One of the major difficulties of project management for writers is setting goals and maintaining habits. In this presentation, I explore one framework--Gretchen Rubin's 4 Tendencies--for understanding the ways we relate to habits and expectations (used with permission). By understanding ourselves better, we can move from fruitlessness to fruitfulness.
This presentation was developed for the Ancient Faith Writing and Podcasting Conference, June 2017.
Know Yourself: An Orthodox Approach to Time and Project Management
1. Dr. Nicole Roccas, editor and consultant
Ancient Faith Writing & Podcasting Conference
June 2017
Know Yourself
An Orthodox Approach
to Time and Project
Management
2. • Overall objective of this talk: 2-3 new strategies or pieces of highly
useful information about yourself
• Introduction
– What is a writing consultant?
– 3 ways Orthodoxy informs my/ our work
– What is Project Management?
• Getting to know ourselves
– Quiz
– How we relate to expectations, habits, and goals as creative professionals
The Plan
3. • Writing consultant= someone who helps writers write
– Improve particular writing techniques (collaborative editing)
– Navigate the writing process
– Stick to writing goals
• Free resources and contact information:
– www.thewritersloom.com
What I do
5. Three (Orthodox) Principles for
Managing Creative Work
1. Knowing yourself is the
key to progress
2. Fruitfulness is more
important than
“productivity”
3. All of life is creative…
γνῶθι σεαυτόν
nosce te ipsum
know thyself
6. Creativity: the quality of creating; the ability to bring something new
(and good) into existence that was not there before.
The creative process can take countless forms, including:
– Enacting order from chaos
– Making something out of nothing
– Inducing hope in despair
– Choosing discipline/ effort over neglect
– Choosing to care rather than not care (despondency)
– Choosing to manage your projects rather than fly by the seat of your pants
All of Life is Creative
8. • “the discipline of applying knowledge, skills, tools, and/ or techniques
to meet the requirements of one or more projects.”
• Involves intentional planning and monitoring before, during, and after
the project’s duration.
• Is part of the creative process.
What is Project Management?
9. “[The Father] contemplated everything from before its
beginning, from eternity pondering it in His mind;
hence each thing receives its being at a determinate
time according to His timeless and decisive thought
[…] and image and pattern.”
—St. John of Damascus (+749), qtd. in Florovsky, “Creation and
Creaturehood”
God: Project Management Expert?
10. “I would spend 55 minutes defining
the problem and then five minutes
solving it.”
—Albert Einstein (apocryphal), when asked
how he would budget his time if he had one
hour to save the world.
11. • Project management: the DISCIPLINE of applying
knowledge, skills, tools, and/ or techniques to meet
the requirements of one or more projects.
The Problem with Project Management
17. (O) Journaling and Self-Reflection Questions
• What do I aspire to? What task(s) need to be done on a regular basis for
this aspiration to bear fruit?
• What external expectations distract or hinder me from those regular tasks?
• What choices are available to me when external obligations “just come
up”?
• In what ways does perfectionism drive my tendency to oblige?
• How will being faithful faithful in my big thing serve others? How can I
invite others into my big thing?
• What conflicts will I face this day/ week between my needs and those of
others?
18. (O) Strategies to Clarify Boundaries
• Journaling and self-reflection
• Formulate goals as opportunities to invite others into your aspirations
– How can your spouse/ household help you?
– Work with a coauthor
• Delegate as many things as possible that tempt you to take more
responsibility than necessary
• Cultivate external accountability* around internal expectations
20. (Q) Three forms of analysis paralysis
1. Researching at the expense of
writing
2. Overanalyzing goals and/or
process to achieve those goals
3. Second-guessing the validity
of your project, goal(s), ideas,
etc.
21. (Q) Strategies to Clarify Questions
1. When researching at the expense of writing:
– Write first draft with as little research as possible.
– Mindful research
– Inquiry- rather than topic-driven
– Self-reflection: “What is my question? What would an answer look like?”
– Set time limits on research.
– Begin a “questioner” journal.
2. When over-analyzing goals and writing process:
– Build monitoring sessions into your work routine.
– Ask: What is one thing you could improve?
– Try, test, revisit.
22. (Q) Strategies to Clarify Questions
3. When second-guessing self, life, vocation, existence, etc.
– Talk to 1-3 people about your doubts.
– Agree to write now, have existential crisis later.
– Journal or self-reflect:
– Where/ why do you feel vulnerable or exposed?
– See a counselor! (I do!)
When in doubt: KEEP WRITING.
23. PITFALLS
• “Commitment Creep” (sometimes paired with myopia)
• Over- or under-commitment
Upholders
Key issue: fuzzy expectations
24. (U) Strategies to Clarify Expectations
• Formulate goals as limits or parameters
• Think about tasks in terms of opportunity cost
• Structured planners or project management software
• Use external accountability* to formulate expectations
• Journaling and self-reflection questions:
– What am I myopic about right now? What is this preventing me from upholding?
– What ideas, projects, or expectations do I feel a sense of commitment toward?
– What will I have to give up to do X? Is this worth it to me?
25. PITFALLS
• Expectation fatigue= when even the hint of expectation (external or
internal) is met with resistance or exhausting.
Rebels
Key issue: fuzzy desires
26. (R) Strategies to Clarify Desires
• Backward strategizing—start from what you want
• View goals and your process as an opportunity for self-expression
• Build spontaneity into your workflow
– Work in different places, or at different or unconventional times
– What about editorial deadlines?
• Work with a structural/ developmental editor or ghost writer
• Avoid:
– Accountability groups, especially ones with strict/ regulated expectations
– Standard to-do lists. Try: can-do, want-to-do, or even “I-bet-you-can’t…” lists
27. • What tendency do you most identify with? Why? Was this the same as
the result of your quiz?
• Which strategy or talking point most applied to you? Why?
• What is one strategy or talking point you heard today that wouldn’t
work for you or doesn’t apply to you? Why?
Group Discussion Questions
Editor's Notes
Knowing yourself is the key to progress
Not just as writers but as project managers
Most self-help literature (esp self-help for writers) is written for a very small segment of the population
Fruitfulness is more important than “productivity”
All of life is creative…
Obligation Creep: gradually become more committed to others’ goals, expectations, wants, desires (perceived or actual) at the expense of your own aspirations or even self-care.
Extreme: you are more in touch with what other people want or aspire to themselves than what you want or aspire to.
More extreme: burnout; obliger rebellion.
Key issue: fuzzy expectations; under-developed ability to structure and weigh goals in relation to one another.
Before we talk about strategies, it is important to spend time in self-reflection to get a better picture on your relationship to others and your interpersonal boundaries.
