What Can You Accomplish in 45 Minutes?

Just in case you don’t know, and you’re new around these parts, my name is Dana Pittman. I am a USA Today Bestselling author. I am a developmental editor and I am the Chief Storyteller at Danja Tales. I help writers become authors by writing addictive novels.

Today we’re talking about how do you get it done?

We have to sit. We have to work. We don’t just write.

We have families. We have other obligations. And we want our writing to be a part of that.

But how do we get it done?

And I remember, over the years, I tried different productivity techniques while in college. And when I was in graduate school and having children, and settling in to working in time blocks.

Time blocks are so important and I’ve even adopted not just time blocks, but what I call Buckets. I work from and I placed them in different time blocks throughout my day, throughout the week, to accomplish my goals in what I call 45/15s.

I started off trying the Pomodoro technique, which is 25 minutes of working five minute breaks. But what I found is that it was not enough time or especially when I’m writing twenty-five minutes is when you really kind of are just getting into it and, and then the timer will go off and it snatches you out of the moment.

I would try different blocks of time, 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes an hour. And I found that 45 minutes is a perfect time block for me. So I do 45 minutes of work, 15 minutes break, and it’s just the right amount of.

And so I told you I’d share my trusted tool to make this happen.

Now, let me tell you, these people should reach out to me because almost every single client, well, not all of them, but most of the clients that I work with, they will buy this tool. So let me show you.

It’s this little clock that I absolutely love. I found it on Amazon. Its no longer available but I think I found a great substitute. It’s linked HERE.

(And it’s an affiliate link. You pay no more if you decide to add this time to your Writers Toolbox.)

Actually, if you go to Danja Tales, I will put it on the blog so that you will see a link to this post, as well as this timer.

Why I love it is because it has the different times on it, and you can turn. So if I want it to do a 45-minute session, I would turn it. And now it’s on 45 minutes and it will go off in 45. And once I’m done with 45, our attorney two 15, and I will have. 15-minute break.

What I’ll do is while we close this out, I will turn it on the five minutes so that the timer can go off and you’ll get to hear the alarm.

Or hopefully if I’m, I don’t think I’m going five minutes, but whatever, you know, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

45/15s means that I can sit and plan whether on Sunday for my week or every morning when I review my schedule, my booked appointments, my one-on-ones and go over my day.

I look for blocks of time, and that block comprises 45 minutes of work. 15 minutes break. There are a couple of things that I will mention with this.

Number one, anytime you make any type of substantial change to your schedule, it takes time for you to truly see whether it works for you. So give yourself a couple of weeks or start just doing a block once a day for a couple of weeks and see how it works for you and whether you get the amount of work done that you want to, or the task completed that you want to.

The other thing that I want to let you know is knowing ahead of time, what you want to work on during that block makes a huge difference. So if you have to prepare or review stuff.

So, when I’m doing 45/15s and I’m writing, on my 15 minute break, I am reviewing the Perfect Seven, which I teach in my course, for the next 45 minute writing session. And that helps you to get so much more from your time.

Last, give yourself a specific time when you will review whether it worked for you.

So let’s say you decide to try this technique for the month of October, to do one 45/15 per day, and note how it went. And then at the end of October, I will see if this is something I can do.

So let me tell you, once you’re doing this consistently over time, I find that my body will naturally move in this mode of working for 45 minutes, taking a 15 minute break.

I’ve found it’s just the right amount of time to get something substantial done that you can check off of your list. Or if you are writing, this is absolutely perfect.

I’m telling you 45 minutes, because every time you start something, your mind’s going to wander a little, and then you got to kind of comeback in and you have enough time to really get things done. And the more that you do it, you’ll see that you fall into the rhythm.

The last thing that I will say is when I work in these blocks, I do no more than three blocks before taking a lengthy break. So for me, it may be three blocks and then I’ll take an hour break or 30 minute break or three blocks, and then it’s time for a lunch break or something of that sort.

Um, also with the breaks, I try my best not to sit at my computer or mess with something else that’s going to take away my attention. So don’t go into my emails, cause if you’re getting into your emails, you’re going to find something else.

And you lose that 15 minutes down a rabbit hole. Or wherever your runaway thoughts go.

With that said, if you have questions, let me know in the comments section.

Have you tried working in blocks of time?

Have you tried the Pomodoro technique?

Will you try the 45/15 in your week or your day?

If you want to schedule your free Breakthrough Session so that we can talk about your writing plans, your book, and how you can write a novel in less than 100 days or a hundred. Then visit me online at DanjaTales.com and click “Work with Me” and get onto my calendar.

I would love to talk with you about your book, and this is just part of what I help my clients with.

It’s not just the writing, it’s not just the ideas, but it’s, we have to have the ideas, how we’re going to get it done and the best next steps for you, your life, and your project.

That’s all for now. Have a fantastic day! And…

Happy writing!