Day 232: Preliminary writing pace data
I woke up late today, so even though it's only been a couple hours since I woke up, it feels like it's late in the workday, and I haven't gotten any work done yet.
I was re-listening to the audiobook for 5,000 Words Per Hour, and I also just bought the ebook and audiobook for Lifelong Writing Habit: The Secret to Writing Every Day and I started listening to that. He talks about waking up early, and while I know that's not true for everyone, I wonder if maybe I should shift my waking schedule earlier so that I don't have this "late in the day and I haven't gotten work done yet" feeling. I know I can work after dinner, but according to my writing time log, when I work closer to my waking time, my writing speed tends to be a little bit faster.
Also, in Lifelong Writing Habit, the author talked about how your willpower is like the HP bar in a video game, and suddenly I could totally understand that. While I've read Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time and know that I'm supposed to do the important things first in the day, the thought of my willpower being an HP bar gauge and each item I do as a monster I have to defeat just made the concept easier for me to really grasp and internalize.
In 4thewords.com, if I have certain monsters I need to do for a quest, I tend to like doing the larger word count monsters first. Because of this tendency, it makes sense for me to tackle important "monsters" first when my willpower HP is topped off. Right now, the two most important monsters are my health and my spiritual life, with writing coming in at 3rd place. Also, unlike for many writers, writing is my full-time job, as opposed to simply a task to do during the day.
So today I exercised first, but getting around to doing my Bible reading was a bit hard. However, after reading my Bible, it was easier to transition to sitting down to do work.
I'm going to try to get some editing done, because I've been putting it off for a few days and I don't want it to pile up. Also, I know that when I have large amounts of rough draft to self-edit, I will often procrastinate getting it done. So I should do it while the amount is still relatively small.
I did 15 minute sprints on Friday, so today I will experiment and try 25 minute sprints and see what my words per hour rate is. My gut feeling is that 15 minute sprints are better. From my writing time log, shorter sprints to tend to have faster word counts in general, but also mentally, the thought of writing fast for 15 minutes is doable, while the thought of trying to write fast for 25 minutes is a little more daunting.
But I want to try it and see, just so that I have the numbers. It could be that my writing pace isn't much different. Also, I had noticed that sometimes I need a longer time period to get into flow state, so the longer sprint might help with that.
***
I don't know why, but I procrastinated a lot! I worked a bit on a knitting project that's actually for marketing purposes, but I didn't log the time in Toggl. I probably should do that for those knitting projects that are solely for marketing. I realized I have a lot of them, because they're items I knit in order to post on my blog to market my books.
I also procrastinated by checking Facebook and email. I don't know why I can avoid them both for weeks at a time but then once I start checking, suddenly I can't stop. There is something about it feeding the addictive nature of my personality.
Anyway, I am also tired, and I realized that's making it hard for me to want to get work done. Actually, if I hadn't started a large word count monster on 4thewords, I might not have gotten any writing done today at all! But since I have to finish the monster, I will get to work now for a little while. I will time myself for a 25 minute sprint, but I might just stop once I defeat the monster.
***
I got some work done! I also decided to look more closely at my stats.
Lady Wynwood's Spies 2, average words per hour sorted by sprint duration:
10 minutes or less: 1502 words per hour (11 sprints)
11-20 minutes: 1637 per hour (34 sprints)
21-30 minutes: 1346 words per hour (22 sprints)
31-45 minutes: 1241 words per hour (27 sprints)
46-60 minutes: 1470 words per hour (11 sprints)
60+ minutes: 1174 words per hour (14 sprints)
I was surprised at the drop-off in speed after 20 minutes. I decided to break it down a little further, just to see:
5 minutes or less: 1489 words per hour (5 sprints)
6-10 minutes: 1513 words per hour (6 sprints)
11-15 minutes: 1635 words per hour (23 sprints)
16-20 minutes: 1642 words per hour (11 sprints)
21-25 minutes: 1335 words per hour (11 sprints)
26-30 minutes: 1356 words per hour (11 sprints)
I also did the same for volume 3, although I'm only about 1/3 of the way through:
Lady Wynwood's Spies 3, average words per hour sorted by sprint duration:
10 minutes or less: 1576 words per hour (6 sprints)
11-20 minutes: 1425 words per hour (13 sprints)
21-30 minutes: 1227 words per hour (6 sprints)
31-45 minutes: 1002 words per hour (7 sprints)
46-60 minutes: 967 words per hour (5 sprints)
60+ minutes: 1063 words per hour (11 sprints)
Again, there's a drop-off in speed after 20 minutes, although it's not as much as for book 2, and I have far fewer sprints done for book 3 as yet. As for book 2, I broke it down a little further, even though I didn't have as many sprints:
5 minutes or less: 1687 words per hour (5 sprints)
6-10 minutes: 1020 words per hour (1 sprint)
11-15 minutes: 1297 words per hour (7 sprints)
16-20 minutes: 1581 words per hour (6 sprints)
21-25 minutes: 1838 words per hour (2 sprints)
26-30 minutes: 922 words per hour (4 sprints)
I also decided to combine both numbers for more data points:
Lady Wynwood's Spies 2 and 3, average words per hour sorted by sprint duration:
10 minutes or less: 1528 words per hour (17 sprints)
11-20 minutes: 1578 words per hour (47 sprints)
21-30 minutes: 1320 words per hour (28 sprints)
31-45 minutes: 1192 words per hour (34 sprints)
46-60 minutes: 1313 words per hour (16 sprints)
60+ minutes: 1125 words per hour (25 sprints)
Breaking it down further:
5 minutes or less: 1588 words per hour (10 sprints)
6-10 minutes: 1443 words per hour (7 sprints)
11-15 minutes: 1554 words per hour (30 sprints)
16-20 minutes: 1621 words per hour (17 sprints)
21-25 minutes: 1412 words per hour (13 sprints)
26-30 minutes: 1241 words per hour (15 sprints)
What does this data show? Probably not that much. I don't have enough data points, and my deviation is HUGE, which makes the averages less reliable.
But it does seem that my prime sprint time is anywhere from 15-25 minutes. A 20 minute sprint is probably a best time.
I should do more sprints at 20 minute and 25 minute durations, to give me more data points to compare with.
I also have very limited data for Lady Wynwood's Spies 3 on my words per hour rate sorted by when my start time was--how many hours from the time I woke up:
Less than 4 hours from wake: 881 words per hour (5 sprints)
4-8 hours from wake: 1337 words per hour (22 sprints)
8-12 hours from wake: 1160 words per hour (11 sprints)
over 12 hours from wake: 1230 words per hour (10 sprints)
I simply don't have enough data points to come up with any real conclusions, but it does seem like I am a bit more productive 4-8 hours after waking. However, that data might be skewed since I don't have as many data points for other times of the day.
Also, I want to reiterate that I'm not focusing on improving my writing speed at this point--I realized that I have been too focused on it, and getting depressed or upset at myself when I don't improve my speed. Instead, I am instead focusing on using the sprints to force me to continue to move forward in the manuscript, since I seem to need the push to my momentum.
But tracking my writing speed is useful to see other aspects, such as optimal sprint duration and when during the day I seem to be working the best. The data is inconclusive, because my deviation is too high, but I think the averages are still slightly useful.
I will try to do more sprints at 20 minutes and 25 minute durations so I can get more data points.
***
I had to finish a monster on 4thewords, so I ended up doing a 29 minute sprint in order to complete it. But now that I think about it, I should have just done a 20 or 25 minute sprint and defeated the monster when I finished blogging for today.
I didn't get editing done before writing because I wanted to get the writing done first, since it takes more energy. I was intending to do some more editing tonight, but I'm feeling very tired, so I may not get around to it. I only have 2 scenes to edit, so hopefully I can get to it tomorrow if I can wake up earlier.
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 60 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 1020 words
Writing: Average speed: 1165 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 49 minutes
My takeaway for today: From my limited data pool, it looks like 15-20 minutes are my optimal sprint durations and my optimal writing time is 4-8 hours after waking.
My second takeaway for today: Even though I have traditionally been a night owl, it might be worth it to try to wake up earlier to improve my productivity.
I was re-listening to the audiobook for 5,000 Words Per Hour, and I also just bought the ebook and audiobook for Lifelong Writing Habit: The Secret to Writing Every Day and I started listening to that. He talks about waking up early, and while I know that's not true for everyone, I wonder if maybe I should shift my waking schedule earlier so that I don't have this "late in the day and I haven't gotten work done yet" feeling. I know I can work after dinner, but according to my writing time log, when I work closer to my waking time, my writing speed tends to be a little bit faster.
Also, in Lifelong Writing Habit, the author talked about how your willpower is like the HP bar in a video game, and suddenly I could totally understand that. While I've read Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time and know that I'm supposed to do the important things first in the day, the thought of my willpower being an HP bar gauge and each item I do as a monster I have to defeat just made the concept easier for me to really grasp and internalize.
In 4thewords.com, if I have certain monsters I need to do for a quest, I tend to like doing the larger word count monsters first. Because of this tendency, it makes sense for me to tackle important "monsters" first when my willpower HP is topped off. Right now, the two most important monsters are my health and my spiritual life, with writing coming in at 3rd place. Also, unlike for many writers, writing is my full-time job, as opposed to simply a task to do during the day.
So today I exercised first, but getting around to doing my Bible reading was a bit hard. However, after reading my Bible, it was easier to transition to sitting down to do work.
I'm going to try to get some editing done, because I've been putting it off for a few days and I don't want it to pile up. Also, I know that when I have large amounts of rough draft to self-edit, I will often procrastinate getting it done. So I should do it while the amount is still relatively small.
I did 15 minute sprints on Friday, so today I will experiment and try 25 minute sprints and see what my words per hour rate is. My gut feeling is that 15 minute sprints are better. From my writing time log, shorter sprints to tend to have faster word counts in general, but also mentally, the thought of writing fast for 15 minutes is doable, while the thought of trying to write fast for 25 minutes is a little more daunting.
But I want to try it and see, just so that I have the numbers. It could be that my writing pace isn't much different. Also, I had noticed that sometimes I need a longer time period to get into flow state, so the longer sprint might help with that.
***
I don't know why, but I procrastinated a lot! I worked a bit on a knitting project that's actually for marketing purposes, but I didn't log the time in Toggl. I probably should do that for those knitting projects that are solely for marketing. I realized I have a lot of them, because they're items I knit in order to post on my blog to market my books.
I also procrastinated by checking Facebook and email. I don't know why I can avoid them both for weeks at a time but then once I start checking, suddenly I can't stop. There is something about it feeding the addictive nature of my personality.
Anyway, I am also tired, and I realized that's making it hard for me to want to get work done. Actually, if I hadn't started a large word count monster on 4thewords, I might not have gotten any writing done today at all! But since I have to finish the monster, I will get to work now for a little while. I will time myself for a 25 minute sprint, but I might just stop once I defeat the monster.
***
I got some work done! I also decided to look more closely at my stats.
Lady Wynwood's Spies 2, average words per hour sorted by sprint duration:
10 minutes or less: 1502 words per hour (11 sprints)
11-20 minutes: 1637 per hour (34 sprints)
21-30 minutes: 1346 words per hour (22 sprints)
31-45 minutes: 1241 words per hour (27 sprints)
46-60 minutes: 1470 words per hour (11 sprints)
60+ minutes: 1174 words per hour (14 sprints)
I was surprised at the drop-off in speed after 20 minutes. I decided to break it down a little further, just to see:
5 minutes or less: 1489 words per hour (5 sprints)
6-10 minutes: 1513 words per hour (6 sprints)
11-15 minutes: 1635 words per hour (23 sprints)
16-20 minutes: 1642 words per hour (11 sprints)
21-25 minutes: 1335 words per hour (11 sprints)
26-30 minutes: 1356 words per hour (11 sprints)
I also did the same for volume 3, although I'm only about 1/3 of the way through:
Lady Wynwood's Spies 3, average words per hour sorted by sprint duration:
10 minutes or less: 1576 words per hour (6 sprints)
11-20 minutes: 1425 words per hour (13 sprints)
21-30 minutes: 1227 words per hour (6 sprints)
31-45 minutes: 1002 words per hour (7 sprints)
46-60 minutes: 967 words per hour (5 sprints)
60+ minutes: 1063 words per hour (11 sprints)
Again, there's a drop-off in speed after 20 minutes, although it's not as much as for book 2, and I have far fewer sprints done for book 3 as yet. As for book 2, I broke it down a little further, even though I didn't have as many sprints:
5 minutes or less: 1687 words per hour (5 sprints)
6-10 minutes: 1020 words per hour (1 sprint)
11-15 minutes: 1297 words per hour (7 sprints)
16-20 minutes: 1581 words per hour (6 sprints)
21-25 minutes: 1838 words per hour (2 sprints)
26-30 minutes: 922 words per hour (4 sprints)
I also decided to combine both numbers for more data points:
Lady Wynwood's Spies 2 and 3, average words per hour sorted by sprint duration:
10 minutes or less: 1528 words per hour (17 sprints)
11-20 minutes: 1578 words per hour (47 sprints)
21-30 minutes: 1320 words per hour (28 sprints)
31-45 minutes: 1192 words per hour (34 sprints)
46-60 minutes: 1313 words per hour (16 sprints)
60+ minutes: 1125 words per hour (25 sprints)
Breaking it down further:
5 minutes or less: 1588 words per hour (10 sprints)
6-10 minutes: 1443 words per hour (7 sprints)
11-15 minutes: 1554 words per hour (30 sprints)
16-20 minutes: 1621 words per hour (17 sprints)
21-25 minutes: 1412 words per hour (13 sprints)
26-30 minutes: 1241 words per hour (15 sprints)
What does this data show? Probably not that much. I don't have enough data points, and my deviation is HUGE, which makes the averages less reliable.
But it does seem that my prime sprint time is anywhere from 15-25 minutes. A 20 minute sprint is probably a best time.
I should do more sprints at 20 minute and 25 minute durations, to give me more data points to compare with.
I also have very limited data for Lady Wynwood's Spies 3 on my words per hour rate sorted by when my start time was--how many hours from the time I woke up:
Less than 4 hours from wake: 881 words per hour (5 sprints)
4-8 hours from wake: 1337 words per hour (22 sprints)
8-12 hours from wake: 1160 words per hour (11 sprints)
over 12 hours from wake: 1230 words per hour (10 sprints)
I simply don't have enough data points to come up with any real conclusions, but it does seem like I am a bit more productive 4-8 hours after waking. However, that data might be skewed since I don't have as many data points for other times of the day.
Also, I want to reiterate that I'm not focusing on improving my writing speed at this point--I realized that I have been too focused on it, and getting depressed or upset at myself when I don't improve my speed. Instead, I am instead focusing on using the sprints to force me to continue to move forward in the manuscript, since I seem to need the push to my momentum.
But tracking my writing speed is useful to see other aspects, such as optimal sprint duration and when during the day I seem to be working the best. The data is inconclusive, because my deviation is too high, but I think the averages are still slightly useful.
I will try to do more sprints at 20 minutes and 25 minute durations so I can get more data points.
***
I had to finish a monster on 4thewords, so I ended up doing a 29 minute sprint in order to complete it. But now that I think about it, I should have just done a 20 or 25 minute sprint and defeated the monster when I finished blogging for today.
I didn't get editing done before writing because I wanted to get the writing done first, since it takes more energy. I was intending to do some more editing tonight, but I'm feeling very tired, so I may not get around to it. I only have 2 scenes to edit, so hopefully I can get to it tomorrow if I can wake up earlier.
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 60 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 1020 words
Writing: Average speed: 1165 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 49 minutes
My takeaway for today: From my limited data pool, it looks like 15-20 minutes are my optimal sprint durations and my optimal writing time is 4-8 hours after waking.
My second takeaway for today: Even though I have traditionally been a night owl, it might be worth it to try to wake up earlier to improve my productivity.
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