How I Developed a Writing Habit

43 Articles in 38 Weeks 🖋️

On January 31st, I published my first newsletter under the No More Snooze banner and since then I’ve published 43 articles in the past 38 weeks.

In the beginning, I was publishing into the void until the first few subscribers stumbled across my writing.

Now 500 of you subscribe to get the next article sent to your inbox and I will forever be grateful for a small slither of your attention.

In the past, I’ve hopped from good intention to good intention but in the end, I’ve quit most of my endeavours.

Today, I want to share how I was able to develop a writing habit and a few lessons I’ve learned about self-discipline along the way.

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Setting an achievable target

Initially, I was posting 2 articles per week but this soon became unmanageable. The Jake of old would’ve been demoralised and probably quit after a month.

This time, however, I recognised that it was just a time management issue. I had too high expectations of what I was capable of achieving.

After 4 weeks of writing, I reduced my target to publishing only once per week and I have been able to stay consistent with this schedule.

If this became unmanageable, I could’ve dropped to once every 2 weeks or even once a month.

The important lesson is that high expectations may lead to failure. Starting small and then adapting as you learn along the way is the key to any habit formation.

On January 1st, 99% of people with a New Year resolution of going to the gym will stop going by February.

They will start with high expectations of going to the gym 4 times a week and when it becomes unmanageable they will throw the baby out with the bath water.

If everybody with that New Year resolution started small with an achievable target of once per week, they would be more likely to stick to that schedule. Over time, they could increase the volume as the momentum of working out every week became part of their weekly routine.

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Doing something even when I don’t feel like it

We all have good days and bad days. Good weeks and bad weeks. Nobody is happy and motivated 100% of the time, that’s not how life works.

Some weeks I don’t feel like writing this newsletter, other times I can’t wait to start typing.

The Jake of old would only do something when he felt like it (quelle surprise I used to quit when my motivation faded). I was accustomed to doing things fuelled by motivation only. Self-discipline is doing things when motivation is nowhere to be seen.

I haven’t missed a week of writing online in 9 months because I have been training my discipline muscle.

The satisfaction of publishing a new article every Sunday and knowing I did what I said I was going to do is a strong hit of dopamine.

The satisfaction is even greater when I know that I stuck to my schedule even when I didn’t feel like it.

I feel in control of my self-discipline, my productivity and my procrastination more than ever before.

The same people who have a New Year resolution of working out will quit by February because they just won’t feel like going anymore.

The burst of motivation they had in the beginning is nowhere to be seen. The ones who keep going to the gym even when they don’t feel like it will be the ones who achieve their health goals.

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Accepting my imperfection

I’m not what you might call a '“writer”. I rarely write anything other than work emails and birthday cards and yet I’ve managed to develop a writing habit.

A huge reason for that is that I’m happy to accept my imperfections as a writer.

I accept that I’ll never be as eloquent as Ernest Hemmingway. I accept I’ll never be as good of a storyteller as Stephen King.

There is no pressure on me because the only person I will compare myself to is me 6 months ago.

Accepting the imperfections in the output allows me to focus on my input. Rather than spending days and months learning about proper grammar and sentence structure, I can focus on my consistency and self-discipline.

The same people who have a New Year resolution of working out will quit because they will compare themselves to somebody who has been going to the gym for a decade. Or they will focus on ‘the perfect bicep exercise’ rather than just doing something. They will seek perfection rather than accept their imperfections as a novice gym-goer.

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What I need to do to maintain my writing habit

1. Establish a writing routine

I have been able to commit to publishing every Sunday but my writing process is still all over the place.

Sometimes I’ll write the article on a Tuesday other times on a Saturday morning. This unorganised method is destined to fail eventually. If I leave it to Saturday and then something urgent comes up I will miss my Sunday publish date and it will be due to my lack of a consistent writing set-up and routine.

2. Minimise distractions

Once my writing routine is established I need to focus on minimising the distractions around me.

I could cut my writing time in half without compromising on quality by sitting down in the same place every time with my phone switched off and some background music for focus.

This should be fairly easy to implement over the next few weeks.

3. Join a writing group

There is power in surrounding yourself with people who have the same goals as you.

There are a few subscribers who joined the No More Snooze self-improvement network a couple of weeks ago (we’d love for you to join also) because there is power in tribes.

I know that for my writing to get to the next level and to stay accountable I should join a writing group to learn, share and grow with others on the same journey.

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Developing a writing habit will go down as one of the most impactful things I did this year. Not just for the benefits of writing and thinking, but for what I’ve learnt about myself, motivation, productivity, persistence, self-discipline and habit formation.

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If you missed last week’s edition of No More Snooze 👇