Ever wonder why you can’t seem to get past writer’s block? Turns out there’s a scientific basis for it. But knowing why it happens doesn’t necessarily help you get past it when it strikes.
Even if you aren’t blocked, there are days when the writing comes slowly. If your income depends on how much you can write, a slow writing day can really be bad news!
That’s where productivity hacks come in. Whether you’ve got writer’s block or just want to get the words on the page faster, we’ve got five great strategies to increase your productivity. Read on to find out how you can write more, faster!
1. Pomodoro: King of Productivity Hacks
If you’re a writer, you may have heard people talking about how much they love the Pomodoro technique. It is one of the most popular productivity hacks.
So how does it work?
Basically, it puts an end to multi-tasking, making you focus on one task in concentrated bursts. All you need is a task and a timer.
Set the timer for 25 minutes. Then, get to work. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted at all during this 25 minutes.
This means no Facebook, no checking your email, nothing. Concentrate completely on the task at hand.
Once the timer goes, take a five-minute break. Make a cup of tea, stand up and stretch, anything that lets your mind take a rest from the task.
After those five minutes are up, reset your 25-minute timer. Again, try to stay focused for the whole time period. If you start to feel worn out, give yourself a longer break before your next interval.
The more practice you get with the Pomodoro technique, the more focused you will be during these 25-minute intervals. Plus, you will be able to do more of these intervals before needing a longer break.
Just like a runner doing shorter runs as they begin training for a marathon, you will be training your brain to focus more, increasing your attention span.
2. Plan Your Content With Journals
Do you find that inspiration strikes at all the wrong times? You can be sitting in front of your computer screen, trying to come up with an article topic to meet your posting deadline. Then, the perfect idea strikes while you’re walking in the park.
Using a writer’s journal is a great way to keep all your content ideas in one place, and to record them whenever inspiration strikes. This way, you’ll have a ton of things to write about every time you sit down to write.
Since you won’t be wasting your writing time trying to come up with ideas, you’ll be able to actually write!
3. Do Research Ahead of Time
Does your writing require research? Don’t try to do your research while you write the article. It will only slow you down.
Instead, do your research before you start writing. This will give you a better idea of what you actually want to say with your piece. That means you’ll spend less time planning.
Plus, every time you stop to look up information, your writing flow will be disrupted. This makes you less productive.
Make sure to save the valuable research sources that you use. If you do a lot of research-based writing, work on developing a filing or tagging system so you can easily find the information again.
Also make sure to get more info about data recovery services to keep that research from getting lost if anything happens to your computer.
As you’re writing, you may realize you’re missing a fact or two. Don’t let that stop your writing flow! Make a note to yourself so you remember to come back later, research the fact, and put it into your article.
4. Don’t Edit As You Go
Do you constantly make little edits to each sentence as you write it? This is only slowing you down.
Instead, just like with other productivity hacks we’ve mentioned, it is important to just keep going! Every time you stop to edit, you are interrupting your train of thought. Each edit is like a distraction, and it takes extra mental effort to pick up where you stopped.
Don’t let yourself edit anything until you have finished the first draft. You’ll be surprised at how much faster you are able to get it written.
Plus, it will also make you a better editor. When you edit a finished draft, you can keep the whole piece in mind. Your edits will help make the piece feel more cohesive overall.
5. Track Your Progress and Set Goals
One of the best productivity hacks is to set goals for yourself and keep yourself accountable to them.
If you write on the computer, use a word processor that tracks your word count. If you write by hand, you can keep track of the number of lines or even pages that you have written.
Set a goal for how much you want to accomplish in a writing session, whether it is in terms of words, lines, or pages. Then, try to write until you have achieved that goal.
Each time you write, keep a record of how many words you wrote. This will give you an idea of your current level of productivity, as well as encourage you to beat your previous sessions.
Once you’ve got a good idea of your productivity, you can set achievable long-term goals. Determine how much you want to accomplish in a week, or a month. Set a goal that is ambitious enough to push you, while still being possible to achieve.
Then, track your progress to make sure you are on track to hit your target. If you’ve set a good goal, it will be highly motivating to reach it.
Wrapping Up
If you’re serious about writing, these productivity hacks will help you achieve your goals as a writer.
Whether you blog or want to write a novel, more productivity is good news. With higher productivity, you can get more words down, and keep improving as a writer.
As a more productive writer, it’s time to start thinking about publishing! Check out these publishing tips and start getting your content in front of readers!
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