How to Nail Productivity as a Writer

As writers, we often have one goal--to write books. But sometimes we overlook all of the steps that must work together in order for that to happen.

Life is busy. You don't have time to spend eight hours a day in front of a computer screen or your whole weekend reading.

The funny thing is, neither did some of the most successful authors.

When writers like Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, and many, many more first started writing, they didn't have countless hours to dedicate to their work.

They had jobs and activities going on in their lives. Some even had families to support.

But look where they are now. Look where their books are. Do you think they would be where they are now if they didn't know how to manage the hour or two they got each day to write? Do you think if they hadn't made time to write that they'd be the authors they're today?

I certainly don't.

They had to learn how to be productive. They had to learn how to manage their time. They had to learn how to set attainable goals, and so do you.

In this post, we're discussing productivity and how to write your book and live your life at the same time. I know it sounds impossible, but you may have more time than you think you do.

Getting Distracted

Productivity as a writer is really hard to do continuously because writing is a creative passion and your imagination isn't great at being consistent.

One day you might write 1,000 words and the next, you might only get 100 even if you write for the same period of time as the day before. This means if you want to be productive, you have to focus on one thing at a time, and you have to focus on it hard.

If there are other things on your mind like work, school, paying the bills, etc. Those things can stress you out and distract you from the task at hand: writing.

Don't let that happen!

When you sit down for those few hours a day, even if it's just a few hours a week, let those hours be for writing alone. Turn off your phone. Put it in the other room. It's not going to run away and you aren't going to miss anything. I'm serious! So many writers I know struggle with productivity because they get distracted. So what's the logical thing to do? Get rid of the distractions.

Procrastination and why its Killing Your Writing

Another reason writers might not be living up to their potential productivity is because they procrastinate. Personally, I'm like the opposite of a procrastinator because not doing something causes me a lot more stress than actually doing something.

Not writing, knowing that I should be writing, causes me more stress than sitting down for an hour and knocking out a writing session.

I think if you're a procrastinator, rewarding yourself is really helpful. If you want to write 500 words, tell yourself you're going to write 500 words and give yourself a reward only when you've completed your goal.

Maybe your reward is chocolate, or an hour of Netflix, or a new shirt. I don't know.

The trick is that the reward has to be something you actually want, and you can't give yourself the reward unless you meet your goal.

Setting Goals

Don't make excuses for yourself. If you aren't meeting the goals you want. If you aren't meeting your goals because you don't have goals, make them.

No one ever got anywhere if they didn't know where they wanted to go. So ask yourself, where do you want to end up? What is your end goal for yourself as a writer? What is your end goal for your current book? How long do you want it to take to get there? A month? Two? Two years?

You have to know your schedule. You have to know yourself as a writer and set yourself up for the best outcome. If you like writing with music, play music. If you are a morning person, write in the morning.

What I do, and I find this really helpful, is when I sit myself down to write, I'll repeat my goal and how long I want that goal to take. For example--"I want to write one-thousand words in an hour." That's a pretty standard goal for me.

This only works if you know your own ability. Maybe you aren't a super fast typer, or you aren't yet writing at one thousand words per hour.

But you will get there. You will become faster and better and writing will feel more natural.

The trick to productivity is to create good habits and set attainable goals based on your ability.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't push yourself. It just means that you need to set goals that are attainable for you and where you are in your life right now.

Even writing 3-4 hours a week can make a huge difference in your writing and will help you to grow as a writer.

Time Management

I looked at my time spent on YouTube last week, and I was up to nine and a half hours. Nine and a half hours in seven days! Nine and a half hours I could have spent doing something else. Something like writing.

As you can imagine, I was kicking myself, so I set a goal not to do that anymore and to spend more time not only writing, but reading and spending time with my siblings. I encourage you to look at how much time you spend on certain apps like Instagram, YouTube, or just your phone in general. While you may be wishing to get the 10+ hours of your life back, looking at your time spent on these apps will open your eyes to just how much extra time you have, and get you into the habit of knowing when to turn the phone off.

If you aren't writing because you don't have the time, then make the time.

Not having enough time is the worst excuse because guess what, we all have the same amount of time. Wow, MIND BLOWN!

Do you think Stephen King said, "I have to go to work today. Then I have to go do this and this and this. Looks like there's no time for writing"

He didn't say that because he made time. He woke up earlier to write. He stayed up later to write. He canceled plans to write. He didn't watch TV!

If you take writing seriously, you should make time to do it. If you are really passionate about it, writing should become a habit and something you have specific time set aside for.

I've realized that if I set aside time to do something, it usually gets done. If I write something down and say--"I'm going to do this at x time for x hours or until I reach the goal I set for myself," it will get done.

My inner psychologist is fascinated.

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Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

― Stephen King

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Productivity in Essence

Being productive is hard, but it's necessary in everything you do. You have to know how to set attainable goals. You have to know how to manage your time. You have to figure out where you're going wrong and how to fix it so you can stress less and create good habits.

In essence, productivity is achieving your goals in an orderly and timely fashion. Productivity isn't just important for you writing, it's important for your mental and physical health.

Having a plan will help you not stress as much. You won't have as much anxiety about writing and you won't feel disappointed when you don't write.

Look at the areas of you life. What are you spending time on that can be cut down to make time for writing? Is it Netflix? Instagram?

Use the things you love as rewards instead of distractions. If you write for an hour, reward yourself with an hour of Netflix. That's being productive, but watching Netflix while saying you're going to write isn't productivity. You're just fooling yourself.

I feel like writers don't talk enough about productivity, time management, goal setting, and the effects being a writer has on their lives and mental health.

If they do talk about it, they talk about it to complain instead of trying to find a solution.

But I'll let you in on a little secret--every writer struggles with all of these things at one point or another. The difference between successful writers and unsuccessful writers is that successful writers don't give up. They find the problems and they find the solutions because their love of writing outweighs the struggles they have to go through to write their book and to live their dream.

No one can do these things for you. You have to want it.

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No one should be as passionate about your work as you are. - Gary Vaynerchuk

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Let's leave it at that. Thank you so much for reading this blog post. I hope this post has inspired you and made you ready to nail your productivity and work harder than you've ever worked on your writing before.

It's going to take practice. It's going to take heart, but you'll get there. Keep going.

It's been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time--stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi