Lynn Cutts

I must confess. My unique approach to time management developed from my own difficulties in managing time. Several years ago, I quit my day job to start working on my novel full time. Instead, I found myself playing computer solitaire about eight hours a day. When I had all day tomorrow to write, I didn't feel the need to write today.

My struggle to get back to writing developed into an interest in motivation, time management, and self-discipline. My research turned up hundreds of principles and approaches, but they all dealt with the issues of people who worked in a corporate environment, rather than applying to creative and/or independent professionals and other innovative individuals (like me) who mostly work on their own. Somehow, in my fascination with this new field, I ended up setting my novel aside, and I started to develop a new, creative, right-brained and passion-oriented approach to the whole business of time management and motivation. The result? A program called Manage Your Muse, especially designed for every person, no matter what they are doing, who feels strangled, restricted, or otherwise finds that traditional, linear time management techniques just don't work for them.

Working from the premise, "You have to know what you want before you can make it happen," I've brought my stuff into prisons, universities, writers' conferences, national magazines, and any other place where people will listen (excluding soap boxes on street corners or in malls. Shoppers have enough to contend with already.) I've led speaking engagements and workshops throughout the southwest. My most unusual speaking challenge was a presentation I made to the inmates at the Grants Women's Correctional Facility in New Mexico. I also offer regular teleclasses for those who can't make it to prison - or my workshops - which are not necessarily the same thing.

Unfortunately, I soon discovered that, for most people, it took more than one workshop to really create lasting change. I started talking to a few people outside of my presentations, first occasionally, then weekly. Suddenly, I was a coach. So I decided to learn how to do it for real. I've completed 300 hours of coach training with the Coaches Training Institute and passed their certification exam after months of advanced training. I now hold the CPCC designation (Certified Professional Co-active Coach).

My community involvement has included volunteering as a victims' advocate for a rape crisis center and serving on the Board of Directors of SouthWest Writers, the largest independent writers' group in the southwest. I am a member of the International Coaches Federation, and I have received my coaching training through the Coaches Training Institute.

Do I follow my own program? Absolutely. Even with my busy coaching and workshop schedule, I find time to write articles for national publications such as Backpacker and ByLine, and I am working on a forthcoming book, Creating Time to Write: Making the Time and Making it Count.

When I'm not working, I enjoy hiking, backpacking, cooking, reading, and yes, I still play computer solitaire. But now it's only once in a while, not every day.