6 Deadly Serious Time Wasters in Hub Pages That Kills Your Earning Potential
Writers are known sometimes by many as greatest time wasters. Some say writers live in a fantasy world with no connection to the physical world. To most successful writers, time is not money as it is in business and they are usually accountable only to other chronic time wasters. With almost complete control over their time, many have devised a thousand and one ways to waste it. Those engaged in intellectual exercise like research are among the world’s worst time wasters.
Those who are here in hub pages to write for income have to read this hub because I have something important to tell that will give you wings to soar higher with high flyers of hub pages.
Preconditions
Before you can learn to minimize your time wasters my better managing your time you need the following preconditions
Right state of mind -The first quality of time save is a personal commitment to hard, well disciplined work.
Good habits –You need to know why good habits are necessary to be successful in hub pages and what habits are needed and what are not needed
Sound planning – You need to know how to plan your days in hub pages wisely and how to implement your plans effectively
Good Books On Time Management
After being in hub pages for 8 weeks, there are certain things I have found to be great time wasters. There is absolutely no problem for any hubber spending more than 3 quarters of his day glued up to hub pages. The question that becomes eminent is "Are those times spent in hub pages being used wisely?
Seriously some may say to me, OK, Ian, I don't see my time in hub pages as wasted time. Great if you very efficiently use your time. But with all the best effort I have put in to stay disciplined in hub pages, I still forget or get carried away doing something I didn't intend to do when I initially set out.
Take for instance, I said today to learn all about Google Adsense but during the course of my search for hubs on Google Adsense I bump into another hub on relationships that catches my attention and leads me to a very different page altogether. Isn't this wasted time?
Basing on my experience, I have put up a checklist you can use to assess your time management in hub pages.
6 Common Time Waster
To me this are15 things I consider to be time wasters in hub pages. It may not be the same as your list but I am sure some of our lists will cross paths somehow somewhere.
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1.Having No Daily Plan
I put this number one because without a daily plan I don't get much out from a day. When it comes to hub pages, I normally plan ahead what I want to write about next. Before I go to sleep, I brainstorm what I want to write about the next day. Then I program the information into my mind according to my plan. In the morning when I come to the office and log in to hub pages, my mind presents me with amazing results.
If I don't have a plan, I waste my time all day without at least achieving or learning a new thing about hub page during that day.
2. Setting No Deadlines
Having a dead line puts your mind in motion and gets creative writing juice flowing. It gives one sense of urgency. Without a dead line, one will either try to do everything at once or never do anything at all. A day is just wasted.
3. Reading Without Purpose
Sometimes you will find yourself in this situation. You just read and read without absorbing anything. That is good if you are reading for leisure like I normally do. But if you are in hub pages and want to be successful, you have to read with purpose. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.
4. Day Dreaming
Day dreaming is not bad. I enjoy it to. But it can be a time waster when you do it at the wrong place at the wrong time. If you are to be successful in hub pages, you should be researching, collecting, collating information and writing publishable hubs than to be day dreaming away and wasting your day.
5. Not Anticipating and Preventing Interruptions
Do your friends sometimes interrupt you from you daily plans in hub pages? It doesn’t kill to kindly tell your friend that you have a plan to follow and that you will find time to talk to him later and keep to your word or you risk losing your friend.
If you tend to be the person that just goes with the flow, than I have to tell you that most of your time to be successful in hub pages is going down the drain.
Out of the 6 times waters, how many do find yourself doing the most?
6. Taking Inappropriate Breaks From Writing
Being successful I hub pages requires lot of effort and determination. I have soon come to realize this. If you aren't committed in your writing, you don’t expect miracles to happen. If you set your mind to a hub, by all means finish it. If you take inappropriate breaks during your writing, then you are only wasting your time and I don’t have to emphasis this.
Comments
RickTalked to Manuai this morning, their trelavs to Kaveing slowed by rough seas over the past 24 hours. They were about 10 km from Tingwon Island, at 8.30am, eating yellowfin tuna and eating lots of buai.
Hey brother the sat map show you did a roobdanuut. Is that when you had the problem with the rudder or doing the round to catch of feed of yellowfin? And Poke I told you to go easy on buai.
In Hawaii?? LUCKY you! Enjoy yourself......Aloha. :)
You come up with some very good points. Usually I have some sort of program in my mind what to achieve that day, depending on my normal workload. I write several articles for hubpages in MS in a day. In between breaks in the office I edit them and look for links, and create the images for it. I usual post one article at the time, the rest, lets say one hour, I spent reading and commenting. Then I will post the next article.
I liked Sherry Hewin's comment -- made me laugh. She's like me.
I enjoyed your hub. You wrote it two years ago, so you might have different priorities now in your writing endeavors -- or maybe they're the same, but as for me -- I love to just read with no deadlines here on Hubpages. I love to waste time. It's a favorite past time of mine -- although I hardly ever get to do it.
Good list. If we set those goals as part of our daily plans, and then set the deadlines, we are a lot less likely to waste time. If you are a freelancer (and I consider Hubpages a part of freelancing), that is so important. We should keep these reminders tacked on our boards so that we are aware of what we are doing (or not doing).
You are so right. Everything you mentioned will eat up so much time, and will make you wonder where the day went and what you accomplished.
Interesting how others work when it comes to hub pages. No I never feel that I waste my time on hub pages. Even the comments are very useful to me. I'm writing a novel ( the 5th in the series) and I need to do a lot of research for it. In the past I kept lots of voice tapes, and kept notes everywhere. Today I write articles for hubpages and Wikinut on the topics that I need to incorporate in my novel in the form of dialog, or descriptions about timelines.... I now feel that my articles have more of a purpose. Maybe in years time I might gather several articles on the same topic and format them for an ebook. But some of your tips did make me think...I only daydream when I'm in the garden!
Hi Ian, sometimes I wonder how much time I do waste on HP. Thank you for the tips :) Voted Up.
Great points! With your awareness list, I will correct my unproductive ways. Thanks so much - this is a great start to my day. Voted Up and Useful!!!
I'm guilty of four out of six of your time wasters. well....live and learn.
Ian......This hub is wonderful advice for those individuals who have their sights on success = money = rewards for hard work.
Of course, a little extra income is great and I certainly want to accomplish this.....However Ian, my original intention upon joining Hubpages was to have this very type of opportunity to "write,"....(every writer's passion.)
I had been working for a local magazine (monthly article submission) and although I enjoyed it, it wasn't exactly what I could see myself doing for the long term. After 4 years, I was introduced to HP by our own "Sunshine 625," and I literally jumped at the opportunity. From day one I simply KNEW this is where I wanted to be. 39 months later (today) I am very happy I belong to this fabulous community of writers.
The particular "success" I feel I've experienced here is actually perfect for me. It may not as yet be in Dollars & Cents......but it is in another form of wealth that I treasure.
You would make a great trainer and motivational coach! For a moment here, you "almost" convinced me to get my act together. But alas, Ian....your last sentence in suggestion #5 describes me. I'm retired, have several irons in the fire, an incredibly busy & active life, and I learned long ago to "prioritize."
I'm happy to meet you (so I must thank Audrey for sharing this hub). It's apparent you will be very successful here and I applaud your motivation and efforts! Look forward to reading your work.
Best of luck to you!....Peace, Paula
I know I waste a lot of time in many ways! When I'm planning on writing a Hub, I may spend three whole days just doing research. When I go to a site to search, I will spend far too much time reading facts that I don't even need, but I'm interested in them!
I'm very self disciplined once I start writing my article, though. I get all my chores done for the day, then I begin to write.
Voted this Hub up, etc. and will share.
Thank you for this checklist. It's helpful to go through each listed time-waster. I also enjoy reading the comments posted by my fellow hubbers. Voted up, useful, interesting and sharing.
These are all wonderful tips to help people stop wasting time. Your tips are good for general life strategies, as well as for HubPages. To keep interruptions to a minimum, I disconnect the phone until I am done writing or whatever task I need to complete in full.
Good for you, Ian.
Hope it helps some. We ultimately all follow what we feel works and adjusts according to our state from day to day. Still, useful article.
Sticking to my schedule is SO very difficult. Thanks for the reminder to set and work to deadlines. Voted up etc.
very useful information. im sure that your advice will help me better in the future with time management and actually getting alot of things accomplished while on hubpages. thank you. voted up.
Hi There, I enjoyed your hub, great pointers to write by.
I try here at HubPages not to waste time, but I enjoy it so much it can't be helped. You have a successful outline to follow for a better writing experience. I do admit I need to use some of your suggestions from time to time, because my writing habits can be quite irratic. Thumbs up on a useful hub.
I'm the best time waster ever! I love to waste time. Today my plan was to write a new hub... Not even a sentence have I written! Yes, I've done important things, pinged my hubs, yes; read some hubs, OK; improved one of my hubs - a good idea...; helped out and hopped some hubs... When I'm lucky, I'll write a question in QAs. It will be all what I'll manage today. I definitely didn't waste my time reading your great hub! Thanks for writing it. Voted up and shared.
This was a very informative hub. I am proud to say that I passed the test! Planning is very important to me, and I definitely read with a purpose. I think one of the key habits is just staying engaged. It can get discouraging to put your heart and time in a hub and only get a few reads. Even though I have a small number of followers compared to the number I follow, I will not stop! My voice will be heard in this world. Thank you for the motivation, information, and tips.
Nice hub! This is a fact.
You hit it here Ian! I am guilty of number 3 & 4...what's my sentence? You see, I plan my day to write but more often than not, ends up reading without a purpose and then drifts away...daydreaming begins. But, I need to warm up before I begin to write and I do that by reading while sipping my coffee. Maybe, I'm more of a reader than a writer? No, billybuc just confirmed I am a writer. Lol!
Thanks for tapping me up. I shall keep your advice in mind.
Voting up here and will share for those who needs tapping as well.
Love from the sky~
I write one to two hubs a day.. especially if I am in one of the contests. great hub
Debbie
Nice hub, it is so true what you wrote, sometimes I find myself a time waster to find inspiration.
Ian, again - another wonderful Hub. I didnt realize I am a chronic time waster! Really...I engage in ALL 6 of the wasters you listed. I need to re-focus and get a plan. The challenge has taught me to work on deadlines so hopefully I can stick to that. Thanks for the great advice.
I hope you continue to love the challenge. I also loved it in the beginning and then things began to change and I didn't like it as much. I have 3 more to 30 so I'm loving it again:) Good luck! I am cheering you on!
I quit a fulltime job about 18 months ago to make writing my fulltime profession. In the first month my house was never cleaner - every closet, the basement, the garage. I'd clean anything that didn't get up and run away from just to avoid the computer. It was about that time I stumbled upon HubPages. It has kept me motivated. Your ideas have a lot of merit. Whatever works to get us writing is worth trying.
This is great for anyone who is trying to make money off of Hubpages! I am the WORST at setting deadlines for myself - I'll have to watch that! Thanks for the tips!
All I have to say is that you must not be ADD or ADHD. I am and it would be a horror to try and follow most of these. Although in the back of my brain somewhere I know most of them are good advice. My attention span is very short. I also have back and neck problems. I cannot predict when I will be able to sit long enough to set a schedule. I am so right-brained it is simply not in my make-up to plan.
I'm guilty!
I also didn't have a plan to read this! lol =]
Good luck on the 30/30!
Voted up & useful.
Recently a stay at home mom I need to come up with a daily schedule to become more productive. I'm going to have to get out of bed early so I'll have more time to write. Since my brain works at 50% capacity in the evenings I've decided to use this time for SHARING links and reading. Voted up and SHARING!
I'm guilty of breaking a couple. Great tips and good luck with your 30/30! Only 27 left! :)
Hi I am Shasta and I am a time waster. Great information here. Having daily goals and deadlines do help, and I need to keep focused on them.
Wow...good info here!!!
I do all of these, but I'm not a writer. I prefer reading, and thank all of you for providing interesting well written material to read and learn from.
Ian, I don't have as much free time on the computer as I used to because I have been reading books more in addition to spending time with my family. So, your list of time wasters is intriguing. Voted up and interesting.
Thanks for sharing the facts, voted up.
Guilty as charged for most of the Time Wasters. Now that I am aware of these items, I shall commit to improving, especially with the Daydreaming aspect.
Thanks For SHARING
Well I didn't have a plan for reading this but am glad I did. Voting this Up and Interesting.
Great Ian, I’ll look forward to reading that hub!
Well Ian, I didn’t have a plan to read your hub, so am I wasting my time? :-)
Of course, as usual, I found you hub interesting and useful, and for me number 3 is the one that’s the biggest drain so I do try to avoid it.
I found what you wrote in number 2 very interesting because I actually find that writing with a sense of urgency doesn’t make me faster but the opposite, and makes me less focused on my writing. So when I notice myself feeling like I need to hurry I take time to release those feelings and then I can concentrate better. I’d be interested to know more about how setting no deadlines makes you feel you have to do everything at once and how setting them helps you if you would be willing to expand a little more I’d be very grateful.
BTW, you have a 'shout-out' in my latest hub.
Excellent advice. I wish you all of the best here in HubPages. With your principles you can only be successful.
Hello, I'm Sherry and I'm a Time Waster
Great suggestions. I can't have a plan for writing because I have a two year old. I have to work with her schedule. Well done!
I break alot of these but I also consider myself to be an impulsive writer. If I always plan everything, it ends up being monotonous and I get writer's block so I think a healthy mix of both is necessary.
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