How Tim Herrera went from dreading writing to being a writer and editor for the New York Times

My guest today is Tim Herrera. Tim is the founding editor of Smarter Living for the New York Times, where he edits and reports stories about living a better, more fulfilling life. Before coming to The Times, he was a reporter and editor at The Washington Post, where he wrote about digital culture.

I am a regular subscriber to Smarter Living and I thought that surely the person editing this section of the times must have some awesome practices in his own life for living smarter. And Tim totally did. He has thought a lot about how he works and I think you’ll find a heap of really practical ideas in this interview.

We cover:

• Tim’s favourite piece of advice from editing Smarter Living at the New York Times
• Why Tim refuses to go to meetings
• Why Tim prefers receiving messages on Twitter instead of email
• Tim’s methods for managing his inbox
• How to create a great story pitch to the New York Times
• Common mistakes people make when pitching their ideas
• How Tim works in bursts of productivity
• Tim’s approach to managing his time on social media
• The role Twitter plays in Tim’s work life
• Tim’s advice for becoming a better writer
• Common mistakes Tim sees writers make
• How to craft a great headline
• How Tim reframed the way he thinks about his own procrastination
• Creating habits to eliminate the need for willpower

You can find Tim at Smarter Living, subscribe to Smarter Living here, and you can follow Tim on Twitter.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co

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