Summary

The article discusses the potential for Medium addiction and its impact on writers' productivity and personal lives, emphasizing the importance of moderation and maintaining a healthy balance.

Abstract

The author of the article addresses the phenomenon of Medium addiction, noting how the platform's engaging features, such as clap-counters and real-time stats, can lead to an unhealthy content loop for writers. This obsession with the platform not only affects writing quality and business growth but also personal life and time spent on more significant projects. The author suggests that while Medium is an essential tool for writers, it is crucial to establish a disciplined approach to platform usage, including time spent reading, writing, and engaging with the community, to prevent it from becoming a detriment to one's work and well-being. The article also touches on the author's personal strategy for managing Medium use and the importance of not letting the platform's metrics dictate one's self-worth as a writer.

Opinions

Medium's engaging features can lead to addictive behaviors in writers.
Overuse of Medium can detract from focusing on larger writing projects and overall business development.
There is a fine line between productive engagement and unhealthy obsession with the platform.
Writers should strive for a balance that allows them to benefit from Medium without it consuming their lives.
The author acknowledges the temptation to prioritize easy-to-track metrics on Medium over substantial writing work.
A disciplined routine and setting boundaries for engagement with Medium are crucial for long-term success and content creation habits.
The author believes in the importance of self-policing one's Medium usage to avoid burnout and maintain productivity.
Ultimately, the author values Medium as a platform for growth but emphasizes that it should not replace other important aspects of a writer's career, such as building an email list.

Is Medium-Addiction a Thing?

How to keep your sanity while enjoying everyone’s favorite platform

There’s a daily fix required, for sure. What started was a simple publish-and-stat-check habit has morphed into a circular content loop that can take over your life if you’re not careful.

Medium, like all content sites, feeds us a never-ending fire-hose of words 24/7/365.

It’s Medium’s job to keep us engaged. As writers, it’s our job to keep our readers coming back for more. But there’s a fine line between eagerness and madness.

We must be careful not to spend too much time here.

Not only is Medium addictive, especially if you’re a writer, but it can also be detrimental to your writing business. There have been many days when I’ve avoided larger projects in place of hitting my daily story quota.

This is when we slip onto the madness side.

If you’re avoiding your best work just to pop another story into the Medium artery, it might be time to step away for a minute. Maybe publish once a day instead of six times.

I’m trying to be a little silly here, but this is a thing. It affects me, so I’m sure there are others it affects as well. I’m trying hard not to let my obsession with the Medium platform stifle my growth in other areas of my business.

I’m working on a flagship course, for example.

The amount of work required is huge. Since the course is yet to exist, it’s easier to tie the tourniquet, slap the vein, and step up the bar for more Medium.

But all the Medium-ness requires a price be paid.

Whether that price is time, different work you should be doing, or time away from family — there’s a price for too much time on Medium. Just because it’s not Facespace, Mewtube, or Tweeter, doesn’t mean we can’t become addicted to the platform.

Medium has used many classic reinforcing tools to keep us coming back:

There are clap-counters for reinforcement
There are daily stats that rise and fall
There are comments (which also have clap-counters)
We get real-time announcements anytime anything happens to our writing
Every time we press publish we get a little dopamine squirt
We get future income-updates weekly, giving us a moving carrot to run-towards, all the time (now that the payment date changed to real-time, this could be even more powerful)

I believe there’s a happy middle-ground (I wanted to write medium) for writers who want to do well, but also want to grow their publishing business in the process.

I’m still working on my own process, but here’s where I am now…

My Medium Publishing Strategy for the Near Future

As we enter the updated Partner Program, here’s my latest plan:

medium.com

The daily Medium publishing process

I try to stay as clinical as I can with Medium. Else I’ll go nuts. I keep a rolling idea log in my phone. I try to publish stories in advance as much as I can, but some days, I’ve just got to crank it.

I spend maybe 45 minutes a day just reading Medium stories.

I try not to get too deep in the content here. I don’t have the time in my schedule. Something else will bend and I don’t want any more bending to happen.

I read to keep a pulse on what’s happening, and to support my fellow writers.

Then I shut her down. I’ll check the stats dozens of times through the day, like stat-checking will make my writing more-popular. But I don’t keep reading once my reading time is done.

I respond to comments when I can, but I don’t sweat the ones I skip.

I look at my content as the gift to the reader. Any bonus questions in the comments are extra homework for me. I don’t always have time for your extra homework. When I do, I’m happy to answer, but I refuse to let comments become another source of overwhelm.

I write to ensure my daily writing goal is complete.

Some days it’s three stories. Some days it’s one.

When I’m done with my Medium writing, I stop.

I like to think of it as pushing away from the roulette wheel while I still have a stack of chips in front of me. There is a point of diminishing returns here. More publishing does not always lead to more traffic or more engagement. Sometimes, I’ve found, the algorithm will punish you if you write too much.

So, not only do you keep chasing traffic, but if you had stopped earlier you probably would’ve done better.

The struggle is real.

How to Earn a Lot of Money from Your Part-Time Writing

The key is to have your writing work for you — not the opposite

medium.com

Maybe I’m just crazy

It’s entirely possible. I’ve chased stats in just about every business venture I’ve tried. I love numbers. They allow me to try and beat my high score the next time.

But there’s a price we pay when we chase the numbers all the time.

This is when a platform can become an addiction. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone on Medium. This place is way too cool for a bunch of back-alley content junkies to stink-up the front entrance.

We’ve got to self-police.

I find if I’m checking my phone for no reason, constantly returning to Medium, just to see if I got a comment or applause (who knows what the metric will be now), then it’s time to walk away for a few hours, or days.

This is how you create long-term content-creation habits. Not by burning yourself out, but with a strict work process. You’ve got to know when to fold ’em.

Inside I know every day will bring different results on Medium.

I do my best to accept those results, while some days are harder than others. But on all days, I know Medium is the long-game. While the monthly income is great, building my email list is even better… and all that income is generated automatically.

We’re waiting for you.

Enroll in my Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.