The Power of Habit
Last week I wrote about the power of spending just 15 minutes a day on your writing. The good news is, once you are in the habit of writing, you will soon find that 15 minutes stretching into longer writing periods, without feeling like it’s a chore. The best way to develop this habit? Put it in your calendar. If you have to wait and see if you have time for or feel like writing, you have to fight a battle every day that relies on willpower instead of habit. Putting a specific time in your calendar helps make it non-negotiable. It doesn’t really matter if it’s 6:00 a.m., or 10:00 p.m., once you know what works, it just becomes that thing you do at that time.
The other secret is preparation: don’t just put it in your calendar and forget it. A powerful productivity habit is daily planning. Whether you do it first thing in the morning, or the night before, taking a few minutes to think about what you will do and when helps organize your mind and prepare it for work. I have a weekly planner, where I put the big-ticket items I want to accomplish that week, and then I have a daily list that I make the night before, where I plug those items in. I write the daily list on a tear-off memo pad, and cross things off as I go. At the end of the day, I tear off the page, with immense satisfaction. Done!
At the end of the week, I tally what I accomplished, and what I didn’t. If I didn’t, what prevented me from reaching my goal? For example, I might put: write for one hour on first draft, 6 days/week. Each day, I might put 8:00-9:00 writing first draft on my daily schedule. I try really hard to write at that time, but even if it gets pushed back for some reason, it’s still staring at me all day because it isn’t crossed off. If I reach bedtime and it’s still not done, I can decide to do 15 minutes or I can skip it. But since it’s on my weekly calendar, I’ll know if I skipped it, or did less. Was I sick? Was there some other emergency? Was I blocked and kept coming up with excuses not to do it? Having it written down helps me look honestly at why I didn’t do what I said I would, and think realistically about the following week. The purpose isn’t to beat myself up, but to recognize my patterns. Only once I acknowledge them can I do anything to change them. Sometimes a lack of work signals the need for a break, and I can plan for that. Sometimes it signals the need to sit my butt in the chair, set a timer, and be okay with sucky writing. As they say, you can’t edit a blank page.
The other part of preparation is making sure that your workspace is ready when you are. Is your desk so messy you can’t even see your computer, or find your notebook? Will you be tempted to clean rather than write? Do you have a little ritual that signals your brain it’s time to write? This might be lighting a candle, putting on some specific music, sitting in meditation for a few minutes, sharpening a pencil, reading an inspirational quote or two… some simple activity that helps you transition to writer-mode. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for you to transition to writing, without getting distracted or being able to make excuses.
The more you make writing a habit, the less you have to think about whether you want to do it or not, and the more writing you actually do. That’s why it’s important to develop times and rituals that work for you, not necessarily what works for someone else.
If you are interested in reading more about the power of habit, though, I recommend the following:
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life – Twyla Tharp
The Power of Habit – Charles Duhigg
Atomic Habits – James Clear
Bird By Bird – Anne Lamott
On Writing – Steven King (I hesitate to recommend this one, not because it’s not good, but because his “write 2000 words a day” ritual is not doable for many writers who have other jobs, family responsibilities, etc. I’m all about finding the balance between what you can do and what you will do, and though 2K a day is a laudable goal, I don’t think it’s for everyone).
What are your writing habits? Please share in the comments!
