Writing your book can be challenging. Here are five things you need to stop immediately if you want to increase your creativity and productivity during the process.
1. Stop Preventing The Natural Flow
Thinking too hard about your writing is the quickest way to develop writer’s block. When you develop writer’s block, it will stop you dead in your tracks causing you to want to throw in the towel. Just let it come naturally with no extra pressure added to yourself. Let the words flow. Take a moment and start putting pen to paper and see what happens even if you are not writing about what you meant to write about it will come just do not keep questioning yourself. Sometimes I write about how I am feeling in the moment and before I know it I instantly have the motivation to begin writing what I set out to write in the first place. The truth is every book that has ever been written began as a mess. Each draft is meant to get better so give yourself grace. If you do what is called a “brain dump” and let every idea and thought flow you will eventually see it all come together. This is only possible if you let your thoughts flow and stop putting the pressure on yourself to be perfect.
2. Stop avoiding the hard stuff
With our busy society, we have a long list of tasks that overwhelm’s us to the point of no return. Due to all of the things, begging for our time it is important to prioritize what HAS to be done. The trouble is that many people want to focus on what is easy to do. For example, if you love cooking you will do it gladly, meanwhile, your laundry is piling up to the roof. It is fun to scroll social media and catch up on the show you recorded, but not so exciting to go to the gym. It is easy to be consumed in meaningless tasks that do not really matter. If you do not attack these tasks in the beginning and you wait for them to build up you will lack energy, motivation, and focus causing you to be extremely distracted and more unlikely to complete the required task. Tackle your hardest tasks FIRST. Once that is done, it will be out of your way and you can make room for the fun tasks! Remember that if you set a goal to write your book that is an IMPORTANT task that MUST get done!
3. Stop overworking
It is easy to get addicted to working. Work often gives you the illusion of productivity so in the immediate it seems appealing. The trouble is when you overwork yourself you are pushing yourself close to burn out! Let us say you start off working on your book for 4 hours every single day on top of working a full time job. While it may seem like you are more productive and it may feel good in the immediate the truth is over time it will wear you down. Even if you’re working on something you love it can become exhausting. I challenge you to take a break! Writing requires creativity, and there’s no better way to pull out your creative side other than taking a break. Try going outside for a walk, going to the movies, exercising, or taking a nap. You would be truly amazed at how much of a difference even just a few hours off can make. Never underestimate the importance of leisure time.
4. Stop checking your e-mail and surfing the web without intention
It is easy to sit down in front of your computer with the intention of getting your book written and then you remember that cute shirt you wanted to order and before you know it you have $500 worth of clothing in your Gap cart. Or maybe you are two paragraphs away from finishing the intro and then you get a Facebook notification and before you know it you have spent two hours looking at your ex-friends boyfriends mothers page. Or maybe you noticed on your phone you have 15 new emails. Checking your e-mail is a foolproof way to become distracted and steer completely off course. Technology …cannot live with it, cannot live without it. Technology is the easiest way to get your time sucked away. When you set out to work on your book make sure, you rid yourself off all distractions!
5. Stop the one size fits all approach
You know yourself best. It is great that others want to share advice and it is wonderful that their suggestions have worked in their life. The truth is you are your own person. When I first began my coaching business, I always had my clients try to implement a morning routine. What I came to see is that morning time was not the best for everyone. Once I realized that we all have different times that we are more productive than others I learned the importance of adjusting tips and strategies to work with each individual uniquely. What works for some people will not necessarily work for everybody. For example, some people function better if they are tackling multiple projects at a time, meanwhile, others have to balance one at a time. The most important lesson of all is to be sure to pay attention to what works for you and what does not. There is no sense in pretending something works when it is blatantly out of alignment. At the end of the day you have to do what works best for YOU – and while working take note of what doesn’t work, and avoid doing it.
Writing a book takes a lot of dedication. You cannot approach the process accidentally, you must instead be intentional about working hard on it. Use these strategies to help you ensure you are working in the right direction.