Finding Time to Write: The Struggle and How I Am Navigating It

A blog post takes three minutes to read but sometimes hours to write and even days to research

The process is in fact quite enjoyable, especially, when you learn about an interesting topic along the way. When writing my first blog post, I initially struggled to sit down and focus on the task, it felt like I had the energy to do everything but writing.

However, after a few minutes of revisiting one of my favourite books: Atomic Habits by James Clear, I physically felt how my body got into a state of processing information, converting it into an insight and expressing an opinion in my own words… a state of flow.

Having experienced that state of flow, I decided to make three changes to help me to write and post consistently:

1) Scheduling my writing session in advance

You do not live in a state of flow, you have to actively get into it. Think about when you go to the gym, you are not already warm when you enter the building, you first have to do some light exercise to get your muscles activated and get going.

The same occurs with writing, you first need to sit down, start jotting random ideas, and then craft your piece through multiple edits. Because this is a highly demanding activity, creating a schedule can help to establish a routine and create a sense of accountability.

In the end, I am more likely to sit down and write at 8:00 AM on Saturday after my writing alarm goes off, than randomly after a day of work when my brain knows I should write but my body just wants to do otherwise.

2) Setting a timer and sticking to it

If your writing session has a beginning time but not an end one, you are likely to fall into the trap of researching too much or overthinking each of your words.

As there is no deadline, you can just keep procrastinating the end result by convincing yourself that you are making progress by sitting down but not getting anything actually done.

Instead, I give myself one hour and a half to sit down and research for thirty minutes, write for about forty, and edit in the remaining twenty. In this way, I make sure that I produce an outcome by the end of the session, and whether good or bad, I have something to post and have actually completed the process.

3) Forgetting about perfection and getting started

Reading that last paragraph might have given you chills… how would you post something regardless of whether it is good or bad? The truth is that if I kept aiming for good, I will never post anything because the piece could always be better, the words could always flow more fluently and the story could always be more engaging.

Getting stuck with my opinion will result in no work being published, instead, I trust the audience, I trust YOU to give me honest feedback that comes from a more objective standpoint and that I can effectively act upon.

At last, the only way to get better at writing is to write and I do not mean taking one month to write and perfect a single blog post. I refer to creating a system and a routine to sit down and let your thoughts flow. The more you practice, the easier and quicker it will be to get into this state, allowing for even more time to write an exceptional piece that you would have never thought possible.

A blog post takes three minutes to read, a state of flow to write, and a timed and structured approach to research.