Being efficient in a modern world where everyone is running to get something or become something is of the utmost importance.
To realize that productivity does generate a profitable business is vital to one’s success. Writers who are goal-oriented and turned thousands of words in profit, and created a living from a chair, have realized that productivity had always been one of the most important factors that determined success.
If you are not familiar with the term goal orientation, career websites can offer you a good knowledge about building yourself to be a goal oriented professional, check Totempool, Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, among others.
Unlike many thinks, productivity is not just those apps you install or the notepad you bought to take your notes. To become a successful and efficient writer, you will need to make changes in your daily activities.
Efficiency does not start with your work; instead, it begins the minute you were born, and everything you do from that moment on will severely affect how productive and efficient you are.
Luckily for you, we have decided to create an efficiency guide focused on decreasing stress, bettering your life, embracing minimalism, and increasing productivity overall. Let’s check it out.
Decrease Stress
We have seen many writers working machines, spilling out thousands of words a day and accepting every content offer they can get. By getting to know them better, I saw they are anxiety-riddled quivering wrecks who are overly stressed and burned out by the amount of work—utilizing methods that keep the head cool and stress levels as low as possible will be helpful.
1. Meditation
We can’t put enough emphasis on how important and life-changing meditation can be. If you believe that this method requires setting out a good portion of your day, you can’t be more wrong. Maybe meditation sessions that last up to 10 minutes each morning. But of course, you can adapt to your daily availabilities. Utilizing this method may make your day calmer, relaxed, and ready to write all day long.
2. Exercise
Many of you may not have time and energy to work out at the gym every day. However, there is a simple solution, to set up 20 minutes out of your morning to walk around the block, and whenever you have some time left between your tasks, use it to do another walk. If it’s complicated to go, you may start a bodyweight program at home.
3. Getting a pet
One of the underrated methods of decreasing stress is having an adequately trained pet. Many have invested and purchased a dog that is a huge stress reliever. Every time you get back from work, your pet will jump around you, showering you with greetings, which certainly can help decrease cortisol levels.
4. Having a good night’s sleep
Have a well-rested body and brain while sleeping about 8 hours a day. It may not work for all people, but specialists proved most people need this time to sleep every day. You will function better when rested.
5. Sharing time with your loved ones
We can’t stress enough how important it is to have someone you can share your day with and who is more than excited to hear about your daily adventures. Writing, for most people, is not an exciting profession, but when you talk to someone who likes you about it, this person is happy to listen and engage in a conversation most of the time.
Increasing productivity
Strive to make your life simpler. Automate mundane tasks that drew energy out of you. Investigate different methodologies, apps, and tricks to increase productivity. Have goals in mind and go after them. Here we will help you by giving tips that have worked best for us.
Here is our current arsenal that skyrockets our productivity levels through the roof.
1. Google Sheets
If you still haven’t realized the power of this little tool by Google, let us tell you that it worked wonders for us. It quickly and easily replaced dozens of software such as Excel, Mint, or QuickBooks. It helps you edit spreadsheets on the go, and it offers you the opportunity of synchronizing it across as many devices as long as you have access to your Google account. It can be used for tracking monthly expenses, investments, travel rewards, weight logs, research, future purchase lists, website portfolios, and much more.
2. Evernote
This simple little tool has been excellent, and it beats all to-do apps and tools we came across in the last couple of years. You do not need any other app. It helps track personal notes, mind mapping, or having to-do lists. I still have the feeling that I have only scratched the surface of this tool.
3. Outsourcing
Many writers unintendedly sabotage their income by trying to do all the tasks themselves. There is no harm in outsourcing mundane daily tasks like data mining or updating a personal website/portfolio with a new project. There is no reason why you should not hire someone from Fiverr to help you collect testimonials or even approach editors.
4. Put a value on your time
Best writers in the business know-how to put a value on their time. Even if their content does not exceed the highest possible expectations, they know their rates and how to invest their time. Most prolific writers do not care about writing for peanuts. They end up not reaching their goals in their careers because of this important factor.
5. Duolingo
Due to the nature of our work as writers, Duolingo is a necessary tool for learning new languages. People started practicing languages master languages in a short time by using it. As a content writer, you may want to explore chances with international SEO.
6. Keeping the brain in shape
When you are only working as a writer, you tend to neglect certain parts of your brain that are not involved in the process of creating content. You may need to develop new skills that activate different brain processes.
7. Having a clean environment
Having a spotless work environment positively impacts the quality of work. There should be a place for everything, and everything should be in its place.
8. Reading a lot
No matter how much we know, we need to satisfy our thirst for knowledge. It does not matter what you will read, as long as you keep absorbing information. A writer must possess an immense amount of knowledge. Writing is a skill, and to master it, you must have a big pool of ideas to work with.
9. Embracing minimalism
This one is not easy. It is not meant for everyone, but we recommend trying it out for those thinking about it. By embracing minimalism, you will reduce stress, and your productivity will be at peak more time than usual. The key to embracing minimalism is constantly throwing away things that are not in use. Have a pair of jeans you are not wearing? Donate! Have a subscription to an app you are not using? Unsubscribe! You may not realize this, but all of these things are creating clutter in your subconscious. Therefore, eliminate everything that doesn’t have any use and, you will see your lifestyle changing so much.
10. Establish short and long term goals
Bu establish goals you have a target to reach and a direction to guide you. Short term goals are important to give the sense of accomplishment and keep the motivation. Long term goals will guarantee you have your target. Following this tip will give you more chances to improve your productivity and reach your goals.
Summing up
We came up to the end of this post, and keep in mind that none of these pieces of advice are definite. They worked perfectly for many, who have successfully created a secure income, reaching their goals, with a writing business by utilizing all of the abovementioned methods.
This does not necessarily mean you will be able to achieve the same. Becoming efficient and a goal-oriented professional takes time. You will struggle and churn over many more productivity and efficiency concepts, and you will probably try over 100 apps that promise to change your life.
Whatever happens, this guide should represent your foundation for running an efficient life as a writer.
