Categories
writing

Digital vs. Analog Journaling

via The Argument for a Digital Diary

Carolyn Nicole had a nice post on why a digital journal has its advantages over a traditional paper journal.

I liked her point that a digital journal is always with you. For me, that also means I can search and read a digital entry whether at work, home or on the road. I love my paper journals, but also love combining the two.

Day One is my go to app for journaling. By all means, give it a try and see what you think about digital journaling.

Categories
writing

40 Reasons Why I Write

I read a Positive Writers blog post on posting 40 reasons why I write. I haven’t written a blog post for a while, so this got me thinking about my motivation. I decided this is a great way to restart my writing.

So here are the first 40 reasons why I write:

Categories
writing

5 Tips for Increasing Your Writing Productivity | Evernote Blog

I am taking a Christmas break today. Here is an interesting article on maintaining productive writing habits. It is good advice no matter what kind of writing you do. 

It especially rings true for content writers, copywriters and writers at church.

5 Tips For Increasing Your Writing Productivity 

Categories
writing

Beware of the toxic time triangle!

Toxic time triangle sketch

I am attending the Indiana Faith and Writing Conference this weekend in Anderson, Indiana. Yesterday, Doc Hensley of Taylor University spoke about the toxic time triangle. When you are pursuing a writing career, you have to balance all the necessary, good things like friends, family and health on one side, routine paying jobs on the other, and major career work like novels and writing for the stage on the third.

It is quite a challenge to take care of one end without causing the other two ends to suffer.

I’ve found this to be true. It’s amazing how no matter who we are, we have the same amount of time each day. Yet, some people are able to do so much more with it than others.

One suggestion of Doc Hensley’s was to eliminate time sappers by taking an audit of your time. He said you’d be amazed how much time you waste on a daily basis.

I’m looking forward to trying this and some of his  other time management suggestions in the coming weeks. In the meantime, it’s off to the rest of the writers conference!

Categories
Business Cartoons Parenting Cartoons

How do you know when criticism isn’t working?

Cartoon of a dog washing dishes and a man
Cartoon of a dog washing dishes. A man says to him, “You missed a spot.”

Criticism is the most popular way to teach someone something, isn’t it? When we someone who isn’t doing things the way we think they should, the most natural way to teach is to correct the individual.

So why do we hate criticism?

  • Because it can tear down a person if we’re not careful.
  • A small problem magnifies a huge problem.
  • Without some tact, we sound brutish and hurtful.
  • The receiver of criticism interprets it through the lens of past experiences.
    • Experience with the one who is criticizing
    • Experience with the task they’re being criticized for.

How can we correct a problem if criticism doesn’t work?

  • Be vulnerable. No one likes to receive criticism if the one sending it displays an air of perfection. People are much more receptive to criticism if we are honest about our own faults.
  • Choose your battles. Is it really worth pointing out that little spot when ninety-nine percent of the job was perfectly?
  • Point out the good more than the bad. It is easy to focus on the bad news, but who likes to hear it? A critical point goes further if most of the time we her positive comments.

How do you effectively use criticism in your business or with your kids?

Enhanced by Zemanta