It’s easy to look at your favorite writer’s body of work and envy their prolificness. From the outside looking in, it can appear like the productivity of the New York Times Bestsellers, the Pulitzer Prize winners, the award-winning journalists have some intrinsic gift of constant flow and word outpour. It might\u00a0have you saying, frequently, “If only…must be nice.” It might discourage you from starting\u00a0to write or encourage you to give up writing. But rest assured, your favorite writer’s do not have a productivity\u00a0superpower. They have tools and tricks to focus in, to find their flow, and to create less friction\u00a0to help the words come out. You can do it too! Try some of these tried and tested secrets to increase your productivity.<\/p>\n
[*] Don’t Break The Chain<\/b><\/p>\n
Jerry Seinfeld<\/a> is known to have a calendar where every day he writes, he gets to draw an X with a red magic marker. Instead of worrying about total progress, your job is to fill in a box. \u201cAfter a few days you\u2019ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You\u2019ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.\u201d<\/p>\n [*] Force Your Freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n Writer’s are good at finding distractions. The phone and computer can be a rabbit hole of distractions. That’s why Neil Strauss<\/a> uses the app and website blocker Freedom<\/a>. \u201cAs soon as I sit down to write, the first thing I do is I put on Freedom because if you’re writing or you want to research something, you research something, and then you get stuck in the click beats. And, what you can do is save all of the things you want to research, and just research them when that time expires, and you’ll find it so much more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n [*]\u00a0Talk It Out<\/strong><\/p>\n The blank page is daunting. Having a conversation isn’t. Tj Stiles<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>told Writing Routines, “If I\u2019m just starting, I never consider the page blank. I\u2019ve been writing in my head long before I sit down at the keyboard. In fact, I sometimes start inadvertently, by describing to someone what I\u2019m doing. Conversation often crystalizes my own thinking far more effectively than solitary reflection.”<\/p>\n As Seth Godin<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>says, “Nobody ever gets talker’s block.”<\/p>\n [*] Listen To One Song On Repeat<\/strong><\/p>\n Eventually, you forget the music is playing and the deep focus begins. This is\u00a0Ryan Holiday<\/a>‘s guilty secret<\/a>. “I use music not only to shut out outside noise but to shut off parts of my conscious mind. I\u2019ve found that picking one song\u2014usually\u00a0something I am not proud to say I am listening to<\/a>\u2014and listening to it on repeat, over and over and over again is the best way to get into a rhythm and flow\u2026Basically I treat the music as sort of disposable, instant flow tool. I use it until it stops working, and then I move on to the next song. I use the same song that I am writing to\u00a0when I run later<\/a>, or if I go for a walk. It\u2019s just creating a continuity to the creative process.”<\/p>\n If that sounds crazy or like a form of insanity to you, check out some of the psychology behind <\/span>listening to the same song over and over and over<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n [*]\u00a0Do Something Else<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s easy to sit at the computer for hours on end until the word count climbs.\u00a0Bryan Burrough<\/a>\u00a0likes to break up the day. “I tend to write in 45-90 minute bursts, after which I desperately need to step away from the computer for a bit and then return with \u201cfresh\u2019\u2019 eyes. Typically I use that break to play I-pad Scrabble or, occasionally, play a computer game of some sort. Civilization 5 and XCom2 were two recent time-killers. If I feel like it, I might even take a nap.”<\/p>\n Similarly, When\u00a0Nick van Hofwegen<\/a>, aka\u00a0Young & Sick<\/a>,\u00a0can’t find his writing flow, he puts on his illustrating hat. “I might have it easier than others because I have the double medium \u2013 I do\u00a0illustrations and art<\/a>. If there is ever a moment I don\u2019t really feel one is flowing I can go do the other. It comes from the same part of my brain, but it\u2019s a different activation. My illustrations don\u2019t really come from a lot of thought, they just come from doing. And so it opens up ways to get back into writing.” If you’re not a dual threat like Nick, doodling works too.<\/p>\n [*] Don\u2019t Beat Yourself Up About It<\/strong><\/p>\n Some days, you just might not have it. And that’s okay.\u00a0Mark Manson<\/a>\u00a0cuts his losses and gets back at it tomorrow. “If I feel stuck or nothing comes out, I stop, take the day off, or go back to my outline\/research and make sure I know what I\u2019m talking about. Writing is like anything else. Athletes have bad games. Politicians give bad speeches. Writers have days where everything they write sucks. It\u2019s normal.”<\/p>\n [*] Start The Day With A \u201cLittle Success\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Steven Pressfield<\/a>, who wrote the definitive\u00a0text on the mortal enemy, writer’s block, or as he dubbed it, Resistance, slays the dragon with a tiny victory to start the day.\u00a0 “My friend Randy has a concept, ‘Little Successes.’ He tries to start his day with a series of successes, so that when he sits down to the blank page, he\u2019s got momentum. The gym is that for me. It\u2019s physical but it\u2019s mental too. It\u2019s a ritual, as Twyla Tharp says in\u00a0The Creative Habit<\/em><\/a>. I never want to get out of bed. I HATE the idea of getting up and going to work out. But I do it to\u00a0do something I don\u2019t want to do.\u00a0<\/em>And of course it feels great when it\u2019s over. I feel virtuous. It\u2019s a Little Success.”<\/p>\n [*] Race The Clock<\/strong><\/p>\n A good way to get something done is having a deadline. When you don\u2019t have a boss or an editor waiting on your work and creating that urgency, <\/span>Benjamin Spall<\/span><\/a> makes the deadline. “I recently bought a <\/span>small analogue timer<\/span><\/a> that I take with me everywhere and I use to time myself when I\u2019m doing particular tasks. Don\u2019t get me wrong, the alarm is excruciatingly annoying (it has a silent setting for when you\u2019re in a public place), but what it\u2019s great at is visually showing time slipping away.”<\/span><\/p>\n [*]\u00a0Lock Yourself In Your Car<\/strong><\/p>\n Ben Hardy<\/a>\u00a0wakes up and walks out to his car. But not to go for a drive. The car’s engine doesn’t start, but\u00a0his writing engine does. “I wake up between 5:00-6:00am, get in my car, write in my journal about my goals and life. My car is a sacred space where I know it will be peaceful. Eventually, the journal writing makes its way to the topics I want to write about that day.”<\/p>\n [*] End When It’s Going Good<\/strong><\/p>\n As soon as you really start to hit your stride, call it a day. That sounds painful, but Jeff Haden<\/a>\u00a0swears by it. “I try, whenever possible, to stop working at a really good point. Try it: When things are going really well, when you\u2019re totally engaged and really hitting your productivity stride, whenever possible, don\u2019t finish. Stop at a really good place. That way you leave yourself a fun place next time.”<\/p>\n Todd Henry<\/a>\u00a0does something similar. “I always end each day knowing exactly where I\u2019m going to pick up the following day, because getting started is the most difficult part of the writing process for me. Several years ago I determined to \u201cend with the beginning in mind,\u201d meaning that I stop each session at a place where I have clear momentum and can easily pick back up the following day.”<\/p>\n As Hemingway said, “The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel you will never be stuck. That is the most valuable thing I can tell you so try to remember it.”<\/p>\n