rule to gain new momentum.

If that’s an issue you might like to tackle, I can tell you that the top 20% of your possible actions will come from changes in your diet (much more influential than changes in exercise, although of course getting exercise has many additional mental and physical health benefits). One of my friends discovered that simply cutting out eating chocolate biscuits every night was enough to make a big difference.

Tomorrow is Sunday so I’m going to take the day off and feel free to wallow in any old 80% activities I want to (or no activity at all).

These will be my 20% tasks for the following day:

* Finish the video!

* Complete additional research for crowd funding report

* Write one sample creativity column for possible syndication (this is under the category of putting more effort into what is already successful, as I think a syndicated creativity column would help further the already pretty good sales of my “Creativity Now!” book).

How about you? If you’re joining in, feel free to comment or–the method people have preferred so far–email me at jurgenwolff@gmail.com.

One of my tasks for the day was to finish editing a video to promote some screenwriting workshops I will be doing in Las Vegas in November. I decided to go to the Apple Store to do this because I’d be able to get some help using the new version of iMovie. What I didn’t realize until I got there is that my laptop was missing a key piece of software I needed–I had it on my main computer, but not on the laptop.

Another opportunity to learn that preparation is crucial!

The other lesson is that it’s always good to have a Plan B. Yet another unfinished task on my list was to upload to YouTube a bunch of video reviews of books about creativity (in hopes of also spreading the word about my book, “Creativity Now!”).

I shot these videos some time ago and put them up on the www.focusquick.com site but hadn’t gotten around to placing them on YouTube, where there is the possibility of wider exposure (although since they don’t feature cats, people falling down, or nudity, maybe not so much…).

Anyway, since I was unable to carry out the planned task, instead I uploaded ten of these videos to YouTube with the appropriate tags,

The second task was finishing the sales page for the Sitcom Writing workshop that’s one of the Las Vegas events, and that’s done and has gone off to my webmaster.

The third was to finish the editing of the next episode of the podcast and I did that, too. That one had been hanging around on my to-do list for a while, which just goes to show we don’t procrastinate only with things we don’t enjoy, since I quite like doing podcasts.

How was your day? (You can back up and start this experiment anytime, of course)

For tomorrow I’m still in the “finish what you start” mode:

* upload the rest of my reviews to YouTube;

* finish the sales page for the screenwriting workshop sales page (to go with the sitcom one)

* finish the video I couldn’t do today because of the missing software.

Feel free to set your top 20% agenda items and play along!

I’ve done all of those, but I confess that the accountability part of the 80 20 strategy really helped. I left the preparation of the novel proposal until very late in the day. If it weren’t for the embarrassment of having to admit on this blog that I’d already failed on Day Two, I might well have rationalized leaving this until tomorrow.

I think that brings up a useful point: when you decide who to be accountable to, be sure it’s someone to whom you’d hate to admit failure–not somebody who is likely to say, “Oh well, it doesn’t really matter, you can always do it tomorrow.”

If you’re joining me, how did your day two go?

I’ve heard from another person who is joining in, and his main 20% activity is writing articles to go on his web site, to build up the amount of good content on it (which helps with search engine rankings).

My weight-loss participant reports that she has chosen walking as her exercise of choice and immediately was confronted with a rainy day on which it would have been easy to stay indoors. However, if you live in the UK, it’s best not to choose any activity that you can’t do in the rain! However, she persisted and took her walk and got “only mildly soaked.” Well done!

My three 20% tasks for tomorrow are all in the category of finishing things that are almost done so they can get out into the world:

• finish the copy for the sales page for the sitcom workshop I’m teaching in Las Vegas in November
• finish the editing of a video that will promote the screenwriting workshop I’m teaching in Las Vegas in November
• finish the editing of the next Screenwriting Success podcast

Hmm, this delaying the final 20% of a task appears to be something of  bad habit with me. Another 80 /20 pattern! Of course the 80% that’s done is useless until the final 20% is done as well.

If that resonates with you, perhaps you can identify three things on which you’ve made a good start and that you now will finish.

If you care to, please share that on the comments section here (click on the post’s subject line at the top and a new window will open for your comments) or directly to me at jurgenwolff@gmail.com

DAY ONE

It’s now the end of day one and I did achieve my three 20% goals and am happy to report that my meeting with the publisher ended in an agreement that there will be a second, expanded edition of  “Your Writing Coach” published next year. I also now have a deal for another book to be published in 2011.

The meeting with the film funding agency was also useful but there the time frame for applying for funds, getting the verdict, and getting the money (if the application is one of the 25% that succeed) is a year. So while that still look promising, it’s a long-range potential payoff.

The final task was identifying two possible publishers for my novel, and I’ve selected those now.

Of course it was easy to stick to at least the first two 20% tasks because they were meetings with definite times attached. The bigger challenge will come on days—like tomorrow—when it’s all free-form.

I’ve had emails from several people who are joining in but didn’t want to be named.

One is using the 80/20% to move toward her desired weight and said her first task was to clear all the junk food out of her cabinets so as to get rid of temptation.

Another is setting the goal of learning how to set up a WordPress blog and he is starting his day with 30 minutes of online tutorials to gain confidence that he can do this himself.

If you are joining me in this experiment, how did  your first day go?

Tomorrow’s challenge

For tomorrow’s challenge I’m using the principle of building on something that has already been successful. To that end, my three 20% tasks are:

• Write one article that supports my book, “Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done,” to use for article marketing. (In case you are not familiar with article marketing, the idea is that you write articles related to one of your products or services and submit them to online distribution sites like www.ezinearticles.com. There, people can download the articles to use on their own websites or blogs, but they agree to also run the brief bio box that you compose, that includes a link to your web site or blog or sales page. It takes a while of writing such articles consistently before you see an effect but it has been a successful marketing strategy for quite a few people.]

• Write one article that supports my book, “Your Writing Coach.”

• Submit my “Max Hollywood” novel proposal package to the two publishers I identified today.

My weight-loss correspondent says her main task for day 2 is setting up an exercise schedule that she can actually follow (“unlike my previous spasms of gym-going,” she says).

What three tasks would best fit your 20% top value activities? Feel free to share them and any questions, comments, or suggestions either in the comments section below or directly to me via email at jurgenwolff@gmail.com.

There are two challenges inherent in actually using the 80/20 rule:

* One is identifying the 20% that gives greatest value, and that includes defining “value.” Income is one indicator but of course that’s not the only thing we value. However, for the purposes of this experiment, we are going to use income as the measure.

* Actually DOING more of the 20%. This means overcoming the fact that often the 80% is much more enjoyable than the 20%. Sometimes the return on some of the 80% is very quick, while the payoff on some of the 20% may take longer but be much larger. It also means cutting out some of the 80% activities in order to make time for the 20%.

I have had some success implementing the 80/20 rule but have not been consistent about it. The 80/20 Experiment is to follow the basic rule for one working week to start with and monitor the obstacles, what works, what doesn’t, and any results. I realize, of course, that this is a very short period in which to expect results. However, I wanted to make it manageable by using an effective method of breaking down daunting tasks into smaller chucks.

I invite you to join me in this experiment. Today is the Planning Day, the actual first 80/20 implementation will start tomorrow. Today the task is to identify that 20% and to plan some strategies for making it easier to implement them.

IDENTIFY THE 20%: WHERE TO LOOK

Some general areas to look for your highest financial value 20%:

* Work you have already done but have not turned into money. Creative people tend to be most excited about what they’re working on now. If a project they did in the past had some rejections, it’s easier to focus on the new things and avoid the negative feelings around rejection.

My example of this: marketing a novel manuscript and a screenplay that have so far gone unsold. Moving forward on projects for which I’ve already written proposals.

* Work that you know people want even if it’s not as exciting as breaking new ground

My example: looking for people to sponsor the writing workshops that have been popular in the past

* Work that you might get from people who already know you rather than having to cultivate totally new customers

My example: canvassing producers for whom I’ve written scripts in the past regarding their current projects & needs

* Work that builds on a successful previous product or activity rather than one for which you are not known. This is somewhat counter-intuitive; usually our impulse is to focus on the projects that are not doing well in order to increase their success. In fact, it’s easier to increase the success of something that is already successful.

My example: increase my marketing of my book “Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done.” This one has now been translated into 9 foreign editions and is still on the WH Smith travel outlets best-seller list.

Want to play? If so, now identify:

* one project you have already done but not converted into income

* one project that you know people probably want

* one project you might sell to previous customers or clients

* one project that would build on a previous success

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

Implementing the 80/20 rule is a process of trial and error. Based on previous experience, though, there are a few that I believe will work:

* doing at least one 20% related task first thing every morning (yes, before checking email, or at least limiting the first look at email to 15 minutes–measured with a timer)

* chunking the tasks down as far as necessary to make them more palatable

* focusing attention on the desired outcome rather than the process

* being clear on at least one thing from the 80% you will eliminate (e.g., TV watching, web surfing, etc.)

* being accountable to someone else–feel free to use the “comments” section below to share your 20% tasks if you like, and track your progress with me over the next seven days.

SPECIFICS OF THE PLAN:

* My goal for each day is to devote at least 3 hours a day to top 20% activities and to make one of those hours the first hour of my work day.  If you’re participating, what is a practical amount of time you can plan to devote to your top 20% for each of the next five days? Is it possible for you to devote the first hour of your day to this?

THE PLAN FOR TOMORROW:

It’s easiest to start the day with your plan already worked out.

I’m going to experiment with spending each total of 3 hours a day on one of the types of tasks, rather than trying to address several.

Tomorrow’s principle:

* Focus on work you have already done but have not turned into money. (If that one doesn’t fit your needs, look at the other principles above or make up your own category).

My task for tomorrow:

* Attend a meeting about finding funding for a project for which I’ve already written the proposal

* Attend a meeting with my publisher regarding a book for which I’ve already written a proposal

* Find two possible publishers for a novel I’ve already written

Which tasks will you do tomorrow?

I’ll write my next post tomorrow night to report on how it went and specify the tasks for the following day.

If you’re joining me, good luck on our first day! Feel free to leave a comment about your goals, progress, successful strategies, etc. or email them to me directly at jurgenwolff@gmail.com.

Give it a try and let me know how you get on (in a comment or via email to jurgenwolff@gmail.com). Click on “zander possibilities 1″ just below and a player will open in a new window:
zander possibilities 1