J ust as the British summer seems to be swinging between gloriously sunny weather and torrential downpours on an almost equal basis, I'm finding that I'm caught in the 'Hurry up and wait...' event horizon where it's all feast or famine. Some days I'm rattling through several articles with a real sense of accomplishment and on other days - where there isn't such an imminent deadline - I'm lolling around bemoaning I haven't things to do.

Neither is quite accurate, of course. In some ways the enhanced workload is self-inflicted and to ensure I have less to do while I'm in Iowa (two months' worth of Impact work this month and little the next, if all goes well) and on days when I'm not surgically attached to the laptop, there's a ton of stuff I should be doing but haven't mustered up the energy to approach. Such is the way.

I've actually found I can even things out a bit and keep a sense of momentum up if I have some sort of regime:

1) Try not to go thirty-six hours without a shave and a shower - even if I'm not leaving the house. Sounds obvious. Sometimes there's no need to be tidy and spotless if I'm simply going to be at home, but there's few substitutes for the energising 'just got clean' feeling. Makes me feel I'm ready to do something...

2) Keep the desk tidy-ish. Okay. This isn't necessarily tidy by others' standards, but rule of thumb: I need to be able to see the colour of the wood and to be able to move things and find things without an avalanche of paperwork. Since I started boxing things up and designating certain shelves for certain things with a bit more of a draconian eye, I usually feel I'm ready to handle whatever lands in my lap.  The bigger, wider room is a more lengthy, intimidating work in progress, but I'm working on it.

3) Snacks are good. Jaffa cakes are particularly good, dammit. However keeping some back as a reward for finishing a piece of work is very effective and also helpful to the diet plan. You HAVE to write about Transformers 2... you do it first and earn the Jaffas.

4) Watch television/listen to music. If I'm not listening to music or transcribinga disc, I have the news on in the background.  At worst it's something to focus past, but at best: I'm a bit of a news-hound so my radar picks up any important news-flashes that come along. Every couple of hours, I take a break anyway and catch up on the newest headlines. Even if it's still just about Michael Jackson.

5) Have something to look forward to. If there's a particualrly tight or annoying deadline, focus past it with the 'Once I get this done, I'm one step closer to...' etc. Sometimes it works better than others, but with three weeks to go before Iowa, I'm trying to make little milestones along the way to break it down. If you can accomplish something every day it speeds things along...

6) Never spend more than two straight hours on any article. By that time, you're losing spontaneity. Stop, save and come back it. It will be better for it.

7) Keep a blog. It keeps you writing about things you want to write about.

8) I did mention the Jaff cakes, didn't I?