How I Write 10,000 Words Per Day and Stay Completely Focused on Tasks

I first stumbled upon the idea of writing 10,000 words per day when I read an article by Marc Guberti about writing 10,000 words in less than 12 hours. That article spoke to my soul, in fact, I attempted my first 10,000-word day that same day. I read the article at 5 am and I started writing at 6. I felt compelled to give it a try and see how effective his tips were in boosting my productivity and increasing my output.

I have been writing for more than 10 years but at that time, I had reached a point of peak laziness. I found it difficult to write 100 words per day let alone 10,000. Speak to any writer, creator, or designer and they will certainly reiterate my point that sometimes blockages do occur and it is important to take a step back, reevaluate and change the way you work.

In this article, I am going to outline how I changed the way I work to start writing 10,000 words of quality content per day. Before you crack open your keyboard and start creating your first 10,000 words, remember that it has taken me a while to get to this point. It will take time, you will have bad days, and also, the goal is not necessarily to write 10,000 words every single day. Pick a day, pick a few days in the week, or just try to squeeze one 10,000 word day in each week.

Vital Note:

Find Your “Sweet time”

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that waking up early to write is the most effective way of increasing output, I would be a millionaire by now. However, I beg to differ with this one, I wake up early and get most of my important work done between 4 am and 10 am. However, what works for me might not work best for you. Therefore, it is vital that you find your sweet spot and stick to it. What is a sweet time? The sweet time is the time where you feel most productive. Most able to crank out your most difficult work. Yes, there is a whole science behind waking up early and hitting the ground running however, there are advantages to being a morning person and advantages to being a night owl. According to Christopher Randler, a biology professor at the University of Education in Heidelberg, Germany. His studies revealed that people who wake up earlier tend to achieve higher grades in school. They also tend to be better at solving problems and are more proactive than evening people. Randler’s studies also highlighted that evening people tend to be more outgoing and more creative than morning types.

Waking up early to work has many advantages but it is important if you want to write 10,000 words a day, or increase your productivity generally for you to find the perfect working hours for you. Of course, if you have a nine to five job, you might need to schedule your writing times for both morning and evening in order to get your words in for the day. However, if you are a freelancer or you work from home most of the time, then you can essentially set your own hours.

If you have no idea when your sweet time is, just experiment. For the next week, try waking up early and record the amount of work you produced during those hours for that week. Then the week after, try and work at a different time. This should provide you with a clear idea of when you work most effectively.

Get into the Habit

If you have not quite found the motivation to get into the habit of writing often. Start small, and work your way up. James Clear talks about building good habits by making habit-forming easy for yourself. In his best-selling book, Atomic Habits Clear talks about the Laws of Behavioral Change. He states that in order to build good habits and eradicate bad ones we need to do the following:

1. Make it obvious
2. Make it attractive
3. Make it easy
4. Make it satisfying

Making it obvious means to make it impossible to forget to carry out a particular task. For example, if you need to remember to write, put your laptop in a place where you can see it. Make writing attractive by clearing a nice space for you to work. Make it easy by setting yourself a very small task in the beginning. Yes, this article is about writing 10,000 words per day however, if you have never written 10,000 words in a single day, the thought of writing that much will probably be overwhelming. Therefore, instead of setting yourself such a huge goal, start small. I would suggest 500 words per day. 500 words are easy, manageable and you definitely won’t feel overwhelmed if you set yourself such a small goal.

Bottom line, before you can even start writing 10,000 words a day, you need to get into the habit of sticking to a daily word count goal. If you already write a significant amount but you are still yet to meet the 10,000-word goal. Start with a realistic word count and stick to that word count three days a week for the next 30 days.

For the Procrastinators

One of the reasons why I sometimes hit roadblocks when it comes to my daily writing goals is the fact that procrastination often rears its ugly head. However, being a serial procrastinator should not be an excuse for failing to achieve your writing goals. Procrastination is a mindset, in some way it is a habit, and what do we do with bad habits? We break them! Breaking old habits is hard, but if you really want to experience real change, you need to learn to do hard things. Learning to do hard things is a hard thing in itself but just because it is difficult does not mean that it is impossible. Take a cue from the previous step, start small, build up.

I have tried a few methods for beating procrastination however, the most effective procrastination buster for me is this simple 5-minute trick. It works like a charm and it often pulls me out of binge-watching Netflix or scrolling through Instagram for hours. I call these moments “rabbit hole moments” because I often feel like I am being sucked down a rabbit hole when I get pulled into doing something else other than the task at hand.

The trick is called the 5-minute rule, it is an old cognitive behavioral therapy method that states that you should force yourself into carrying out a task for 5 minutes only. Once you have done the 5-minute task, you get to stop if you want to. Although you do have the option to stop after 5 minutes of work, the brain often wants to continue once you have started. One of the reasons people procrastinate in the first place is because they find it difficult to take the first step, starting is always the challenging part. Therefore, if you struggle with procrastinating when it comes to writing or fulfilling your daily tasks, just commit to 5 minutes whenever you feel yourself slipping into procrastination mode. I do this when I am watching YouTube or scrolling on some social media platform. I stop and tell myself that I am going to work on a new article for 5 minutes. Sometimes, I stop after 5 minutes, take a quick break, and get stuck in again.

Step it Up

So, you have identified your sweet time, you have started a small daily writing habit, you have identified that procrastination is a problem and nipped that in the bud. Now, it is time to step it up, increase the word count, and start gearing up to write 10,000 words per day.

Note: Include all the writing you do in your 10,000-word count.

What do I mean by this?

One of the reasons why I started writing 10,000 words three to four days a week was because I wanted to increase my income as a content writer and entrepreneur. I knew that I needed to write more in order to earn more. Writing articles is not the only writing I need to do to increase my income. My daily word count includes the following:

• Writing articles for clients
• Writing blog posts for my own blogs
• Writing comments on other blogs or articles
• Writing comments on YouTube videos (I have a couple of YouTube channels and I promote my written content on YouTube too. Therefore, writing comments on relevant YouTube videos is crucial too)
• Writing emails for my mailing lists
• Writing emails to potential clients
• Writing emails to potential collaborators
• Writing scripts for my YouTube videos
• Writing eBooks
• Writing content for revenue share websites

Most days, I pick a few of these to work on. Some days, I focus on writing eBooks and some days I create blog posts all day.

When I focus on writing across multiple platforms, I notice that I am far more productive and sometimes I even write 15,000 words in a single day.

Some days, I focus on writing two 5,000 word blog posts or articles for revenue share websites. I love this way of working because each day is different, and as an online writer diversification is key. If you just put all your eggs into one basket, this can be a dangerous way of working.

Anyway, let’s write!

This is how I manage to write 10,000 words in a day three to four times a week. How I stay laser-focused and finish tasks at least 95 percent of the time.

Get Organized

I get organized by making sure I have my list of most important tasks written out the night before. I leave it visible on my desk to ensure that I don’t miss a thing. My 10,000 word days don’t always consist of writing, writing, and more writing. I often have to do other tasks that don’t include writing too. Therefore, it is vital that I write out the most important tasks such as making phone calls or filing a tax return or something of that nature.

Research First

I tend to carry out all my research first and then I shut off the Internet, put my phone on Do Not Disturb and I put my head down and write. One thing that really destroys my productivity is constantly moving between tabs to find new information for my article. I do all of the research and copy and paste it into a separate document and then write in another. If I do find that I need some additional research information, I use my iPad to find the information, and then I put it aside and focus on writing.

Close the Door

This applies especially if you are working from home. If you work from home, distractions can totally destroy your progress. Therefore, on days when you plan to write your 10,000 words, inform your family members, and close the door and work. If this is not possible, go to your local library and work in the quiet study section. If you are a parent and you have young children, I don’t advise you to neglect your children to write 10,000 words. However, you might need to find the perfect sweet time to work when the children are asleep.

Stay Hydrated

This is probably the last thing you expected to see in this article but it is crucial. Dehydration can drastically affect productivity therefore, if you really want to up your word count, drink more water.

A 2017 study published in the Annuals of Nutrition and Metabolism revealed that dehydration can have a negative impact on cognitive function. Therefore, in order for the brain to work effectively, the body needs to remain hydrated. For healthy adults, at least eight large glasses of water per day are recommended, more if you exercise or live in a hot climate.

I keep a water bottle on my desk at all times and I sip throughout my working day. Hydration is vital, on days where I have skipped the water or just forgotten to drink it, I feel tired, I find it difficult to focus and to be honest, I rarely achieve my writing goals when I don’t drink enough water. Therefore, don’t neglect this part, drink water, and stay hydrated.

Get Up and Move

Sitting down and writing non-stop is definitely not healthy, and after a while, your body starts to feel lethargic and the productivity levels drop. Get up and move around every 20 minutes at least, better yet, go outside and get some fresh air.

A 2015 study published in the Harvard Business Review found that people who stare at nature during work breaks increase concentration levels by up to 6 % as opposed to those who stare at concrete. Moral of the story, get up and go outside, your brain will thank you for it.

Focus Music

I find it extremely difficult to work in a noisy environment. I also struggle to work with complete silence. This is where focus music comes in. Writing with music that has lyrics is not the best idea either so focus music is really effective for keeping your concentration. Focus music usually has no lyrics and it has often been specifically designed to put you in “the zone” that “mind like water” state that allows you to go deep and fully focus on the task in front of you.

Deep Work Mode

Some people call this mode of concentration in the zone or blackout mode. However, I just call Deep Work Mode. What is Deep Work Mode? Cal Newport the author of the book Deep Work refers to deep work as:

“Professional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”

How do you enter this state, this deep focus state that allows you to fully concentrate on the task?

I have my own way of achieving this state of mind and most of the time it works. However, Cal Newport uses the following method:

1. Block out time. Schedule time on your calendar to work on something. …
2. Embrace boredom. …
3. Productive meditation. …
4. Adopt a zero-tolerance policy. …
5. Prepare for deep work. …
6. Know the outcome. …
7. The ’20 percent less rule.

Everything on this list is pretty self-explanatory except for number 7, you might not have heard of the 20 percent less rule.

With the 20 percent rule, you set yourself a deadline to get something done and you reduce it by 20 percent. This creates a sense of urgency and forces you to work a little harder to get it finished. For example, if you set yourself a goal to make sure that you write 30,000 words this week. This would mean that you need to write 10,000 words three days in the week right? Well, on one day, you might fail to meet your 10,000-word target. Therefore, you would have to make it up on another day, and just say your deadline has been set for 7 pm on Friday evening, you would need to reduce that deadline down to 1.4 hours less.

I achieve deep work mode by meditating for 15 minutes before I start each work session.

Time Management Systems

Time management systems are key to achieving your 10,000 word goal. I use two methods, the Pomodoro Technique and the Flowtime Technique.

Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the 1970s by Francesco Cirillo. Whilst in college he identified that working for more than 25 minutes at a time was ineffective. Therefore, he devised a time management system that allowed for 25 minute work sessions, then a 5 minute break. The goal is to carry out four 25 minute sessions with 5-minute breaks and then take a longer 10 to 15-minute break.

I started off writing 10,000 words a day using the Pomodoro technique as my sole time management system. However, I have since modified the way I work by switching between the Pomodoro technique and the Flowtime Technique.

What is Flowtime?

The problem I have with the Pomodoro method is that there are times when I just want to keep writing. I enter deep work mode and I am totally in the zone and then the alarm goes off. I sometimes find this really distracting and I find it difficult to get back into the zone again. The Flowtime technique is slightly different in the sense that it allows you more flexibility.

This is how it works:

1. Write down the time you start working
2. Work until you feel like taking a break
3. Write down the time you stop work and take a break
4. Repeat

Use these break times as a guide:

-3-minute break for 25-minute work sessions or less

-5-minute break for up to 40 minutes

-7-minute break for up to 60 minutes

-A 10-minute break for 80 minutes

-Anything over 80 minutes take a 15-minute break

Play with these techniques and see which one works best for you.

Multiple Devices

I often work from multiple devices, it somehow tricks my brain into thinking I am working on a different task. My setup includes two laptops, a smartphone, and an iPad.

I usually write from one laptop and switch to the second laptop when I am tired of working on the first one. When I need a whole new workflow, I move to my iPad and then to my smartphone to dictate my written blog posts. I usually walk around when I am dictating which is an excellent way to move and work at the same time.

Change Location

Most days, I work from my home office for half of the day, then move to a library or quiet coffee shop for the rest of the day. A change of environment boosts my energy and pushes me to reach the finish line for the day.

These tips have helped me to drastically boost my productivity and they have enabled me to write 10,000 words in a single day three to four times per week. They are proven, effective ways of boosting output and improving the way you work.