Writing a book is no easy project.
You’ll notice there I modified the common phrase of “easy task” to “easy project”. That’s because writing a book is certainly not a task — it is a big project. It’s a project that will span several months or more to see through to completion. You’ll need some help to get it done, and a lot of that help will come from within. I’m offering this piece here today to help you build up some of that “self-help” you’ll need throughout the process.
Here are three of the top productivity tips I used to see not only my first book through to completion, but every one since.
1. Schedule writing times. Whether that means several times throughout a single day or several days during a week that you’ll focus on writing the book, make sure you set those days and times in stone. They are immovable. You can work everything else around those slots, but you can’t move them at all. That doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible, though. You can build “light-lifting days” and “heavy-lifting days” into your workweek, meaning that the former are days where you can focus your time and energy on easier tasks and the latter are days where you do the hard work. No matter how you do it, you must do it. So set those days and times first and foremost — they are going to act as your anchors.
2. Walk — or run — away. My exercise routine went to pot during my writing of my books, except for one aspect of it: running. I made sure to get out and run three times per week, no matter what. If running isn’t your thing, then go out and walk instead. I didn’t schedule these runs at specific times, but took them either when I needed a break or hit a roadblock during the writing process. I got outside and escaped the words for a while and was able to get the energy (and often the inspiration) to get back at it once I returned home.
3. Kill the Internet. Being online during your writing time is just asking for trouble. Either disconnect yourself from the Internet (unplug your router, go to a coffee shop and don’t ask for the wifi password, use an app like Freedom) or use a device that doesn’t allow you to multitask easily (like an iPad) to get the writing done. You may get to a point in your writing career where you’ve got enough of willpower and discipline to be connected and stay disconnected, but if Jonathan Franzen still isn’t there (according to this article in Time, he removed the his laptop’s wireless card and also permanently blocked its Ethernet port) then you’ve got some time before you get there as well.
Now that you’ve got three tips to keep you going, it’s time to get going on that book. But before you go, I’ll offer one last tip: do everything you can to get to the finish line. Every time you do that, it’ll make you want to race again and again.
Mike Vardy is a husband, father, independent writer, speaker, podcaster and “productivityist”. He is also the author of the book, The Front Nine: How To Start The Year You Want Anytime You Want, published by Diversion Books. You can learn more about his other work at Productivityist.com, and you can follow him @mikevardy on Twitter, on Facebook here and G+ here.
