Sometimes we creative types can become easily overwhelmed. It’s not because we are flawed (never that!), but because we have so many great ideas.

I think I already explained that we are a bit, ahem, disorganized, but I am convinced that too much organization is a creativity killer. A little, however, can be helpful.

This leads me to my next life hack: Power Hour! It sounds like the title of a religious TV program, but it’s not.

Here’s how it works:

Are there little niggly tasks that never get finished? Or started? Don’t know where to start? Make a list of creative tasks — reading a blog and commenting, sending out a query, checking out contests, or maybe reading a writing magazine.

Got that? Great. Then all you need to do is schedule a “Power Hour” for the week. This is for tasks that you just aren’t getting to…like blogging, lol. Now use every minute of that hour to go, go, go! Do as many tasks as you can in that amount of time, and when you are finished, quit feeling guilty until next week’s power hour.

How much can you do in an hour? That’s what I thought.

Does an hour sound like too much? Fine, just start with half an hour, or even fifteen minutes!

Here are some things I can do in fifteen minutes:

1. Submit a story (or two, if I cut and paste my query) online.

2. Record all of the writing contests I want to enter for the month on my Yahoo! calendar, complete with reminders.

3. Print a story and stuff it in an envelope if it’s, sigh, for a snail-mail market. (Sorry, not a fan. Love the markets, just not the cumbersome process. I’m a creative, remember, not a clerical type. Some of my best friends are detail people, though.)

4. Research a residency and daydream about getting in.

5. Write on my “go-to” story.

6. Begin an essay.

7. Read an article or a story from one of the magazines that tend to pile up.

And that’s with only fifteen minutes! Now quadruple that for your Power Hour. What can YOU do with fifteen minutes? Or an hour!

What’s the advantage to doing this? It’s been my experience that we have to make time for the big picture things or the day-to-day will swallow the future. These little things should be those that will add to our lives, to our sense of having a future, of achieving our dreams some day.

Okay, that’s it. Creatives have a short attention span. Or maybe that’s just me. Squirrel…

With my “Power Hour” today I wrote and sent a query, called for sources on Facebook, and sent an email with questions to a source.

What will YOU do with a Power Hour? Share your ideas and let me know your progress!