You have more time than you think. You just waste way too much of it on social media and returning emails. Therefore, during your scheduled writing time, use an app to block yourself from accessing those time-sucks.

Schedule your regular writing time. Put it in your calendar. It is sacrosanct. It should be regular. It’s best if you work in the morning. Really early, if need be, before everyone else wakes up and needs things of you. Your writing sessions need not be long. They may only be a half hour each weekday, for example. Studies have shown that you will be more productive if you write for a half hour each morning than if you do something like pull an all nighter once every two weeks after drinking red wine on your fire escape.

Find an accountability partner. This should be someone who needs an accountability partner as much as you do. Meet with them regularly to share work and feedback, online if you must, but in-person is better.

Set weekly goals. Baby steps. Report back to your accountability partner whether you have met those goals.

Say no. Say no to ten things a week. Saying no can look like telling your partner that you are not cooking dinner or telling your boss that you can’t take on that other project that isn’t your writing.

Writing is a like a muscle. If you commit to exercising it regularly, it will get stronger.

When you feel negatively about the act of writing or lacking in confidence, tell yourself, ‘I get to do this,’ rather than, ‘I have to do this.’ Make ‘I get to do this,’ your mantra.

Make sure your writing chair is not terrible for your back. Stretch. Hydrate. Set your phone timer at regular intervals, such as 30 minutes, to remind yourself to get up from your chair to stretch and drink water.

from Day 6 of #1000wordsofsummer 2024