WRITING
100 Days of Writing: Day 80 — Unshakable Productivity
Coming up: a practical PDF guide
On Feb 1st, 2022, I embarked on a 100-days writing challenge, where I aimed to write one story per day on Medium.
I’ve decided to do a check-in every 10 days. The last one was here. And today, I will give you my progress on day 80.
The light out of the tunnel
This is article number 80 and I’m writing this on the 80th day of the challenge, which means I’m on track.
This is still a strenuous effort for me to write one article each day. But I’m starting to see the light out of the tunnel!
Unshakable Productivity
I’ve also started to work on a free guide called “Unshabable Productivity”.
It will be based on the most enduring techniques I’ve been using. Techniques I’ve been using for many years, and that I’ve talked about in my articles.
And here is the design I’ve created for this cover:
I plan to “remaster” some of my best articles inside this guide. And I’ll use your feedback as a guide to make it extra compelling.
Getting some nice signals
While my views are not growing anymore, I’ve had some encouraging feedback.
- Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the creator of the ILLUMINATION publication, told me my articles are easy to review.
- AndrésR has told me he learned a lot from my articles, and gives me important feedback on my articles.
- And Effie invited me to write for their productivity-related publication.
Thank you guys, that’s encouraging to me!
Working with a publication plan
I’ve also started to create a rolling one-week publication plan.
This means I’m writing the title of my next 7-days articles in advance.
It makes me able to think about what to write well in advance.
And the ideas often emerge when I go walking, which helps to avoid the blank page syndrome when it’s time to write the final article.
My statistics
Now let’s see my statistics.
First, the story stats:
Since the last check-in, my views count changed from 4077 to 3440, a 15% decrease. So again, disappointing results.
Lately, I’ve read that frustration boosts creativity. I guess that will help me do better!
Now let’s see the audience stats:
I gained 33 followers + 1 email subscriber. That’s better than the last check-in, which is a nice surprise.
I hope it’s a sign I’m publishing quality articles!
My secret sauce
As usual, let’s check in on the habits I had in mind while starting this challenge:
(for info, there’s been few changes since the last check-in)
Developing consistency and motivation
- I will develop a habit of writing for one hour each morning when I wake up. Yes, I’m still doing it. Still writing the rough draft of my articles in the evening and editing in the morning.
- I will do calls with my accountability partner to help me stay focused on my goals. Still need to catch up on this. I’ll talk more about it next time.
- I will actively participate in various writers’ communities — currently, I’m part of the Write Useful Books and ILLUMINATION slack workspaces. Still not doing it because I have too much on my plate right now.
- Other than that, I’m surviving as best as I can with this article publishing rhythm. I plan to catch up at the end of this challenge on the things that are still in progress, such as the home page of my author blog at alexphili.com.
Finding inspiration
- I will read medium articles and follow interesting writers that I enjoy. Recently, I’m reading quite a lot of humoristic articles. Some of these authors are great at storytelling, and it inspires me!
- I will read a book each day for at least 30 minutes. I’m still reading the book The art of impossible by Steven Kotler.
- I will do daily walks in nature. I’m still doing this one. I’m not always that regular about doing it. But I acknowledge these walks are essential to finding great ideas for my articles!
- Other than that, I find it effective to always have in mind the next 7 articles I plan to write.
Avoiding burnout
- I will do meditation or take a nap each morning after publishing my daily article. Yes, doing it. Naps and the Body Scan Relaxation Technique have been the most effective tools to recover.
- I will do vigorous exercise during my walks in nature. As I already mentioned, I’m not as consistent as before on this. I need to catch up!
- I will write articles in advance. Definitely not doing it since I already have some editing work to catch up on.
- Other than that, I’ve had some difficulties sleeping lately, I’ll try to address this issue.
Ensuring I write quality articles
- I will never publish an article the same day I wrote the first draft so that I can edit it properly. Yes, doing it!
- I will use Grammarly to spot my grammar mistakes. Still using it! Still using the basic Grammarly option.
- I will practice writing exercises, such as studying my favorite authors and reusing their writing plans. I did not work on this in the last 10 days.
- Other than that, I’m still using Obsidian, and I’ve created many permanent notes lately, which means my network of ideas is densifying :)
The 10 posts I wrote since the last check-in
Lastly, here’s the list of stories I wrote since the last check-in in case you’ve missed them:
71. Pacify Your Inner Critic by Letting Go of Black and White Thinking 72. Voice Dream Reader: My Go-to App to Read Books Crazy Fast 73. The Forest App: Get Focused While Growing Trees 74. Dissolving Procrastination With a Simple Mindset Shift 75. The Crash Test Principle: How to Be on Time Every Time (to be published) 76. Slack Tip: How The Mighty ‘remind me’ Feature Will Save You From Corporate Ghosting 77. The Focus Rudder: Fine-Tuning Your Focus at Work With the Yerkes-Dodson Law (to be published) 78. This Improv’ Trick Will Make Your Articles Unforgettable 79. How to Craft Your Very Own Focus-Friendly Music Collection 80. (this article)
In the last 10 days, I also published this article from my backlog: Crushing the Negativity Bias: What I Learned After 1793 Days of Journaling
And here are other articles from before that I still need to publish:
- Friday Evening Hangover — How to Get Productive When You Don’t Feel Like It?
- Break Free From Procrastination by Washing Your Hands
- Overcoming a Creativity Block With the Malkovich Principle
- Deep Insights: 7 Books That Caused a Mini-Revolution in My Life
- Avoiding Disastrous Personal Crises with a Risk Register
- Solitude + Goal = Big Magic
- 5 ways to boost your productivity with the Observer Effect
- Breakthrough Pauses: Yes, There is a Recipe to Produce Genius Ideas
- Burning the ships … or not!
- Unshakable Weekly Reviews: power-up your workweek with a touch of social interaction
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I hope you enjoyed this article. The biggest highlight of this check-in is of course my practical guide project. Traffic-wise, I’m still not doing so well. But as I said, that frustration will probably help me improve! I hope this inspires you on your writing journey.
On February 1st, 2022, I embarked on a 100 days writing challenge. This is post number 80.