I’m a big fan of storytelling for you scrapbook and memory keeping. I’m a words+photos kind of girl who doesn’t really understand those scrapbook pages with a bunch of white space, 1 pretty picture and embellishments.
Sure, it’s pretty and I’m sure it’s your art ….. But it’s not memory keeping.
Memory keeping, to me, requires words.
That said, here are a few resources to help you with the words.
(note: all of these are affiliate links. By purchasing through these links you are supporting Lemon and Raspberry)
Since I started writing FOR REAL and committing to it, I’ve been collecting more writing tips from here and there.
Use these for your scrapbook journaling, your blogging, your future-book-writing…
Today I wanted to introduce you to a productivity tool that I’ve become a little bit addicted to:
It’s an online/computer plugin program (honestly, I don’t really understand the tech side) that you can set up to track where you’re spending your time on the computer.
I love it.
See the introductory tour for individual knowledge workers.
(note: I’m using the free version. I’m not an affiliate and I don’t get anything out of it if you sign up. I just love it).
Here’s a screenshot of my work last week:
Blue = productive; red = distracting; purple = neutral
Just at a glance you can see I got A LOT done on Sunday (12/30) while Wednesday I was hardly on the computer at all.
Favorite parts:
Setting the categories … RescueTime doesn’t know what the heck LemonandRaspberry.com is so just left it as Uncategorized with a neutral productivity. Obviously I know better. I am only on L&R if I’m working, so I set it for the WRITING category, and ‘very productive’ and now can track my work
Setting the productivity …. RescueTime doesn’t know that I ONLY go on Flickr and Smugmug to back up my photos. Which I think should count as productive – instead of ‘very distracting’ as RescueTime thinks. And really, if I went on Flickr as a social media site it would be distracting. But I don’t. So I go in there and change the productivity designation to ‘productive’ and at least get credit for backing up my photos.
Pause if necessary …. If I’m going to spend 1 hour watching Downton Abbey on PBS.org (we don’t have TV), I am giving myself permission to take a break from computer work. But I have to tell RescueTime. I can *pause* the tracking so I don’t get a big spike of “distracting” in my reports. Love it.
Slightly annoying but only slightly:
Occasionally I will do research for a blog post, and whatever site I am doing that research may not be giving me credit for being productive. Ex: I wrote a guest post for The Nerd Nest and needed to find some YouTube links to back up my points. Obviously YouTube is generally very distracting – but for that hour or so I was using it it was productive. Also, using Amazon is *sometimes* productive – like when I’m looking up affiliate links for Project Life posts. But, then I remember that I get distracted by Instagram on my phone that doesn’t get tracked by RescueTime so I figure evens out.
It’s an extremely effective to for me to use.
Mostly because I like to compete against myself.
Which makes me sound like a crazy person, I know.
But when I pull up my RescueTime dashboard and see the RED spike for today bigger than the BLUE spike, I really hunker down and focus on PRODUCTIVE work that I can do on the computer and add more BLUE. Instead of hanging out on Twitter or browsing my Goodreads recommendations (again).
There’s a (paid) PRO version, that among other things would let me block websites for certain period of time, nudging me when I get too distracted and track projects more specifically. It’s not something I would need just now, but it is nice that I have that option as part of a product I already use (rather than having to switch to a different time tracker in the future).
Do you use any kind of time tracker? What do you think?
How about a collection of productivity-related articles elsewhere on the web to take you into the weekend? Look forward to a bigger productivity push next week!
New Year! New goals new direction new ideas.
New creativity coming at you via blog posts, Pinterest, magazines and the like.
I’ve collected some articles for you on finding, handling and otherwise using your creativity.
Make a note of what you want to try in the next year ….
Are you ready to ramp up your small business in 2013? Here are some resources to get you started:
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat …
Have you finished your holiday shopping? Have you started?
I think about holiday gifts starting in, like, August or something. Here are just a few of the fun little gift ideas I’ve been thinking about this year…. For the memory keeper, the small business owner and the writer on your list.
Get your sister-in-law hooked on Project Life (I did). Get your best friend the camera she needs for her coming vacation. We all have memory keepers of some kind in our life. Here’s some fun little toys for them.
Rubber stamps:
I’m currently in love with Elise’s stamps, AnnMarie’s stamps and Kelly’s stamps. In fact, I did a bit of Twitter-research and I think I may get a couple Team-Schubert-centric stamps made just for me.
Seafoam Project life kit (designed by Elise Blaha Cripe and available late December) from Becky Higgins.
As far as I know this is not YET available. But is supposed to be in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes on Elise’s or Becky’s Twitter accounts where I’m sure they’ll let us know when we can get it!
Easy. Small. Perfect little touch for a vacation, I think. It’s an instant camera that takes photos about the size of a business card (perfect for the 3×4 pockets in Project Life)
The most fun camera toy. Such a conversation starter when people see you with it. So easy to use so you can hand it over for a friend to use.
Blurb gift certificate: I have plans to make 4 or 5 different Blurb books, so if it were me I’d love a little help paying for it. I love that they offer this!
Blurb gift cards are a great way to give the gift of book making to your favorite people. You can give a Blurb gift card to anyone, whether they’ve used Blurb or not, and let them take part in the fun of making their own book.
Anyone who is trying to make something happen. Whether that be gain readers for their blog, build their Etsy shop or even help a non-profit make a bigger difference. Check out these resources for those people in your life.
Pretty much any Seth Godin book …
particularly Linchpin, Tribes: We need you to lead us and We are all Weird
Linchpin discusses how to be and why you need to be the kind of person that is indispensable. Whether that is at your day job or in your neighborhood. “There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there’s a third team, the linchpins. These people figure out what to do when there’s no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art. Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. They may not be famous but they’re indispensable. And in today’s world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom.”
Tribes discusses finding your people and leading them. “All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they’re enabling countless new tribes to be born – groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming. And so the key question: Who is going to lead us?”
We are all Weird feels like a sequel to Tribes. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. It’s a small book – probably stocking size and easy to read in one sitting. “We Are All Weird is a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard.”
I love them all ….
Bloggers Guide to Online Marketing – for the friend that doesn’t think she can make money with her new business idea. This e-resource is the perfect starting point for building an online marketing plan. Whether that is for a blog or an etsy shop or a real estate agent.
The Blogger’s Guide to Online Marketing—31 Steps to a Profitable Blog is a comprehensive, 31 chapter blueprint for your blog’s ongoing profitability – right from the ground up.
Backed by an extensive library of practical templates, printable worksheets, and in-practice example documents, this kit delivers all you need to make your blog turn a profit now, and over the long term.
My brother is a writer. My co-worker is a writer and his girlfriend is a writer. My friend Megan is a writer. That whole thing – storytelling and word choice and all – is fascinating to me. If you have a blog, you’re w writer too.
Blank moleskine: They’re lovely.
So many options. So many colors. Luxurious paper.Those pages just ask to be filled with your next book idea or brainstorming.
Your Big Beautiful Book plan: For your writer friend who is ready to take her ideas to the publishing world. Get this electronic guide for how to create a book proposal that will make you a visionary writer, a stronger business person, and land you a publishing deal.
Includes 20+ Real Book Proposal Samples from published Authors, techniques to capture the content that is…your life, lessons for rolling with rejection, hearing your muse, & gathering testimonials, pros + cons of traditional vs. self-publishing options, 10 (Sexy + Thrilling) Ways To Finish The Damn Book, The Big Beautiful Workbook, 8+ hours of audio and video interviews and more.
One line A Day Journal: Perfect for getting in the habit of writing. Space for writing a sentence or 2 every day for 5 years.
Track the ups and downs of life, day by day with this little memory book. Each page features a month and day, along with 5 places to record the year and current day’s events. Over time you’ll be able to revisit previous thoughts and memories over five years. A wonderful way to reflect on your personal growth or record a child’s everyday moments.
Books: I’m currently obsessed with writer’s memoirs (I’d love J.K. Rowling to write one) and storytelling (I listen to This American Life and The Moth constantly)
Some recent favorites I love are …
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott : Think you’ve got a book inside of you? Anne Lamott isn’t afraid to help you let it out. She’ll help you find your passion and your voice, beginning from the first really crummy draft to the peculiar letdown of publication. Readers will be reminded of the energizing books of writer Natalie Goldberg and will be seduced by Lamott’s witty take on the reality of a writer’s life, which has little to do with literary parties and a lot to do with jealousy, writer’s block and going for broke with each paragraph. Marvelously wise and best of all, great reading.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King: Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King’s On Writing really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists. The memoir is terrific stuff, a vivid description of how a writer grew out of a misbehaving kid. You’re right there with the young author as he’s tormented by poison ivy, gas-passing babysitters, uptight schoolmarms, and a laundry job nastier than Jack London’s. It’s a ripping yarn that casts a sharp light on his fiction.
Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers From the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron: Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets—and it’s a game-changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper.
The vast majority of writing advice focuses on “writing well” as if it were the same as telling a great story. This is exactly where many aspiring writers fail—they strive for beautiful metaphors, authentic dialogue, and interesting characters, losing sight of the one thing that every engaging story must do: ignite the brain’s hardwired desire to learn what happens next. When writers tap into the evolutionary purpose of story and electrify our curiosity, it triggers a delicious dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention. Without it, even the most perfect prose won’t hold anyone’s interest.
Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as examples from novels, screenplays, and short stories, Wired for Story offers a revolutionary look at story as the brain experiences it. Each chapter zeroes in on an aspect of the brain, its corresponding revelation about story, and the way to apply it to your storytelling right now.
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