In the last three days, I have:
- Recorded three interviews
- Written two-and-a-half guest posts
- Shot, edited and uploaded a video
- Made about 70 comments
- Tweeted 350 times
- Resolved five technical issues
- Written another 4,000 words for the Awesome Fear-Wrangling resource
- Reviewed two websites
- Discussed ideas with an illustrator
- Reviewed and accepted three offers
- Filed a hundred emails
- Responded to thirty forum topics
- AND worked full-time at the Day Job.
Did you read that list and think, “Holy shit (or darn, I suppose), I could never do all that! Catherine is some sort of super-being that I cannot think of emulating?”
The ironical-type bit
Six months ago, I was saying the same thing.
Brainlifting
Writing, productivity and product creation are like weightlifting.
No-one goes into the gym on their first day, eyes up the huge weights that look like manhole covers and thinks, “Well, that’s where I’m gonna start.” Because we’re sensible. We decide that we don’t want a hernia today, thanks, and go find a weight we can actually lift. Sure, we look at the manhole cover and think, “Someday, sucka. I’m gonna rock your world,” but we know that’s not going to happen today.
So why do we do it when it comes to our brain?
How I built my creative muscles
Six months ago when we started this website I was puny. Look in the sidebar over there. —–>
See the Archives? In November we published most of our pre-written content. In December we published seven posts. Less than two a week. With two authors. And most of that content I’d written in the months when we were planning the website. The mental image you need here is me, tangled up in ropes on the weight machine, looking perplexed.
In January I started posting every day, all short 5-minute missions. I’d found the weight bar and was doing quick light reps, building my strength and stamina.
Kept going through February, supplemented by a few longer posts by Kevin (less often as he became caught in Day Job Stuff). I was starting to hit a rhythm, and I could pound out a 5-minute mission in 20 minutes or so. I’d plateaued.
Accordingly, in March I wrote much longer heresy posts every day. Whoo boy I added a lot of weight to my bar then. Those suckers took two hours or so each, and a lot of creative scheduling. I’d write before work, on the way to work, at work while waiting for meetings to start or reports to run… I exercised my butt off. (Metaphorically speaking.)
Then in April I took all that new strength and started using it. I began including some shorter posts again and some guest posts and video posts. Now I had the time to guest post and build products and do some consulting and try new things.
Now it’s May and (as you can see) I’m working damn hard. But like the jogger I am enviously eyeing outside my window, I’m not straining. On my first day this workload would have killed me, but I’m not on my first day. I’m on my 175th day.
In the Gym of Writing, I am now hardcore.
Have you got too much weight on the bar?
If you aren’t in practice you can’t write 2,500 words every day without spraining something. Well, okay, you can. But I guarantee that they’ll become All work and no play make Jack a dull boy and soon you’re chasing your wife and child down the corridors of a creepy haunted hotel.
If you’re starting to feel lethargic in front of the keyboard then you need to rest and let your brain recover. Just like any other muscle you’ve been exercising!
Don’t rub it with linament though. I bet that would hurt.
Is your brain on a sensible training regime? Come and tell me in the comments!