The day is fresh and new, and the first big item on your to do list is blogging for my website. Or a client letter, or the next chapter in your manuscript. Regardless, you sit down, hands poised over your laptop keys… only to have your mind go blank and then wander away…
Did I forget my hot chocolate in the microwave? Is it snack time yet? Oh, I forgot to pay that bill… is my child logged into their virtual classroom?
Before you’re even aware of it, 37 minutes and 18 seconds have slipped away, never to return, and you have nothing to show for it.
Staying focused as a writer takes effort if not the actual habit of doing it, but in our current situation with the pandemic altering our work habits, focus can seen like a pipe dream, a tenuous idea on the edges of imagination. Focus when the world feels like it’s about to crash and burn? You can’t be serious! And yet, staying focused and productive is a non-negotiable skill for a writer or any other artisan serious about creating quality work. Writing – especially creative writing – is as much about the daily commitment and grind as it is flights of genius that may occasionally accompany it.
Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work.
Stephan King
Schedule your writing
Remember that specific, definable goals are superior to vague, obscure ones. The simplest way to do this is set a word or page count goal. Small goals are easier to meet than large over a long period of time, so consider starting with a five-hundred word count or a one page goal. Over time, meeting these milestones can result in a significant body of work such as a completed manuscript or a consistent blog for your business which successfully drives traffic to your website. Furthermore, you will find that your confidence in your ability to write increases along with the success of meeting your own goals for yourself.
Set achievable goals and meet them
Remember that specific, definable goals are superior to vague, obscure ones. The simplest way to do this is set a word or page count goal. Small goals are easier to meet than large over a long period of time, so consider starting with a five-hundred word count or a one page goal. Over time, meeting these milestones can result in a significant body of work such as a completed manuscript or a consistent blog for your business which successfully drives traffic to your website. Furthermore, you will find that your confidence in your ability to write increases along with the success of meeting your own goals for yourself.
For practical tips on how to maintain a blog, here is an article I wrote on the subject: link.
Block out the world while you write
Distractions are a writer’s worst enemy and come in many guises. The internet can be an enormous distraction (ever fallen down the information rabbit hole with link after link clicked?). Social media can be a seductive temptation. With the alteration of our work habits thanks to the pandemic, many of us will be working and writing from home and facing domestic distractions as devastating as those online. To write your best, you should have nothing around which distracts you from the text. One way to facilitate this is to time yourself. Set a timer for thirty minutes of writing, and when the timer goes off, give yourself a ten-minute social media break. Notifications on your computer can track your time and keep you aware of where your time goes during your writing session. If noise troubles you, consider noise-canceling earbuds, white noise apps, or curating a music playlist to keep you focused.
Another means of boosting your productivity is accountability with another professional writer!
Set up a consultation with me to discuss content generation and writing accountability.