So, this should surprise no one, but I plan out a LOT for the future. That involves tracking the projects I have active, where they are in the production process, what needs to be done next in each of them, as well as projects that are on the backburner or planned for the future, either definitively planned (i.e., under contract), or prospective plans.
To give you an idea, here’s a filtered-and-redacted glimpse at my Productivity Worksheet:
And that’s minus the things that have a Status of “Pending” or “Planned”. (Plus I blurred some stuff that’s “secret” because I don’t like to talk about things that aren’t either done or contracted, if not both. But I’ll let you stew on my project codes.)
So, my time management takes into account the big things I need to do next. Namely, draft Shield of the People and get geared up to write The Fenmere Job and The People of the City over the next eighteen months, all while taking into account my own workflow and reasonable expectations. For example, I know I’m not the kind of writer who can pull off 100K in three weeks in an explosive flurry of words, so, yeah, don’t schedule that as The Plan. I prefer the steady pace of regular progress to the deadline. And for that, I’m on track and in good shape with everything coming up.
Plus some other stuff. As you can see. And there’s a lot you can’t see, because it’s far future or just a bit too vague. But even the vague stuff I track, just in case. (Plus if I put work into the vague stuff, I like to track that THAT is what I worked on.)
And speaking of work: back to it.