Back in the summer of 2017, I realised I had a problem that made it hard to do meaningful work.
I couldn’t focus.
I’d sit down in front of my computer, hands raised above my keyboard and before long, my mind would start wondering.
It didn’t help that I was never alone.
My phone was on my desk, pinging repeatedly.
Now, I knew the only way I’d ever get to work with companies I admired was if I improved my writing.
I also knew this would require practice.
And it’s practice that needed to happen in between a full-time job, parenting, and the truckload of admin that comes along with adulthood.
On top of battling to find the time, I couldn’t get my mind to settle for long enough to make any real, sustained progress in this pursuit.
Now, even if you don’t write for a living, getting content out for your business or personal brand, can push you forward.
Blogging can drive traffic to your site and help grow your authority in your field.
But, if you’re a busy modern professional, chances are you have competing demands on your time.
That urgent work project. Family obligations.
It’s near impossible to carve our anytime for yourself, least of all for writing.
So, I’ve been on a mission to find techniques that help with two things:
- Find the time to write even when you don’t have tons of free time.
- Make the most of these brief blocks in your schedule
This is an ongoing project for me, and I’m sharing the approaches that have worked best for me.
1. Build a Bank of ideas
Author Steven Pressfield calls it resistance.
It’s that feeling that holds us back from doing something hard but truly fulfilling.
Sometimes, resistance takes the form of procrastination. Other times, we falter because don’t know where to begin.
Take me as an example. Part of my resistance was figuring out what to write about.
To get rid of the block, build a bank of ideas you can always draw from.
In this blog post, I detail the idea generation system I use. But, there are several ways you can get the job done.
Google is a great source and so is listening to your customers – what are they asking you? What are they talking about?
2. Write What you Know
A simple way to gain some momentum is to write what you know.
You can – and should supplement – your analysis with facts, stats, and research. But when you write from personal experience, it’s faster and the writing is richer. Much richer.
Business writer Henneke Duistermaat also recommends sticking to a trusted blogging framework to grow your blog.
After studying hundreds of blog posts, Duistermaat discusses types that resonate with readers.
3. Intermittent Productivity
On the 5 AM Miracle podcast, Jeff Sanders talks about intermittent productivity.
He’s speaking to those of us who rarely – if ever – get a solid six hours of focus.
Now, I work from home, largely on my own schedule, but this doesn’t mean I don’t have deadlines – and life – to see to. But if you work in an office, it’s even harder. Meetings, unplanned discussions with colleagues and manning the office phone.
Sanders said the trick here is work “on the margins” and make the most of the 20-minute “silvers of time” that may come up during the day.
4. Have a Plan for Free Time
The secret to unlocking this window of time is to have a plan for your focus time.
Try creating a list of tasks for a writing schedule.
Maybe your list looks something like:
- Make outline
- Google how to use commas properly (I get paid to write and I still struggle with this. I even built a website about it to remind myself.)
- Proofread
The key here is to take very small steps. James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, encourages us to make steady but slow progress.
It’s an approach that totally changed how I worked on my writing – and this blog. I used to try to get an entire article done in one sitting. And, I fell short frequently. When I committed myself to 30 minutes per day, I was able to start publishing consistently – for the first time in months.
Here’s my post on how I write a blog post a week by doing something small on my blog every day.
After a while, you’ll see the time has added up.
A game-changer for me was realising how much time I spent on my phone. I downloaded the Moment app and one day, I’d spent about 3 hours. I can’t tell even tell you what I was doing. As alarming as that may be, more than 50% of people spend five or more hours on smartphones, according to Statistia.
I’m not saying we need to flush our phones down the toilet. (Although watch your phone if you ever come to visit; I have a toddler who loves tossing objects down the drain.) I use my phone for things that add value to my life – daily conversations with my mom, speaking with awesome professionals on LinkedIn and listening to podcasts during a long drive.
Thing is, I can trade some of the smartphone time for 30 minutes of writing. And, maybe you can, too.
5. Banish Your Phone
Talking about phones…
At the start, I told you how my phone and I shared office space.
Turns out that was the enemy of deep work.
Research published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research shows your concentration declines if your phone is nearby – even if it’s off.
“For the study, the researchers asked hundreds of people to work on two different cognitive tasks. Sometimes people were asked to leave their phones on the desk; sometimes in their pocket or bag; sometimes in another room. In all cases, sounds and vibrations were turned off.
“Results showed that people performed best on the tasks when their phones were in another room. Even when participants were asked to turn their phones’ power off, they still performed better when their phones were out of sight,” reports Business Insider.
6. Make a Ready to Resume Plan
Ever have one of those days where you’re constantly switching from one task to another?
Or maybe you’re frequently interrupted.
Do you ever feel like you’ve accomplished anything particularly significant?
Probably not and that’s because of attention residue.
Attention residue is a concept from researchers Sophie Leroy and Theresa Glomb. The pair suggests that when we switch tasks before we can finish, a part of our attention stays with the incomplete work. So, this makes it hard to fully concentrate on the new task.
To deal with this, they suggest a brief ready to resume plan: a short note to self on where you left off and what needs to be done.
Life is busy, and you’ve got a lot going on. Committing to a writing habit can help you grow – professionally and personally. Try setting aside one hour per week to start. See it as an investment in your career -and yourself.
