By DiAnn Mills, @DiAnnMills

Busy writers realize they must master the feat of time management or they will fall into a hole called overwhelmed and unproductive. With a few guidelines, we can learn how to take charge of our responsibilities and give us time to spare.

The key is to understand life is filled with interruptions—family, health, vacations, and unanticipated delays. We can prepare for these intrusions by planning ahead.

Here are 10 tips to master and prioritize how we spend our time.

1. Record the number of work hours in your day. Be realistic. God should take first place in our lives, and His word shows us our families and friends are vital.
2. Prioritize the tasks to be completed in order of urgency—book projects, articles, blog posts, social media posts, and any other marketing and branding deadlines.
3. Calendar the due dates when each task is to be emailed/sent to its home, preferably an online calendar that will alert the user.
4. Count back at least one week from the due date determined in items 2 and 3. The earlier the writer can place the date, the better. This becomes the new due date. *If the writer is working on a book project, back up the date two months.
5. Look at those new due dates. How many written words per day will ensure those tasks are completed by the newly established dates?
6. Record that word count in a prominent place as a daily reminder.
7. Reach out to others who have mastered time management for assistance.
8. A goal and a plan take time. If your plan isn’t working, reevaluate and begin again.
9. Take time for you. All work and no play won’t clear the cobwebs. Writers need to be fresh and excited about their work.
10. Writers who meet their deadlines are the writers who are successful.

What’s your secret for managing the beast of time management?

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Firewall, the first book in her Houston: FBI series, was listed by Library Journal as one of the best Christian Fiction books of 2014.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Suspense Sister, and International Thriller Writers. She is co-director of The Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference with social media specialist Edie Melson. She teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at http://www.diannmills.com

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