by Alycia Morales @AlyciaMorales

In the midst of a recent overhaul of my home office, I realized God has had me overhauling several areas in an effort to improve my efficiency since the stay-at-home orders began.

When I write, I like to mix up my environment throughout the week. I may spend a day in my office, another in my bedroom (it’s the sunniest place in my house), meet my BFFs at a variety of restaurants known for their WiFi access, or head to Barnes and Noble for a book browsing, order a Starbucks coffee treat, and sit in the Café while I work.

Question One to Ask Yourself:

Where do you get your best writing done?

But for the past month, like you, I’ve been cooped up at home with no access to my “second offices.”

After looking at my office for a month, I came to the conclusion that it isn’t well organized for efficiency—whether I’m writing or crafting. So when our stimulus check arrived, I performed a major overhaul.

Question Two to Ask Yourself:

Do you work better in clutter or in organized areas?

During that overhaul, God started showing me areas where he’d already been working on improving efficiency in my life.

One of those areas is my writing efficiency. Which includes everything from regularly posting on social media to writing novels.

For months, I’ve been spinning in circles, trying to meet reasonable goals I’ve set for myself, and failing miserably.

It’s hard enough to be stuck at home for so long with no contact with anyone outside of my immediate family. It’s doubly hard when discouragement sets in because the words just aren’t flowing like I expect them to.

Question Three to Ask Yourself:

Do you work better alone or when you can interact with others, like your writing friends? 

My Writing Efficiency Fix

Here’s what I discovered:

I’ve been trying to organize my novel digitally. Scrivener. Pinterest. Word. I’m all spread out. So when I get stuck on a scene, I find something else to do. And my novel sits, unwritten.

I get frustrated writing in Scrivener because I have to copy and paste or export into Word anytime I want to send a chapter to my mentors for review. And when the review comes back with edits, I have to make those changes and then update the Scrivener file. Maybe I don’t quite have the hang of Scrivener. But right now, I don’t have the time to learn more about it, either. So, I have to find a system that works for me.

I like having notes at my fingertips. I don’t want to have to switch between screens to find what color eyes I gave my character or where I am in my plotline. It’s much easier for me to have a notebook alongside my computer so I can stay on my Word document and find that detail in my paper notes.

Question Four to Ask Yourself:

Do you prefer paper or digital? Or a combination of both?

The other half of this is that I need the ability to add pages or move pages when needed. I started with a regular journal with lined paper in it. I made sections in the journal. I wrote my notes. But I have discovered I have a fear of running out of space. Or putting things too close together and needing to take more notes where I have no more room.

To fix this issue, I decided to buy a Happy Notes notebook and filler paper. These are much less bulky than a three-ring binder and loose-leaf notebook paper. And they have fun prints. They’re a great product for creatives like me. Now, when I need to create a new section or add something to a character description or create a new area of my story world, I have the ability to do so without the fear of running out of room or becoming disorganized.

I’m certain that my writing is about to see the breakthrough I’ve been waiting for while my wheels have been spinning. And I’m excited! The discouragement has been banished.

God has graced me with the gift of a love of all things paper. I prefer paper over digital any day. Paper book. Paper notes. Paper organizers. Paper planners. Paper. Paper. Paper.

If you prefer paper over digital, don’t fight it. 

Give yourself the grace to do what works best for you.

My Social Media Efficiency Fix

I spend too much time hunting for pictures and hashtags to use in my social media posts.

In the past month, I found myself sitting for hours on end with my phone open to Instagram and my Happy Notes on my desk with pen in hand. I considered the things I post about, and I searched Instagram for hashtags that apply to those topics. I wrote them down in lists according to topic.

I know Edie uses Notes on her phone to organize these so she can simply copy and paste when she’s creating a post. That’s another great way to keep track of hashtags and save time when posting.

The same principle I shared above applies here, as well. If you love digital, use digital. If you love paper, use paper.

I figure that since I make most of my IG posts from home, not while I’m out and about, I have access to my notebook filled with my hashtags and my posting plans. The notebook works for me.

I also considered the various places I post:

I have a Facebook page for my author site and another for the Writing/Editing blog I share with Andrea Merrell.

I have a Facebook group for my homemaking and motherhood site.

I have four Instagram feeds. One is for my homemaking/motherhood posts. One is for my Happy Planning posts. One is for my author/reader posts. And one is for my amateur photography posts.

Each of them needs to be posted to on a regular, consistent basis, which is another efficiency area I lack in.

Question Five to Ask Yourself:

What can you do to save time when it comes to posting on social media?

There are ways to schedule posts in advance, like using Tailwind or HootSuite. I use those when I need to.

But I needed to create a posting schedule (or editorial calendar) for my social media. I realized quickly that I could figure out what pics I wanted to use for my amateur photography blog and make a list for myself to follow and check off as I posted. This is saving me a ton of time when it comes to searching for pictures and deciding what to post each day. I will be doing the same for each of my social media accounts.

In taking a few days to do all of these things, I am saving myself hours of hunting and choosing over several days. Hours that I can now spend writing.

Question Six to Ask Yourself:

What is most important to you? Writing? Posting to Social Media?

Throughout this time at home, God has given me several ways to become more efficient in many things that I do on a regular basis. Things I’ve wanted to improve on for several years but had never had a clear direction to move toward my goals. I’m so glad to finally have that clarity so I no longer feel disappointed in myself and my personal lack, as well as so I can leave the mud I’ve been stuck in behind and get on with the things I really want to do in life.

Has God shown you an area you need to improve while you’ve been at home these past two months? What steps have you taken to make that happen in your life?

Alycia Morales is a freelance editor and writer. Her writing has been in Thriving Family magazine, Splickety Love, and several compilation books. Her editing clients have won several awards for their manuscripts, including finalist in the Selah Award. Alycia has ghostwritten The Spirit of Hospitality by Larry Stuart and continues to ghostwrite for others. She is currently working on two novels, a YA and a romantic suspense.

She is the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference assistant to Directors Edie Melson and DiAnn Mills.

Follow Alycia at her blogs, Life.Inspired. and The Write Editing. She can also be found on Instagram and Pinterest.

Alycia’s Twitter: @AlyciaMorales

When she isn’t busy writing, editing, and reading, Alycia enjoys spending time with her husband and four children taking hikes in Upstate SC and NC, creating various crafts, coloring in adult coloring books, and watching crime shows.