I try to follow these kind of regimens, it’s not hard sticking to it once you get started.

The hard part is getting started in the first place and it might take you longer than you think to get yourself accustomed to doing so.

I find it helpful to take care of a few of the distracting things on my “other” to do list (errands, chores, etc.) first thing in the morning before I begin writing. I can focus more efficiently when the “geez, I need to clean the bathroom” feeling is out of the way. : ) I usually give myself until 10 a.m. to take care of those tasks, then begin work.

3-6 articles a day? You are my new hero! And judging by this article, they are of high in quality! Keep up the good work.

T

Thanks for the article, Leo. I know that I write best very early morning. Which means, of course, that I’ve gotten better at sabotaging this by staying up too late reading nonsense and trivial blogs. Limiting distractions early morning AND late evening is key for me. So, I’ve added to my rules: no Internet after 10pm unless absolutely necessary. Of course, my creative brain will find a way to determine that checking the status of Hilton’s jail sentence is ‘absolutely necessary’!

You could also try Writer which is like an online version of WriteRoom.

Another well written, informative article by Leo. I love reading his stuff!

Oh, and I have to respectfully disagree about “Be Prepared.” Writing through your research is often the best way to understand it and to form original ideas about it, at least if you are writing anything longer than a blog post.

Leo,

I really appreciate this insight into your insanely awesome writing ability. Maybe I just need to spend more time cranking away.

And Dark Room (or WriteRoom) is a great suggestion. I love it!

Andrew

Wow that darkroom program is amazing! Thanks for all the cool tips and the sweet program.

Personally, I have been writing use MS OneNote, unlikely writing tool but it works well. I copy and paste my research into a page, highlight/mark it up and then there’s room on the side to type my article.

Hi Leo

Do you work on the article research the night before you actually write the article? Or do you do research + writing first thing in the morning? Also, when do you decide the topics of the articles that you want to write about? I’m guessing probably a week before?

So…what’s the potent bootstrapping method for making the leap from “knowing” you should just “begin”…and…actually “beginning”?

I mean…the tips here are inspirational and motivational to a degree, although the information’s certainly not new.

But I’d say I’m not alone in having difficulty maintaining motivation in the face of “go with the flow,” tantalizing distractions that provide immediate stimulation (all things that folks have mentioned above).

What’s the “boot,” if not the “bootstrapping method,” that’s potent enough to help us all bypass shorter-term fun for longer-term rewards?

Yeah, yeah, I know; “fear” is a good one! But that’s originating in the external world (largely).

How do we leap from being other-directed, or outer-directed, to inner-directed?

Sometimes, facing the blank screen (page) is coldly odious, and planting oneself in the writing chair often feels more like jumping off a Mt. Everest-sized cliff…!

Nice article. Very nice indeed.
It’s good to know that blog-beginners (like myself) have someone like you (and others) to help them with getting some good writing done.

you got me there .just to let you know that this was my first site to get into by chance while checking my firefox add ons and i just woke up!this is a sign that i have to change my old habits and start working on my writing.thanks for reminding us.

Great comments, everyone! I can’t respond to each one individually, but I’m glad if you’ve found it useful. I couple responses:

@garg: I find it’s useful to do the writing right after I do the research, when it’s fresh in my mind. So let’s say I research something for 30 minutes to an hour — and this could include interviews, as I often do phone interviews for different articles — I can put the writing off to the next day, or I can just crank it out then. I admit that I’m not perfect in this regard. As for article topics, sometimes they’re assigned to me, and sometimes I come up with my own (those are my favorite). I have a story list (a simple text document) that has a list of all my stories for the next 2-3 weeks. I usually plan out the topics of my blog posts and free-lance blog posts at least a week in advance, although it’s always subject to change, of course.

@avivagabriel: That, of course, is the big question, and really there’s no one answer. I’ve found a number of things to work for me — and I’ll write more about them here at FreelanceSwitch in the coming weeks. But the main things are 1) knowing the 1-3 things you really want to accomplish today and 2) not procrastinating on them. Now, procrastination is a habit (and I’m as guilty of it as anyone), but it can be changed. My goal this year is to develop more of a “do it now” (DIFN) habit, which I’ve been working on and have been pretty successful on (most of the time).

Fantastic article.

The other point that needs to be made is that if you can master at only of a few of these tips, then you already have gained some productivity positives.

Keep the articles coming.

Oops — darkroom. Emacs is a good editor, it does not make you less stupid (as evinced by my previous comment).

Some pretty good tips. There are actually eight, not seven. You should make ordered lists instead of unordered lists!