The Unfiltered Truth About What Your Brain Needs To Create and How To Achieve It
Let’s be real, achieving optimal productivity can be a challenge. We have more tools than ever at our fingertips and with endless streams of smart devices, apps, calendars and planners, we should, in theory, be infinitely productive. But, how many of us are consistently hitting the mark? Our brains simply aren’t wired for the constant noise, consumption of information, and screen time. At the end of the work day, most writers are left tired, scattered and distracted. So, what can be done to enhance your craft? No matter what kind of writer you are, this article will outline tips to help you at any stage in your creative journey.
Writing Productivity Tips For Those Committed To Their Craft
If you’re a writer who is struggling to meet your word count, would like to write more efficiently while boosting the quality of your project, or are looking for general productivity tips, you’ve come to the right place. Improving productivity in your content creation should not mean sacrificing your craft or creativity – in fact, they should enhance each other. There are countless ways to become a better and more disciplined writer. We’ve compiled a short list of nine tips to get you started in your new rhythm:
1 | Turn Off The Noise
The average Gen Zer is used to two screens playing in front of them at any given time. Two screens, two audiovisual sources, two steady streams of information and distractions. The devices playing before us are complicated: while they can entertain and educate, they also are designed to sell us products and services. To increase your writing productivity and generate mental output, you need to mute the input. Consuming constant advertisements competing for your time, money and attention is not the recipe a writer will benefit from. If you feel that your writing is unoriginal, you may be a victim of content overload.
2 | Take Care Of Your Body
Hydrate, feed your brain and eyes with proper nutrition, get adequate sleep, adopt good posture, stretch, get your heart pumping and your blood flowing, experience the outdoors and breathe fresh air. Your body is the temple that houses your mind and soul. If it’s stressed, unhealthy, or failing, you can guarantee that your writing and productivity will suffer as a result. If you have big ideas but find yourself too sluggish or hazy to execute on those ideas, chances are you need to devote some attention to your own self care before trying to push yourself harder. Once you’re taking your physical and mental health seriously, you can develop consistent habits and become more disciplined.
3 | Read More Books
Twitter has not replaced books and it never will. While it’s important to consume others’ writing to improve your own, the research shows that you need to limit the amount of content that you consume. And if you limit what you consume, that means you need to prioritize what you read. What would it look like for you to thoughtfully curate the words that you allowed into your mind? As the saying goes, you are what you eat. Similarly, you write what you read.
4 | Write Every Day, No Exceptions
When we say every day, we mean every single day. Julia Cameron, the author of the classic book The Artist’s Way, encourages a concept called “morning pages,” the practice of handwriting three physical pages of what are essentially journal entries – every morning. While not necessarily focused on word count (being handwritten and all) she emphasizes no less than three pages. This discipline opens up the mind and allows a writer’s thoughts and ideas to flow, creating a daily habit on a schedule, a habit which then becomes the writer’s tool. It’s believed that there’s something to writing by hand, because of the slower pace that allows our brain to outrun our hand on the page, avoiding constant starting and stopping and thus pulling our writing ever forward.
Set an alarm clock and a word count goal. We suggest at least 1,000 words per day during one hour per day. It doesn’t need to be handwritten. It doesn’t have to be your magnum opus. It doesn’t need to appear anywhere on social media. It just needs to look like words escaping your brain and onto the page (or keyboard). If you commit to writing every day, you’ll find that, over time, you’ll write faster and more efficiently. So get on a writing schedule. Set hard and fast goals. Crank out that first draft on a schedule; it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece but a first step is always better than nothing.
5 | Work With Accountability Partner
An accountability partner has a huge potential to increase your writing productivity. Procrastination is easy to sweep under the rug when no one is watching, but when you have a partner keeping tabs on your writing output, it means you can no longer mess around or be lazy. Make a habit of meeting up one-on-one on zoom or at a coffee shop or library (when it’s safe to do so). Discuss your project outlines before proceeding with your first drafts. Vet each other’s ideas, send each other articles, bookmark titles to read, and other examples of great written content as well. As fellow writers, you can help each other with everything from brainstorming to hashing out an outline to revising that final draft.
Talk, write, read each other’s work, and repeat. And most importantly – hold each other accountable on all creative goals.
6 | Meditate
From taking 5 minutes to close your eyes and notice your own breathing and beating heart to committing to 20 minutes of transcendental meditation, working this practice into a daily schedule is proven to unleash real breakthroughs in the human brain. Take a break from the endless stream of work and everyday tasks to press pause. Breathe. If your phone doesn’t pose too much of a distraction for you, try using meditative, distraction-free apps like Headspace or Calm. You might find that taking part in this ancient practice with a modern spin will allow you to access your highest potential and give birth to your best ideas.
7 | Discover Your Productive Hours
While every person’s best time of day is different, everyone has at least one productive window – that block of time when you feel alive, the ideas flow, and you don’t succumb to distractions. For some, it’s early in the morning. For others, it’s late at night. Any hour of the day might be your most productive hour, so it’s crucial to guard that sacred time of day at (nearly) all costs. Wherever possible, move your errands, busy work, meetings and day job to center around your best writing time. Unless you want your writing to always get the short end of the stick in terms of energy, efficiency, and productivity, it’s essential that you block out your naturally productive hours.
8 | Learn New Words
Too many of us think that vocab words equate to high school or SAT tests, but learning more words and expanding our vocabularies shouldn’t stop after standardized tests end. It doesn’t need to look like flashcards, but there’s no reason we all shouldn’t be learning one new word every day. It’s been estimated that there are roughly 1 million words in the English language, and it’s safe to say that even the most prolific and disciplined writer doesn’t even come close to knowing them all. So, if there are words you’ve heard but have never quite understood, don’t hesitate to look them up. Practice using them in a sentence. You know this drill, but it’s time to get serious about making a habit of it if you want to improve your writing.
Learning new words shouldn’t be limited to English, either. We live in a global society, and our languages inform one another. Language is one big, connected evolutionary conversation, and there’s an unlimited amount to learn from other tongues. Speaking of tongues, did you know that language and tongue in Spanish are both lengua? Another word for language in Spanish is idioma – sounds like a familiar English word, no? Seeing the connection yet? The never-ending study of words and their etymologies will improve your writing on a deeper level by layering meaning throughout and creating a multi-dimensional experience.
9 | Observe Hygge
Speaking of learning new words, there’s a traditional Danish and Norwegian practice called hygge, and it essentially means the art of coziness as it pertains to wellbeing. Can you think of an English word that sounds like hygge? That’s right, hug shares an etymological ancestry with this Scandinavian concept. If you don’t know what hygge is, chances are you’ve experienced it through the modern, clean, minimalist aesthetic that has swept the world in recent years. But the practice of coziness for wellbeing can be more than just an unattainable Instagram look – it can be implemented into your workspace to increase productivity and improve your writing process. Yes, believe it or not, learning the art of relaxation and coziness can do wonders for your work.
We challenge you to create a comfortable space to come home to when working on your writing project, whether it’s a book, outline, article, research paper, etc. The best way to achieve a consistent level of comfort in your daily writing routine is to create a physical space in your home or office that can trigger your sense of safety, wellbeing, and relaxation. Arrange a space that will be comfy, aesthetically pleasing, and convenient. That one cozy corner with that well-loved armchair, antique desk, or warm candle. Collect items that make you happy and gather them in the space (but don’t overcrowd it). Bring a portable speaker into the space to play music that’s conducive to concentration (but avoid relying on screens like your phone and or a TV for their speakers).
When you can link a pleasing physical space to your writing process, you can incite the feeling of joy and link it to the instigation of productivity. Was there ever a better way to trick your brain into task management?
When No-Nonsense Is Also Super-Satisfying
Discipline is not about self-flagellation; it’s a part of overall wellbeing. There is something to the practice of self care that heavily influences your writing productivity. Imagine all of these practices slowly turning an imaginary spicket in your mind until it is in the fully-open position: water flows out. All writers want to be in that state of constant flow, so getting your whole self into alignment is a crucial step in achieving the rhythms of productivity in your writing.
In Conclusion…
Do your writing a favor: mute the distractions and start. Take care of yourself; a writer is nothing without his/her body and mind. Read great writing; the stuff in your social feeds doesn’t count. Work out your creative muscles daily; eventually you’ll get faster and stronger. No man is an island; find writing accountability in a friend. Find your inner peace because you’re not productive when you’re at war with yourself. Practice the art of observation in your own life; learn your natural patterns of productivity and apply them to your writing. Expand your vocabulary; you can’t write without words. Embrace comfort and wellbeing and incorporate them into your writing habits; you will be less likely to run from writing tasks when you equate them with cozy contentment.
We’re Here To Help
There are many ways to achieve improved craft and productivity – many more than we were able to include in this concise guide. We hope by now that you will commit to the practices outlined in the writing productivity tips above – as fellow writers, we can attest to all of them. If you find yourself in need of accountability, feedback, analysis, or any further writing guidance, contact us today. WritersBlok is here to support you in all of your writing goals.
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