Noticing can be simple and shouldn’t require much effort. Don’t think of it as another thing I have to do – all it involves is a moment of reflection after each writing session. Try to ask yourself these three questions: What went well? What didn’t go so well? What will I do differently next time? Log your observations in a notebook, type them into

4. LOG HOW YOU ACTUALLY SPEND YOUR TIME Turn the previous thought experiments into a data-gathering exercise. Log how you spend your time over the coming week or so. Track your day-to-day activity as you do it to build up an accurate picture. Then go over your logs to re-evaluate what time you could have made for writing.

Think back to a time when you’ve wanted to start something new or really stick at something. Think broadly and consider different aspects of your life – for example, starting a fitness regime, learning a new language or musical instrument. Perhaps you’ve tried to stop doing something, like quitting smoking or giving up meat or sugar. Now, let me

a graph, with motivation for a behaviour on the vertical axis running from low to high, and ability to do the behaviour on the horizontal axis ranging from hard to easy to do. The curved line is called the ‘action line’, and it explains the relationship between motivation and ability. When the action you need to take is very hard, like writing a

Specific Vague goals lead to vague outcomes. Getting specific helps define what you need to do to accomplish your desired endpoint. Start by being clear about what you want to achieve. Don’t say: ‘I must write more.’ Instead define what you mean by ‘writing’. Is it word-on-page drafting, or time with your project to read, research and plan? And

In our experience, there’s one thing that all people do who manage to successfully beat their writing blocks – either on their own or with help – and there’s one thing they don’t do too. The thing they do is to recognise that they’re blocked. This might sound an obvious point to make, but admitting to yourself that you are stuck (rather than, say,

You might prefer one approach to making time to write, but the reality of your day-to-day life may mean you need to use a combination to move your writing forward. Be flexible, keep experimenting with different approaches, don’t compare yourself to others, and most importantly don’t compare yourself to an idealised future-you or a rose-tinted

While some productivity advice focusses on swallowing a frog first thing in the morning,† we find the best way to get started is to do something you enjoy – and the research backs this up.21

The heart of Newport’s schedule is his notebook. He divides each day into 30-minute blocks and allocates time for lunch, relaxation and finishing at his pre-agreed time. Academic writer Virginia Valian devised a similar approach, along with an ‘ally’ for extra accountability, based on the principle of making ‘friends with reality’.