5 Productivity Enhancement Tips for Writers

For writers, consistent productivity can be quite challenging. If you’re blocked, you can spend all day sitting in front of a keyboard, staring at the screen, and only typing a few words that you know you can use.

It's easy to get stuck in an unproductive cycle without even realizing it!

This article is going to focus on productivity enhancement tips for writers so you can spend less time idling, avoid cramming to meet deadlines, and spend more time focused on doing what matters most: creating great content.

Why Writers Struggle With Productivity

Too Many Distractions

Writers are often distracted by anything around them: technology, social media, television, and other distractions that keep them from being productive.

A 2018 Nielsen study found that U.S. adults interact with media for an average of 11 hours each day. This includes the radio and TV, as well as time spent on a tablet, computer, or smartphone.

Lack of Direction

This occurs when the writer has no idea where their piece is going. This is frequently the result of a lack of planning and goal setting. Most authors cannot begin writing without a clear road ahead.

The Work Is Too Difficult

Either the writer oversold their abilities, or the assigned task is simply too difficult. And unfortunately, procrastination is the most common response when faced with a challenging project. As a result, little or no work is accomplished, and productivity suffers.

If you're a writer that’s often unable to focus, you're not alone. Writers are infamous for being unproductive for various reasons.

These issues can be addressed with a few productivity practices.

Five Simple Tips to Improve Productivity for Writers

1. Start With a Clear Action Plan

A to-do list is a good place to start, but the mere act of putting down a task on paper won't necessarily help you achieve it.

For example, if your goal is to write 1,000 words per day and your current word count is 300 words, knowing that you need 700 more words won't do anything by itself.

If your tasks are not set up properly, are too overwhelming, or ambiguous, they won't help you. The issue isn't motivation. Rather, it's about not having a clear, attainable plan with realistic targets based on one’s time and energy.

Write down your to-do list and keep it where you can see it. Make sure the items on your list are achievable within the work day (or your set time frame).

Use this along with the Pomodoro technique to achieve more in less time.

2. Try the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is a time management method that helps maintain focus on the task at hand for a set period. It was developed by Francesco Cirillo and named after a tomato-shaped kitchen timer.

By breaking up tasks into manageable chunks, you can get your to-do list under control. The idea is to work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break. Repeat this cycle four times, then take a longer 20-minute break.

Let's say you need to write an article about productivity enhancement tips for writers. First, outline specific tasks: researching other articles on the topic, creating your outline, writing the body, then editing.

Divide these tasks into smaller, manageable chunks of 25 minutes each and take five-minute rests in between. These periods are known as Pomodoros. After four Pomodoros, you can take a longer, restorative break for 20 minutes.

Writing takes a lot of concentration, and it is difficult for many to maintain productive focus for a full hour. The Pomodoro technique can work because 25 minutes is a reasonable amount of time to write.

3. Find Your Productivity Zone and Avoid Distractions

You need to create a space where you can focus. This may be difficult if you work in an office where people are often walking around, talking on the phone, and trying to catch your attention.

Try to find a quiet area where no one will bother you. Once in your zone, make sure that everything else is ready for work: all equipment and creature comforts are on hand.

Take care of all other obligations before sitting down for a productive writing session.

4. Use Writing Apps

Writing apps are a blessing to writers—platforms to save drafts, track progress, and maintain organized output.

Here are two tools to get started:

Google Docs

Google Docs is free and accessible at any time and on most devices. Google Drive is part of Google's ecosystem, so you can arrange your files in a few clicks. You can also use it while offline.

Evernote

This excellent writing tool has several capabilities, such as note-taking, making memos, sketching, writing to-do lists, and uploading images. All data is saved to the cloud, so you can access it at any time on any device with the app—great for working on the fly.

5. Get To Know Your Writing Style and Avoid Cramming

Writing can be a bit of a chore. It's hard to just sit down and start banging out words—especially if you’re writing something that needs to be edited and polished later.

That's why working on getting into the habit of writing regularly will make it feel less like work. When writing is just another part of your day, starting your projects and maintaining productivity becomes easier.

But what about those times you need to buckle down and crank thousands of words? How do we do this without feeling overwhelmed?

You can break up your writing over several days or weeks instead of trying to cram everything in one sitting. Again, the Pomodoro technique is a great way to do this.

In order to finish his work, "Mini-Habits" author Stephen Guise set a goal of only writing 50 words every day. It is so easy that he could complete it even when busy or tired. Guise soon found himself writing far more than 50 words on good days; he maintained this minimum goal so that even on a bad day, he'd feel productive.

Conclusion

Maintaining consistent productivity can be difficult, even for the most disciplined writers. However, you can use plenty of techniques to bolster your productivity.

We must also emphasize the need to take breaks from time to time; otherwise, you'll burn out. After that, put the above tips into play, and the rest will follow.