Cast a stone at those saying that writing is an easy craft everyone can master. After all, everyone wrote essays at school and college, right? What can be difficult in sitting and putting words on paper, huh?
Surprise-surprise: Writing is hard.
Moreover, the process becomes even more challenging when writing for others giving you topics, content formatting rules, and strict deadlines:
You have no time to sit and wait for inspiration to craft a masterpiece about things you know and love.
Instead, you spend time researching assigned topics and thinking of writing strategies for your texts to follow guidelines yet look professional and engaging. You outline texts, write drafts, add references, craft visuals, and polish your works via proofreading and editing.
It doesn’t sound motivational, right?
If you are among those writing a lot (whether for college or work), here are some proven ways to motivate yourself to do the job when you don’t feel like it.
These actionable tips come from the personal statement writing service at AdvancedWriters whose experts couldn’t be better to understand the pitfalls of writer’s block. Assisting college students with writing assignments daily, they’ve mastered the art of motivation boost by far.
So, here they go!
How to Motivate Yourself to Write When Lazy or Stuck
These tips and suggestions will help you organize your writing routine so that you can catch the muse and meet deadlines every time your motivation fades away.
1. Find Your Perfect Writing Place
Where do you write your books, articles, or college assignments? While many believe a writer needs nothing but a laptop with internet access, it’s not true:
A writing area influences productivity by far! To boost motivation, find your perfect workspace. Where do you feel most comfortable to write? Is it a cozy cafe with background music? A library? Coworking spaces?
Go there when you need to write. Ensure you minimize distractions: Turn off smartphone notifications, put on earphones, tell your family not to disturb you during your writing hours, etc.
2. Make It a Habit
When writing is your habit, you don’t need to wait for motivation or inspiration to come: It’s your daily routine now, another item in your to-do list, like going to groceries or a gym.
How to make it a habit?
Start small. Set a daily goal – 100 words, one draft, 15 minutes – and commit to it. Freewriting, journaling, or the Morning Pages technique by Julia Cameron will help here.
Write every day, even if it’s one short paragraph. Note down ideas and thoughts coming to your mind. The only rule:
Shut off your inner critic when writing; pay no attention to grammar, style, or content; write! You’ll have time to re-read those writings later (if you want!) and find some ideas for your future work there.
3. Try the “Bird by Bird” Principle
Writing looks daunting when you realize how much time and energy you’ll need to complete one project. Topic research, outlining, drafting, editing…
The human brain is lazy, so it’s no surprise you feel stuck and unmotivated to do such heavy tasks. To “cheat” your brain, don’t do all work at once:
Break up your writing into smaller tasks and make each step clear and specific. For example, you can outline an essay today, write its introduction tomorrow, and finish the draft the next day. Plan writing hours and set attainable writing goals:
Authors know this trick as the “Bird by Bird” principle. Introduced by Ann Lamott in her book of the same title, it teaches us to start small and take one step at a time to get closer to accomplishing our goals.
4. Go for a Walk
Did you ever notice how relaxed and enthusiastic you felt after a walk? We have a scientific explanation for this:
When walking, the brain gets more oxygen and improves performance. According to studies, people who walk longer distances weekly preserve more of the gray matter influencing their cognitive functions and creativity.
So, inspiration comes, writing ideas come, and you (magic!) find words to describe a character, write a dialogue, or start an essay! Ensure you write them at once! (Trust us, you may forget them when you get back to work.)
5. Find Your Productivity Trigger
Take a seat and listen to yourself for a minute. Try to figure out what inspires you and give motivation to create, act, and grow. Is it a person, art, or maybe sports?
Explore rituals triggering you to write. Try simple practices like going to a museum, affirmations, exercising before writing, meditation – whatever sets you in the “creator” mood.
Switching your writing locations from time to time can help, too. Why do you think so many creative people choose to work in coffee shops?
New surroundings and background noises activate the brain; you feel motivated to follow the lead of those working around you and create something.
6. Take Breaks
University of Illinois psychology professors proved that brief breaks enhance our abilities to focus longer. The catch is that it can be challenging to take breaks when writing.
(Especially when ideas flow, and you don’t want to interrupt for fear of losing that train of thought.)
But:
When unmotivated or stuck, breaks are a must. They bring your work back to the forefront, and it would help if you took a 10-15 minutes break from writing every hour. Set a timer to control the process better.
Look at a window and explore the outside: It’s a nice trick to sharpen attention and brain power.
7. Reward Yourself
As a writer, you may feel satisfied only when you complete the project, your novel is in a bookstore, your article gets published at Forbes, your essay is on a teacher’s table, and so on. Why not change this perspective?
Promise yourself a little reward for reaching small milestones throughout your writing project. A sweet treat after finishing a book chapter or a cup of a favorite drink after outlining a research paper never hurts.
(By the way, did you know that caffeine boosts focus and creativity? If you’re not a coffee addict, no problem: tea or chocolate brings the same effect.)
When the reward is in sight, you’re more likely to be motivated to work hard. Celebrate your accomplishments, whether big or small. Give yourself breaks to recharge your writing “battery” so you don’t get burned out.
Over to You
None of the above suggestions are hard to implement, agree? Start practicing them when unmotivated – and you’ll see their transformative power influencing your productivity and writing routine.
