79 Days of Using 1, 3, 5 List Method

My work ethic since May has been inspired by the 1, 3, 5 List Method which has dramatically changed my writing life!

On May 18, I blogged about the 1, 3, 5 List Method and announced I had started using it 2 weeks prior to that date—May 4.

I was ready to try something new because I was tired of listing 10-20 things every day that I needed to do and only getting 1 or 2 done.

I was pulled in too many directions and overwhelmed by everything that kept piling up.

I never seemed to get caught up and never seemed to accomplish much. Every day I was drained.

First Follow Up Report

On June 2, two days shy of a full month, I posted Rusults of Using 1, 2, 3 List Method. At that time, my results were phenomenal. I'd gone from writing a few hundred words a day to over 3,000 words a day!

Second Follow Up Report

I started the 1, 3, 5 List Method on May 4. Today is July 22. I've been using this method for 79 days. Here's what I have accomplished:

• Formatted my novel Jane (I'm Still Single) Jones, a romantic comedy, for the box set Sweet and Sassy Summertime, Volume 1, available now for only 99cents.
• Written a 70,000 word novel, The Key to Kristina, a mystery romance, for the box set Fortune's Favor: The Treasure, available now for only 99cents. Publishes July 24.
• Created a concept for a series called Last Chance Beach to be written by my friends from RomanceGems and me.Created the concept for the first box set collection in the series, Last Chance Beach: Summer's End, available in pre-release for only 99cents. Publishes July 24.
•  Set up a publishing company, wrote contracts, signed up volunteers, set up a giveaway promotion of a free ebook, coordinated all promotion activities, answered hundreds of emails every day from the participating authors, and more things than I care to mention here.
• Wrote Hot August Night, a funny romance, for my story in Last Chance Beach: Summer's End.
• Developed the concept for the next Last Chance Beach box set which will publish in the fall.

Before 1, 3. 5 I felt like this!

I'm amazed just listing all that, and it doesn't include the personal stuff. Rolling with the problems and worries created by COVID19.

(One of my sons and his 3 daughters caught it. The daughters are bouncing back, but my son has been having a tough time. Prayers gratefully accepted.)

I've done a tiny bit of cleaning up my environment aka housework which I abhor every day. I've also let go of the idea that I have to do all these other things that are low-priority.

Best of all, I don't feel overwhelmed and anxious for fear I might not meet a deadline. Now, I don't sign up for everything, and I don't go to bed with the nagging thought of all that I didn't get done.

I currently have 4 deadlines left between now and the end of October. In the past, I worked late and did everything possible just to ensure I met deadlines—even if I felt half-dead afterwards.

Now, when I go to my office, I know exactly what I'm going to be working on.

I make my  1, 3, 5 list in my day planner the night before. I list incidentals at the bottom of it. That's the things I might do if I have some lag time.

The 1, 3, 5 List Method made me a believer. I found it when I had despaired of ever being the productive writer I once was.

Takeaway Truth

If you're struggling, read my previous posts about how the 1, 3, 5 List Method works and give it a try.