Most writers long to be more productive, especially those who juggle their writing with a full-time job and have limited time to devote to their art. If you want to boost your word count and get more done with those precious minutes or hours, here are a few tips.
Set achievable goals
I caveat this by saying that not everyone finds setting goals helpful, particularly if they’re very short on time and having a set word count per day, for example, is just an added pressure. Goals can, however, be a useful motivator, as long as they’re achievable.
Your goals could be hitting a certain number of words, writing for X amount of time or updating your blog once a week. Whatever goal you set yourself, make sure it’s a target that stretches you but you know you can reasonably achieve. Set the bar too high and you’re setting yourself up to fail, which will only leave you feeling demotivated.
Identify when you’re most productive
What time of day are you at your best for writing? For some people it’s first thing in the morning, while others are night owls and work best late in the evening. Of course, if you have a full-time job then you might not have the luxury of writing when you want to and may have to just snatch five minutes here and there.
If you can, experiment a little to find what time of day you’re at your most productive and schedule some writing time in then. If you can build writing into your daily routine, it becomes a lot easier to stay motivated to keep on track with your goals.
Stop making excuses
Leading on from my previous point, you have to make time for writing. We’re all allotted the same 24 hours in a day, and we all choose how we spend them. If writing is important to you then you have to stop making excuses and carve out time for it.
Telling yourself you’re too busy is almost certainly a lie. Check your screen time on your phone – how long have you spent mindlessly playing games or scrolling through Facebook reels? We all time waste, and that could be valuable writing time. Instead of watching one more episode of that boxset, you could spend half an hour on your manuscript. If your writing matters, prioritise it.
Make it a game
Everyone loves a bit of a challenge or a competition, and turning your writing into one can really boost your productivity. If you set a goal, see if you can exceed it. You may have a target of 500 words a day, but when you hit the 500, see how much further you feel you can go.
Beating yesterday’s ‘score’ can be a really satisfying feeling, as long as you don’t take it too far. Forgive yourself for the days you fall short or don’t write at all. Everyone has periods where they’re genuinely too busy or simply not in the right head space, so allow yourself the time out when you need it.
Eliminate distractions
Some people find it very hard to be separated from their phone, but if you want to be more productive, you have to eliminate as many distractions as you can. Leaving your phone in another room is the easiest way to detach from it and focus on your writing, or at the very least silence it and put it in a drawer.
Other major distractions can include internet browsing or being surrounded by clutter. Try to keep your workspace as clean and tidy as you can, and use one of any number of apps that temporarily disable the internet. The more distraction-free you are, the better you’ll be able to give your writing the attention it deserves.
Productivity is really all about getting organised. The more you can prepare for your writing sessions, the more you will get done during them, so set goals and have a strategy for achieving them. The more prepared you are when you sit down to write, the more you will get out of it.
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