Trying To Write Every Day? Here’s How To Stick to It

Many people struggle to build a writing habit. I did too, but I solved it with this simple mantra

Writing is part of your daily routine.

Art by my buddy Loor Nicolas

In my experience, that’s easy to implement if you follow some simple steps. Keep on reading to know how to exactly how.

Tip #1: write short-form stories.

In the beginning, I was writing long-form articles, which took me between 2 to 3 hours to write.

It was difficult to find such a big empty spot in my schedule, and almost impossible for me to do it regularly.

Moreover, if I did write, I didn’t want to spend so much time again on the same task the next day.

So how can you keep motivated to write often?

Write bite-sized articles that take less time to produce.

Getting down my writing effort from 2–3 hours to 30 minutes is key for keeping my energies to create more content the following day.

Tip #2: Timebox your writing.

Although I only wanted to spend 30 minutes writing, usually the attention to detail made me spend a long time finishing the article.

But everything changed when I tried to time-box the writing process.

I only allow myself 30 minutes for writing.

After that, it’s publishing time.

I find that timeboxing allows you to pace yourself and distribute your limited time.

It also forces you to have a finished product when time is up.

Tip #3: Include writing in your routine.

Now I needed to fit that those 30 minutes somewhere in my day.

First I tried in the evening, but that’s my free time and depending on the plans I have on that day, I couldn’t separate time for writing.

After some trial and error, I found that the best time to implement a routine was the morning because:

• I always wake up at the same time.
• I always start working at the same time.

So I came up with the following procedure:

Wake up 30 minutes earlier.

Spend those 30 minutes writing.

Also, this plays well with timeboxing, since if I keep writing for more than 30 minutes, I’ll arrive late at work!

This has proved to be super effective, and I haven’t missed a day of writing.

Tip #4: Track your ideas.

Finally, writing every day requires some preparation.

Keep a list of topics you want to write about.

You should be able to update this list at any moment an idea comes to mind.

Keep this list handy since ideas may come to your mind at any given point during the day, and you want to write them down before they’re forgotten!

Putting it all together

So here’s my trick for being able to write every day:

1. Compile a list of topics you want to write about. You should be able to update this list at any moment an idea comes to mind.
2. Before going to bed, check that list and select a topic to write about tomorrow.
3. Wake up 30 minutes earlier, check again the topic and start thinking about the article while you go through your morning routine.
4. Spend those extra 30 minutes writing, not a minute more. It’s easier if you start working right after those 30 minutes.
5. Hit publish. Share your article.
6. Continue with your day, write any idea for a future article in the topics list.
7. Repeat from step #2.

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