Empowered Woman | Entrepreneurs

Being a writer is fulfilling but challenging at the same time. If you create content for your business or you’re an avid blogger, then creating content can be difficult at times — mainly because it’s essential to generate a lot of content consistently to get benefits.

The simple dream of most writers is being able to write more. And it’s not only writing more, it’s writing effortlessly.

But it’s not just authors or professional writers who dream of this. These days, a lot of marketing roles will require you to dust off your writing skills at one point or another. And there’s nothing worse than simply not being able to write — especially when the pressure of a deadline is looming over your head.

Yes, we’ve all been there.

In this post, I’ll go over 5 ways I use my time more effectively to be a more productive writer (than I was yesterday). Get ready to take some notes as we get ready to analyze some of the best ways to become a more productive writer.

1. Get organized.

Writing is a creative act, and being organized will help you harness your creativity. It’s important to plan your content in advance by creating a content calendar. A content calendar will help you track deadlines for different articles, posts or stories. It will also help you collaborate with your team to make changes and add more details.

Another way to be more organized? Set a time for writing and commit to it. Waiting for inspiration to write often leads to prolonged delays that only feed the problem. Diving into your work can be the spark that brings out your creativity. You can also set a goal to finish a specific number of words every day.

Being organized can give you a frame of reference that compels you to take action. I find that I’m more productive when I have a clear plan to follow.

2. Form the habits of a productive writer.

There’s one thing that’s essential to do if you want to consistently achieve your goals in life — be they writerly or otherwise — and that is to form and follow good habits.  

We writers tend to want to live in our dreams. The successful among us turn dreams into goals and then make those goals into habits. If you don’t take these steps, you risk getting caught up in your hopes and never turning your dreams into a reality.

After all, if you’re taking little or no action to achieve what you want, you’re never going to get there.

3. Create a dedicated place for writing.

You can increase your comfort level and creativity by reserving a specific place to write your content. This might be a neatly arranged desk in your home, a quiet cafe nearby or a seat at a coworking space.

Creating a single location for writing creates an association between the place and the act of writing. You’ll create a link between a specific physical space and your creative state, making it easier to produce content when you’re there.

4. Gauge your efforts.

This could mean no more than occasionally looking at a spreadsheet. Sometimes, measuring the results of your efforts could amount to spending a few hours examining stuff like:

• Income from your writing.
• Number of articles sold.
• The analytics of your website or social media channels.

Not a fan of spreadsheets? Never fear. There are other ways you can track your progress. You can use your phone to set reminders and make quick shorthand notes on your progress. Similarly, you can use Google Calendar to layout your schedule, jot down deadlines and prioritize.

Doing this will help you to quickly see how far you’ve come. It’ll also help you figure out what you need to do to advance further as well as how you might want to change your goals in the future. Knowing what you need to do to make real progress in the year ahead will help spur you on to become a more productive, accomplished writer.

5. Try the Pomodoro technique.

The pomodoro technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. To help your writing, you can use a modified version. The idea is to set a timer and write for 25-minute intervals. You can take a break for five minutes and start over again.

Hearing the timer go off can give you a sense of accomplishment because you’re working while anticipating it ring. You can look back to see what you’ve written over every session, and thus see your work progress.

You’ll feel more motivated to write because there’s a specific time you can stop. Use this technique to increase your focus and attention span.

Summary

Now you’ve got everything you need to begin turning yourself into a faster, more efficient writer. I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. Try these out to see if they work for you. After all, setting goals, forming good habits, and blocking in time to focus on doing something you love can be useful for anyone. So, start turning your dreams into reality today and get crushing your writing goals.