Recently, I re-started posting every day on my site. But I had to set some parameters to keep this mini-project under control.
So I decided to post every day but also to limit the amount of time I spend on each post.
Why You Should Consider This Challenge
- Finding 30 minutes in your day is easy.
- Writing like this, with the pressure of time is going to force you to be creative fast.
- Lot’s of ideas will start flowing. You will need to open another document to put down related ideas.
- Take some “massive action”, as Tony Robbins would call it. It’s the only thing that will get you where you want to be. There are no shortcuts to greatness.
The Overview
- Set a timer
- Open your favorite writing app
- Start writing fast
- Edit after 20 minutes
- Publish
- Share
Set your timer.
I use one called AS Timer on my Mac. I use a Mac-based timer because it is the quickest to get to. It’s literally under my fingertips.
I could use my Apple Watch or the timer on my iPhone. Both are great. But the AS Timer app is a little bit faster. (When I make the video for this process you will see why.)
Set the timer for 20 minutes, not 30.
The idea is to write like hell and then use the rest of the time to edit and publish.
Open your favorite writing app.
I use the Ulysses app, again because I’m on my mac.
It’s simple, fast, reliable and it syncs to all of my devices. (Ok all but one. It requires a license and it only permits usage on two MacOS machines. I rotate between three machines. The license does allow me to use it on my iPhone and iPad, so it’s my go-to writing app. And it does Markdown, which makes formatting web text super easy and fast.
I absolutely love Evernote, but it’s not a good wiring app for me. It’s got too much distracting information in it to be my main writing app. It also does not do Markdown.
Typing all that out reminds me that I prefer to write on my mac laptop. I do a TON of dictating on my phone through the other.ai app, but it’s not the best tool for the “blogging in half an hour” thing I’m doing now. I like to type on a real keyboard for this process.
Just Start Writing
Crank it out.
Don’t check grammar. Don’t check the spelling. Don’t check that it’s perfect because it’s not supposed to be. Not yet and not ever.
Confronting my perfectionism is the main reason I’m doing this “writing every day” thing again, even though I’ve tried and have failed at writing every day before.
Edit What You Wrote But Watch Out
Your timer just went off after writing hard and fast for 20 minutes.
That was great! Good work!
But be careful. You now have only 10 minutes to edit.
This is where it gets tricky because The Resistance is going to come in and say your work sucks.
- Who are you to write a post every day?
- Who are you to think you will ever actually be a writer?
- No one is going to read this crap!
All of that is just your “safety brain” trying to keep you from leaving the status quo. Acknowledge the fear, and move past it.
Remember that when fear and The Resistance shows up, it means you are doing the work you need to do.
It’s a good sign you can feel good about.
Publish That Sucker
Publish directly from the Ulysses App (it will publish to sites like WordPress natively) or open a tool like Mars Edit which will give you plenty of tools to publish faster and better. (More on that later when I make the video.)
Be Glad For The Rest Of The Day.
This is why it’s better to do this whole process and the start of the day, not the end. You get a full day to revel in your accomplishment!
Now, take at least 15 seconds to congratulate yourself on getting another piece of work shipped. If you are being hard on yourself, try to show some compassion. Would you be hard on a friend who’s doing this type of work? No, you would encourage them. So encourage yourself.
You earned it!
Share What You Did
The final thing is to let folks know that you shipped. If that part is hard then remember that this is part of the work. I’ve been hung up on that step, too and it’s one of the reasons my daily publishing efforts from the past have died.
For now, I’m sharing mostly on LinkedIn and Medium. If you would like to join me there, hit me up and let me know you saw this. I’d love to hear that you have started writing every day or that you would like to start.
I could use the company!
