Dr. Wicked's Write or Die newsletter for February suggests writing in 48 minute bursts for maximum productivity. He says you should remove all possible distractions, set a timer and write until the alarm goes off. Then have a 12 minute break to do chores, visit the loo, make a phone call etc. Once your 12 minutes is up, set that timer again and get back to it.

His theory is that by planning that 12 minute break, you can put off those things that you would normally interrupt your writing time for and do them in your break. I thought this was quite a valid idea and decided to give it a go over my three day weekend; the only difference was that I did 45minutes of writing and 15minutes of rest (also timed so that I didn't go over).

Lacking an alarm clock or an egg timer, I used the timer on my oven instead; loud but effective. Success! I managed to write almost two-thirds of the novella I'm working on at the moment. I think part of the reason this method worked so well for me is that by breaking my writing time down into smaller chunks it doesn't feel so daunting. It also meant that when I only had an hour to spare for writing on Saturday afternoon, after setting the timer for 45minutes I still felt like I had accomplished something for the day.

It won't work for everyone, but it's worth giving a go.