Snack Writing: Little 30 Minute Writing Chunks

So I have an invited submission due imminently, and as a consequence, have had to step up the work to revise the conference paper I am using. One excellent suggestion was to use small chunks of time to do writing and revision, because 15-30 minutes here and there can really add up. Hislop et al (2008) termed this 'snack writing,' while Belcher (2009) recommends this as a strategy to support a longer writing session sometime during the week, such as over the weekend.

Having just done a 30 minute block, I can really attest to how effective it can be, plus it is very easy to commit to just 30 minutes working on the writing, no matter how stressed out about it you might feel. I think that setting time goals for variable writing time over a week works better for me than assigning a certain time of day to write. This is probably because my schedule is perhaps more variable, and this takes advantage of the fact that I might feel more able to work longer on some days. With variable blocks of time last week, I did writing and research on my paper for 17 hours (exceeding my goal), and I'm already getting toward this week's goal. I just write these times into my (paper) planner, and keep an eye on the goal number of hours vs. my progress. (NB - this tracking technique also works well for making sure you get enough exercise if you're not a 'morning run every day' type of person. Sometimes those weekend long workouts get longer, but it's more likely to happen with pre-determined goals.)

Now if I can just remember to keep track of my writing time when I don't have an imminent deadline, it would be great, but with winter conference deadlines coming up, there is no shortage of external deadlines.


References:
Belcher, W. L. (2009) Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks CA.
Hislop, J., Murray, R. and Newton, M. (2008) Practice Development in Health Care, 7, 156-163. (Requires journal subscription.)