3 Techniques For Writing Under Stress

Don’t let deadlines, health issues, family conflicts, or other presssures block your productivity.

By now I should declare myself an expert on dealing with productivity blocks. They have certainly hacked my self-image as a US Postal Service doppelganger. I used to think, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays me from the swift completion of my appointed daily word count.”

But while the original creed still holds up admirably for our postal workers during this crisis, my output has taken a decided hit.

Is it the virus? Well, indirectly. My reaction to the virus, to be exact. Or, specifically, my reaction to the overwhelm of trying to take in the notion that all 7 billion of us have been brought low by an organism we can’t even see.

That nobody on the face of the earth has immunity to this deadly disease.

That unless we follow draconian measures to isolate ourselves, we could suffer worldwide the fate of our species in 1918–1919, when another deadly virus leveled the planet.

A third of our population at the time came down with the illness, and 50 million people worldwide died. We don’t want to imagine we can suffer the same fate, so we do our various denial dances. Or, we become hyper-vigilant, like I do, and never leave our homes.

Meanwhile, we absorb the news of the rising toll in our country and almost every other on the face of the earth, doing everything but live sacrifices to ensure we don’t catch it and ensuring our loved ones also remain safe.

The pandemic is over four months old by now. Why am I spelling out what you already know all too well? Because we’re all living it day-to-day and can forget the big picture. We lose track of the forest for the trees. And I want you to see every scary bush and shrub so you go easy on yourself for the stress you are under.

We shelter-in-place and try to maintain a sense of normalcy. For writers, that means keeping up with our usual output. We might make jokes about wearing masks and watching cat videos all day, but secretly we fear we’re not handling the pandemic right because we don’t want to take a shower or get out of our PJs for days at a time.

As if anyone knows how to handle a total shut down of the entire planet while at the same time telling your high school or college senior why there won’t be a graduation ceremony to celebrate all their hours and hours of studying, volunteer work, sports wins, and community service to advance to college or grad school.

Or while juggling your bills waiting for the unemployment check that won’t cover everything you owe by now. Because, you know, the virus furloughed your job.

Anyone who gets through this without doing violence to a complete stranger just because, gets a gold star. I’ll see to it personally.

Yet, you still have to pay your bills, and if writing is part of your income stream, you must strategize to write under this enormous stress. For some of us, writing is a stress reliever. We can spew out our feelings of anxiety, fear, and anger like lancing a boil. After we get all the negativity out of our system, either by sharing our feelings or making jokes, we can move on to self-quarantining the best we can.

Others need to find ways to filter out the rest of the world and focus on producing words. If you’re struggling, I have a word of advice and three techniques to help you maintain your energy and productivity during times of added stress, now and when the pandemic is over.

First the advice. Go easy on yourself. Some people can put their heads down and plow through their work. Likely, they aren’t creative types. They have filters that we don’t that shield them from emotions that get in the way of work and productivity.

I’m not saying they don’t feel the impact of the pandemic. But they can manage when and where and how to deal with those feelings instead of having them intrude during worktime.

Different strokes for different strokes as we used to say.

For the rest of us, here are my techniques to help you focus. I find it’s better to write in small, manageable chunks rather than to plan to sit down and write for hours. These are all variations of sprinting, accountability and support, which can unlock your imagination and creativity and get you writing again. Use one or all as works for you.

1. Sprints

If you’re not used to sprinting, think of the track event where runners cover a lot of ground in a short period of time.

Writers can do the same thing. Assemble a virtual group, just one partner, or set yourself down with a timer. Plan to write in small spurts of 15–20 minutes at a time until you meet a word count goal for the day.

If you’re editing or completing another task, set a similar goal. Turn off all distractions, or as many as possible. Baby monitors are allowed if you are the only caregiver in the house.

There is one rule. Once you start writing, you don’t stop until the timer goes off. You don’t answer the phone, stop to check spelling or grammar, do research or take a break to eat, pee, or stretch your legs. You just write for the prescribed period of time.

Make it short enough so the time will go by before you know it, but not so short that you don’t get a few sentences written.

When the timer goes off, count your words, write them down, and take care of necessary bodily functions. Do not reread, edit, or judge your work. Make tea, get a glass of water if necessary, and start again.

Do as many sprints as you need to complete your work goal for the day.

2. Get a writing buddy

If you find you can’t settle down to write because you have to take care of chores or other members of your household interrupt with their needs, or your total isolation makes it hard to focus, and you find yourself staring out the window for hours on end, get a writing buddy.

Find someone who also needs to write every day, either in your household or someone you can text with or connect with online.

This is where accountability comes in.

Arrange to “meet” at the same time each day. Make it mutually convenient so you won’t have an excuse to bail. If you are in different time zones, or half way around the world from each other, be sure you set your alarm clock for your writing date.

Make adjustments for the sake of your productivity. If you’re an early bird who usually starts writing at 6 am, but your buddy needs to wake up gently and go through a morning routine until 9, give her some time and meet somewhere in the middle. Perhaps you can use the time to reread the prior day’s pages.

When you ping each other that you’re ready to begin, have a friendly check-in. See how the other is doing. Give words of support and care. Listen if the other is struggling. Share insights if you’ve had a breakthrough in living in this crazy time. But it’s not group therapy, so don’t spend more than ten minutes or so.

Agree on the number of sprints you will do, the word count you want to reach, or chapters edited. You name your own goals. One person can edit, and another can write. Makes no difference.

Then set the time and begin sprinting. Same rules apply as for sprinting by yourself, but now, you give each other virtual high fives when you share your word count. At the end of each sprint, count your words and break for bodily functions. Stretch if necessary, and begin again until you’ve met your day’s goals.

3. Pomodoro Method

This well-known time-management method has been around since the early 80s. It differs from the sprinting I have described in the following ways.

Set your work goal for the day and your timer for 25 minutes.

Work until the timer goes off without breaks. And the end of the 25-minute session, stop for 5 minutes. Stretch your legs, get a beverage or snack, and return to your task.

Work for another uninterrupted 25 minutes.

Complete four of these 25-minute/5-minute sessions and take a 30-minute break. During this half-hour, do something completely unrelated to the work you’ve just completed.

The idea is to give your brain time to refresh.

Continue for as many 30-minute sessions throughout the day as necessary if you like.

Final notes

No productivity method works for every writing personality. You may be a binger, writing for hours at a time until you’ve purged yourself of every idea and image and come to the end of your project.

On the other hand, you may need constant encouragement, showing small portions of work to an editor or critique group.

I find that with whichever of these methods I use, and I change them up as I need to, I get through my work faster than if I just stare at my screen and will myself to churn out words. Timing and accountability helps enormously. I sprint with people 25 miles away and half the world away. As long as we can connect remotely, it doesn’t matter.

During these unprecedented times, I hope you can find what you need to keep writing the stories, articles, and poems you need to express, and we, your audience, need to read.

Please stay well and mentally and physically healthy during this time. I also hope these three tips help you through these difficult days.

Best wishes to everyone.

I’m an editor and writer on Medium with Top Writer status. I’m also an editor for the publication, Rogues Gallery. I’ve published 55 titles on Amazon and edit for private clients. If you’d like to hire me as your editor for fiction, non-fiction, or business writing, please contact me here. If you’d like to read more of my work on Medium, click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ll make sure you don’t miss a word. Thank you for reading.