232. I Thought I Had Time Management All Figured Out, Then I Tried to Write a Book

<p>I used to be a time management enthusiast. I say “used to be,” because time management eventually stopped working for me.</p> <h3 id="howibecameanaccidentalauthor">How I became an accidental author</h3> <p>It all started with an email. It was the kind of email that would trip up most spam filters. I wasn’t being offered millions of dollars from an offshore bank account, true love, nor improved performance in bed. I was being offered a <a href= "https://kadavy.net/blog/posts/d4h-the-book/">book deal</a>.</p> <p>I had never thought of myself as a writer. In fact, I downright <em>hated</em> writing as a kid. I remember reading about how Stephen King said that when he was a kid, he was “on fire” to write. I remember saying to myself, <em>That makes no sense! Who on Earth would enjoy writing?</em></p> <p>I had never thought of myself as a writer, but I had fantasized about being an author. I guess that means I didn’t think so much about writing, but I liked the idea of having written.</p> <p>As I considered taking this book deal, I talked to everyone I knew who had written a book. They all warned me that writing a book is extremely hard work, with little chance of success. One author simply said, <em>You’ll want to die!</em></p> <p>But, I figured, how hard can it be? So, I signed my first literary contract.</p> <h3 id= "howitriedtowriteabookwhenididntknowhowtowriteabookhttpskadavynetblogpostshowtowriteabook"> <strong>How I tried to write a book, when I didn’t know</strong> <a href= "https://kadavy.net/blog/posts/how-to-write-a-book/"><strong>how to write a book</strong></a></h3> <p>I didn’t have any idea <a href= "https://kadavy.net/blog/posts/how-to-write-a-book/">how to write a book</a>, so I did it the only way I could think of: through brute force time management. I simply needed to find enough time to write this book.</p> <p>So, I used every time management technique I could think of. I put writing sessions on my calendar. I developed a morning routine that would get me writing first thing in the morning. I “t