Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

The above title is not a play on words. This article highlights an often missed truth that determines how productive we can be each day.

Creative types (writers, developers etc), often go through psychological peaks and troughs, that affect their output.

There are those times when you find yourself in the zone, and relentlessly churn out awesome content, to the delight of your readers – and possibly clients. But there are also times when you feel “empty” of ideas.

Suddenly, you’re unable to get anything useful written, and you don’t know why!

Most Writers Can Relate To The Above Scenario. Some Call It “Writer’s Block”.

Maybe it is. But from years of writing, and studying what many successful writers say about writing, I have come to the firm conclusion that you can immunize yourself against that notorious affliction.

It however takes great mental stamina, and self-discipline, to overcome that problem. And if you do, you’ll ultimately arrive at a point where you can achieve consistent output.

There are so many factors that can negatively affect your ability to write productively at any point in time. Fundamental is your interest in, and passion for the subject. You will also commit to doing intelligent research to cover any gaps in your knowledge.

Having said that, even after all that is in place, many writers still get periodically stuck, unable to finish what they start writing.

One possible cause is the way they plan their writing.

The most successful writers carefully study the conditions that help them achieve the best writing output at any time. Then they work hard to replicate it those conditions as often as possible.

Over time they develop a tried and tested system for creating those ideas conditions literally at will. Most of this is really a mental process.

However, at a point certain physical activities can greatly impact – negatively too – on a creative person’s ability to get the needed work done as and when required.

The Following Narrative (Based On a True Story) Illustrates the Above Point

I once read about a teenage girl who got a standing ovation after playing the violin before a sold out concert audience.

When asked afterwards about how she managed to develop such great prowess in playing the instrument, she replied that her success secret was “Planned Neglect”.

According to her, when she first started learning to play the violin, she tried to please her parents by doing her chores BEFORE retiring to practice. After a while however, she noticed that each time she did this, she often got tired too early to practice as well as she knew was necessary.

So, she decided to do it the other way around i.e. practicing first, and only doing her chores or any other tasks AFTER she was satisfied with her practice efforts. She became a child prodigy in the process!

There’s more.

Documented accounts have it that geniuses like Edison and other great minds often worked in rooms that looked disorganized, and which they rarely let anyone “organize” for them.

Yet they were reportedly able to find anything they needed, by themselves, in those same chaotic environments.

For them, the priority was their work. The business of neatly arranging their social spaces came in second place.

Guess what? The world was better off for it!

Is It Possible Your Writing Suffers Because You’re TOO ORGANIZED?

Most writers determine where, when and how they work.

Their clients trust them to make the best use of their time to get the writing project done to the right standard, and on time.

As a writer, are you too organized to be productive? Do you, for instance, obsess over house keeping? Do you always want to make sure everything is in its place before you can settle down to write? There’s nothing wrong with that. As long as you’re sure it will not wear you out before you can get some decent work done, keep doing it.

If, on the other hand, it’s making you less productive than you’re capable of being, consider adopting the “planned neglect” strategy described in this article.

You could, for instance, hire someone to do those tasks for you (if you can afford it), so you can save physical and mental energy to focus on achieving your primary goal.

Remember: If you fail to turn in your written works to specification, and ahead of agreed deadlines, the client is unlikely to call on you in future.

Further Reading

1. This artcile is based on excertps from my ebook titled “Why You Keep Failing To Achieve Your Writing Goals!(10 Habits that are Holding You Back & How to Eliminate Them)”. Click here to get the full ebook as a PDF download.

2. Proven Techniques (& Strategies) You Can Use To Start & Finish Writing ANYTHING” (FREE PDF Report)