On productive writing & how I write this blog

A post about writing? Really? Yes, really.

From the start, I wanted to cover the topics of productivity & personal growth next to my usual UX- and Design topics. So it makes sense to share my workflow of how I manage to publish a post every month despite having a busy schedule. I wrote these tips in the context of blog writing, but I think you can apply them to different projects.

How I write (skip to the next part for writing tips)

I am not a writer — yet I have been writing posts on medium for about half a year. And writing is not a thing that comes naturally to me.

Writing is one of those things that becomes easier for me the more I do it. I usually start by writing down all kinds of thoughts that come to my mind. Never do I start from the top down, especially not with the title. I usually think of the title at the end. Often, I start out with a different topic in mind and don’t have a result in mind when I start. Collecting ideas and planning my topics roughly has helped me to overcome my fear of a blank sheet.

Very often, this plan changes and evolves. However, this makes it a lot easier for me because I cannot run out of ideas. When I’m not too fond of an idea or get stuck, I can discard it and go to another one.

To be creative, to change plans, and to come up with my own strategy for writing is an easy thing to do in this personal blog. In a corporate environment, it would be a different story. Editorial processes, topic planning, the creation of a content calendar, and governance are all nessecary parts of a content strategy. Here are two great books for these topics:

📖 Managing Chaos: Digital Governance by Design by Lisa Welchman

📖 The Content Strategy Toolkit: Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right by Meghan Casey

Writing Tips

1. Bring yourself in the right headspace
Many things are going on in our lives every day, so focusing on writing can be difficult. However, I have discovered that the proper headspace is an essential part of writing.

Journaling can be helpful to clear your head from clutter. I usually take out a sheet of paper or google doc and jam all my thoughts in there for a few minutes. I draw, make a mind map, and sort out everything that keeps spinning in my head.

If you want to read the best book about journaling and mindset out there, I would suggest you start with 📖 Your head is a houseboat by Campell Walker.

It is relatable, practical, and also hilarious.

2. Prepare your workspace
Preparing your physical space for action is essential. Unloading the washing machine, the dishwasher, or cleaning up your desk are activities that can help you get in a productive mood. I find that switching off any distractions and setting a protected time limit for concentrated writing are true game-changers.

Make sure to put your phone in flight mode and deactivate slack notifications before you start writing. Make yourself as comfortable as possible. If you like to work with music, put on your favorite song. Have a room with fresh air, a cup of your favorite beverage, and overall, make the experience of writing as enjoyable as possible.

The trick is that your brain will eventually link the feeling of pleasure and enjoyment with writing. (This works for studying or projects too and refers to James Clears rule of behavioral change from his book 📖 Atomic Habits)

3. Focus on the process

The concept of “writing a blogpost” can be complex and intimidating — especially in the beginning. It became easier for me when I split it into tiny little steps that led to a blog post.

These steps can, of course, be very different depending on your process, but for me, the steps are:

· Come up with five ideas for possible blogposts

· Research each of these five ideas

· Take the idea I like best and schedule it in my calendar

· Save the other four ideas for another time

· Do some more research on the topic

· Save resources for the blog post (pictures, links)

· Write an outline/table of contents for the blogpost

· Write content for the blogpost

· Refine content for the blogpost

· Prepare further readings for the blogpost

· Proof-Read the blogpost

· Come up with a title for the blogpost

· Choose header picture for the blogpost

· Publish the Blog Post

I try to put some breaks (sometimes days) between steps to always look at my work with a fresh mind.

4. Kick perfectionism out of the window

I always struggle with getting caught up in the tiniest details, which is also true for blog posts. I can spend HOURS rewriting things that were fine in the first place. But of course, Voltaire was right when he said: “Perfection is the enemy of good.”

Further Reading (highly recommend)

📖 6 Steps to your editorial calendar by my colleague Elisabeth

📖 Creating Granny-friendly content (german) by my colleague Xandi