How Cyclical Writing Can Improve Productivity
Burnout is real — how to avoid it and go on vacation instead
“I should be writing.”
Despite the fact that you have 17 scraps of paper with writing ideas, 3 separate notes on your phone that you’ve scrambled to type half-processed thoughts just before you fall asleep or while you’re on your morning jog — you still haven’t found the right time to fully fledge those ideas into a cohesive piece.
Maybe you think about one or two of them every so often — or every couple of hours.
You might refresh your stats page on your current articles or your book wondering… “How am I doing? What do people want more of?”
Maybe you’re even someone who writes and publishes every day — multiple times a day.
If you’re like me, you’re a writer, but you haven’t quit your day job.
I’ve found a way to keep myself (somewhat) sane while doing both, and not pull (all of) my hair out in frustration.
It all began while checking the stats:
Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. You know what I mean.
I’ve now moved to the point on my stats graph where that lull you see above just after April 26 through the beginning of May is the last part that I see before I have to click to see previous.
I always like to compete with my past self — trying to get my current day to match or exceed the last visible day on the left.
I realized that I don’t have as much pressure right now — which is great, because school has just ended, and with my crazy schedule, I’m feeling massive burnout.
I was writing at 2 A.M. because I couldn’t sleep, and I was also doing my day job — or trying to — on what little sleep I had. I was burning the candle at both ends, and I’m shocked to find only two. It felt like twelve!
When I realized I didn’t have stellar stats to compete with, I decided to take a break:
This led me to think… I wrote for 3 weeks, publishing 22 articles in about 30 days — sometimes writing 2 per day while I waited to hear back from publications, sometimes self-publishing out of impatience.
I didn’t really write as much that 4th week of the challenge as I had just lost a friend and I needed some time to myself.
After a few days, I launched back at it — hardcore. I also published my most popular article ever, so that accounted for quite a few views — and still does.
I had so many ideas after giving myself time — but I remember thinking just days before that: “How am I ever going to keep this up with everything going on?”
The pattern went:
- Write for 3 weeks, pretty furiously
- Take a breath and stop writing/publishing daily for about 1 week
- Write for 3 weeks, start publication (that’s another story in itself)
- Feel apathetic about both jobs despite having so many writing ideas
This led me to the idea of cyclical writing:
I’m sure there may be another term for it, but I’m writing from my own experience.
It led me to see a pattern in my writing — a cycle of productivity.
Essentially, it’s okay to take a break — your productivity won’t suffer, and your ideas will flourish.
I was worried my stats would take a complete nosedive this time — and they did decrease, but not as much as the previous month.
The more your library grows, the bigger positive feedback loop you’ll have where people will still find your writing even if you aren’t producing every single day.
This also helps keep your quality up, and your guilt down.
If you feel like writing — write.
If you feel like taking a break — take it, and don’t feel guilty.
This sounds incredibly simple, but then you won’t feel like you have to be an absolute machine even when you’re frustrated, or if life happens.
You might have to unexpectedly take a break, so it’s good to know you can build one in wherever you need without killing your career.
Your stats will be back — and stronger than ever, but you need to give yourself time if you’re just not feeling it.
Then, when inspiration strikes, you’ll be back typing, formatting, and finding great pictures to go with it.
Cyclical writing for me looks like:
- Write for 3 weeks
- Break for about 1 week
It may change! It may end up looking like 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, depending on what life throws at me. I may end up writing every single day, but I know that is not sustainable — personally.
It may also end up that I recover more quickly than anticipated and I’m on break for less than a week.
Am I putting this on the calendar and scheduling it out?
Absolutely not — it just seems to be a pattern I’ve followed 2 months in a row.
In order to honor myself and the hard work I have put in, I’m allowing myself a week in case I need it here and there.
Benefits of writing cyclically:
- Scheduled time off when you’re feeling overwhelmed
- A guilt-free lifeboat in case life gets in the way
- A time period to experience life and not feel like I “should be writing” constantly
- A break from checking stats, replies, and promotion
It’s kind of like giving yourself a weekend — but extended. If you pride yourself on publishing every single day, including Saturday and Sunday, more power to you.
I’ve even managed to break my addiction to the stats page — and I’ve never been happier.
If you’re feeling the burnout… give yourself a week. Even three days can feel like you’re in Tahiti — you’ll come back refreshed, and more inspiring than ever.
