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Productivity Lessons From Author Jeffrey Archer.
Jeffrey Archer has written over forty books over the last forty years, selling nearly 500 million copies worldwide. From beginnings as a politician in the UK to winding up in prison in the early 2000s for perjury, no one could claim Archer has lived an unremarkable life. Today, he keeps himself out of trouble doing what he is best at; writing books.
This is the first in a series of articles I will write on the productivity habits of successful people.
The writing process.
Jeffrey Archer has a unique writing process which involves six hours of writing each day and two hours reviewing what he has written. He begins his writing day at 6:00 AM, where he will write for two hours. At 8:00 AM, he takes a break for two hours and returns to writing at 10:00 AM. He will then do a further two-hour writing session and, at 12:00 PM, take another two-hour break.
It’s during his 12 until 2 PM break; he will go for a walk and exercise before returning to his desk to write again from 2 until 4 PM. There follows another two-hour break before finishing the day with a two-hour review of what he wrote that day between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
What’s remarkable about this routine is its length. Authors such as John Grisham will write for four hours a day and then stop…
