Too much work and no time to write?
Content creation is crucial for the growth of any blog. But as you grow, so do your responsibilities.
Sooner than you think, you’ll start to realize that you have less time to write than you initially thought. So how can you write faster, you ask? I’ve got you covered.
1. Pick the Right Time of the Day
Are you a morning person, or do you prefer working at night?
According to research, people are generally more creative in the morning. We have more focus, more willpower, and we’ll even make fewer mistakes.
At night, however, things can get a little too cozy. You’ll be more relaxed, you won’t need to rush, and you just won’t be as alert as you would have been earlier in the day.
Different people have different preferences, though, so pick a time that suits you best.
2. Race Against Time
It’s amazing how setting a deadline can help speed up your writing.
When you write without setting a time by when you need to be done, you won’t feel the rush to work. Instead, you’ll be so relaxed that you won’t mind procrastinating or taking multiple breaks, hence reducing your productivity.
Your progress will be much slower than if you had set a goal. It could take you one whole day to complete something that you could have finished in just an hour’s time. So the next time you write, try to set a timer so you have a goal to meet.
3. Get Your Blood Rushing
Everyone has a reason to do what they do. Remind yourself of your personal mantra before you start working on your piece.
My reason to go on is that I still haven’t achieved my goals even after a month. So whenever I think of that, I get a little bit angry with myself. It is good that I do because it gives me the motivation to work harder and get things done.
My brother’s reason to work hard is because he doesn’t want to get a bad image. He doesn’t want to get in trouble with his boss. Your reason is probably that you have so much work to do but very little time to finish it.
Remembering your objective will really help you to write your piece faster. You won’t easily be distracted when your eyes are set on reaching your goals.
If you don’t have a goal, be sure to find one, and don’t choose it just for the sake of having one. It needs to be an emotional anchor that will get your blood running and help you deeply focus.
4. Don’t Stop Writing until Your Fingers Hurt
Have you ever done work in the same room as your friend, and he kept bothering you to hang out, go to the mall, or even get something to eat?
Or have you been working at home, where many millennials still are, and your parents kept disturbing you by pressuring you to clean the dishes or help out in the kitchen?
When we take regular breaks, we lose our concentration on the ideas that are flowing at that moment of writing. And if you were to take too many breaks, you would eventually start telling yourself, “Hey, maybe I’m too busy to finish it today. I think I’ll do it tomorrow.”
When you start writing, the best way to maintain productivity is to set your mind not to stop writing even until your fingers hurt.
With that amount of concentration, you can save more time. Because you’re already working, pushing yourself a little bit more can help you finish faster.
5. Find a Quiet Room for Yourself
When writing a piece, you need to be completely focused and in the zone. You will be far less productive if your parents or your friends are distracting you, so it’s best to find a room where no one will disturb you.
You should be so absorbed in writing that you don’t even notice your surroundings. When you feel that way, you are on the right track and are getting all your thoughts together to finish your piece.
6. Put Your Phone Away
It’s very hard to live without your phone. But in order to maintain your concentration and finish quickly, you should put it away.
You might not notice it, but the moment you touch your phone when there’s a text or call, your mind will be in a different place already.
You’ll start thinking of your other jobs, you’ll start thinking of who you need to call, and you’ll start browsing your social media thinking of what to post. When that happens, you’ll break your concentration and feel overwhelmed.
7. Settle Your Errands Before Touching Your Keyboard
Another way to help lessen your distractions and disturbances is by planning ahead and finishing your errands early. That way, the rest of the day will be smooth sailing.
I love waking up early to finish all my errands. By 9 a.m. onwards, I can put my phone aside and go into full force writing mode all the way until the afternoon when I have my lunch break and recharge.
8. Pinch Yourself Every Time You Procrastinate
Procrastination is something every one of us faces.
There’s no cure for it. The only way for you to fight it is by keeping yourself super busy until you learn how to ignore that feeling.
Still, from time to time we do feel like taking a break, and we procrastinate unknowingly. So when this happens, you need to remind yourself to stop getting distracted and to continue writing your piece.
Some people put sticky notes on their monitors, and some put up pictures that remind them of their goals. Others, like me, tend to pinch themselves to bring themselves back to reality whenever their minds wander off.
9. Outline Your Ideas Before You Even Start
Most writers tend to start outlining their ideas at the same time they want to start writing.
While this practice might work for some, I find that outlining my ideas a bit earlier can help me get even more prepared before I start writing.
If I want to write content today, I will have outlined my points the night before. That way, by the time I want to write in the morning, I can go full steam ahead. Often I’ll get more ideas in the middle of writing after I start.
10. Body First, Then the Intro
Most readers speed-read whenever they read an article, and yours will be no different to them.
Don’t waste time thinking of the right words to say for your intro.
Instead, go straight to writing the body first. After you finish covering the main points, you can see your content from a broader perspective, which can help you cover your intro better.
11. Perhaps You Need a Better Tool
As writers, we spend more time on our keyboards than people in any other profession in the world.
Many people use computers, but writers utilize their keyboards for long hours non-stop. Imagine the immense pressure on the keyboard and your fingers!
Clunky keyboards, although great for gaming, can quickly tire your fingers out. But if you use the light touch keyboard, you can streamline your writing and let your fingers do the talking.
12. Proofread with Grammarly
Finally, you finish your work and you need to go through the boring part: re-reading everything to fix your mistakes. There’s an easy way to do so.
Instead of relying on Grammarly’s automatic web browser detector like many of us tend to do, download the desktop application. Copy and paste your written content into the desktop app. From there, you’ll get a better, more detailed view of your work to help you proofread faster.
It’s a bit tedious, yes. But for a lengthy article, this habit will help you scan your words faster, as though you have another set of eyes.
Latest posts by Riaz Shah (see all)
- Want to Write Faster? 12 Hacks to Help Speed You Up - April 19, 2017
All the reason and tricks you have described above. that all right brother. Thanks for sharing informative posts.
Thanks for compiling this list here for write faster hacks speed. I like the Grammarly its really helpful.
Hi Riaz,
You’ve given us a handy list of tips for any blogger to try. I struggle with blogging frequency, and I’m always in search of ideas to keep me on task. I’ve tried many of these approaches. I can attest that Grammarly saves me a ton of time. Not to mention potential embarrassment 🙂 One idea I haven’t tried is writing the body first. I’ll be implementing this right away because drafting my Intro can often waste a lot of time upfront and delay completion. Great suggestion!
Hi Riaz,
This is a great write-up, research about the topics is must before write. I’m glad to have this post.
Wow! what an informative article. I just learned some new tips, and the most interesting to me is the idea of …, writing the body of an article before the intro.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Riaz,,,!!! I totally agree with you..// its really helpful post. Thanks for the sharing the ideas…///
Thanks for the great post. I have also noticed that many writes get distracted midway by the presentation of the blog post while drafting the post in a CMS. They are so concerned about the final look, that it sometimes becomes difficult to finish the first draft. In such cases, it’s best to go with headless CMSs that do not provide any kind of front-end layer. Creating your post then becomes easier.
Really helpful tips for increase our writing speed…………..
i think “Put Your Phone Away ” is very hard for everyone……………..hahaha………….
Hi,
Nice list of tips to speed up writing. Actually very useful and informative article. Thanks for providing good tips and sharing such a valuable information. Keeping posting. Looking forward for many more fine articles like this.
Swathi would love you to read ..Integration Services Tasks
Will do Swathi! I’ll be writing one pretty soon 😉
Hi Riaz
your post is so much interesting and all point guide to write well for a long time and gives motivation to do something better , thanks for sharing, God Bless you.
You’re welcome guys, I enjoy writing and helping people through my article. Glad you find it helpful, cheers!
Nice list of ideas 😉 I always find that changing my environment helps me if I’ve been feeling stuck with a writing project, even if it’s just to another room in the house or out on the patio for awhile.
I totally get what you mean, Loretta! I also tend to change my working place sometimes on the balcony, my room, or even the dining table. It helps because as writers, we can’t be sitting at one place for a very long time lest our creativity would be limited.
Hey Rimaroy, I don’t get what you mean, could you be more specific, please. My article is about writing, what submission do you mean?
Riaz!!
Best one, buddy! Best one!
Being the writer (blogger) myself, so many things are around me which are happening because I work from home.
And morning is my best time as I am the early-getter-up when family is sleeping. That time does work so well for me to write a good chunk of pieces.
And focus with peace of mind is a necessity for us and that’s what we lack on… Working from home people think we have nothing to do and are always FREE to do anything.
I’ve literally gone into fights much time when people knocked the door and asked about to go with them for whatever work while I am in the middle of work.
And with that, I have made numerous foes from my town. 🙂
So, thank you for this awesome piece I read today! 🙂
~ Adeel
Adeel Sami would love you to read ..What Happens When You Write Continuously
Hey Adeel!
I get what you mean but that’s actually a sign of an entrepreneur, you have all the time in the world but you know it’s limited and finishing your project is of utmost importance. Many people take time for granted – They take long breaks and procrastinate a lot and sometimes, I too feel that way sometimes but I quickly dismiss it.
But you know what they say, if you don’t have enemies, you’re nowhere near success. Looks like you’ve got that part sorted out. Best of luck on your site growth!
Hello Riaz,
Great article! For me, writing is the hardest part of blogging. On top of needing a lot of concentration often, I have a hard time writing the intro. I can spend hours just to write a 100 words intro.
I have a bad habit of watching a movie or going on twitch and watching some people play video games. I really should stop that.
Once again great article I will bookmark this article whenever I start drifting off.
Giovanni Zappavigna would love you to read ..How To Be A Gamer Dad In 2017
Totally get what you mean Giovanni,
I too have a hard time trying to focus and I have a tendency to play one round of Overwatch whenever I feel bored or stressed, it’s the gamer spirit lol. It’s why working in a quiet place with no distractions can come in handy. I usually work away from my desktop computer so I can’t access games until I’ve finished my work. Try it, you’ll never know how much it can help. Thanks for dropping by, hope you have good Friday!
Man, I can’t agree more. I always think about video games, with just one click I could play my favorite games but then I wouldn’t work on my project.
Good advice I might try to do that, I’ll hide in a room with my laptop so I can concentrate on working. Thanks for the tip and have a good Friday as well!
Giovanni Zappavigna would love you to read ..How To Be A Gamer Dad In 2017
Writing an outline is definitely super important. But sometimes it’s good to just write something and get it on paper (I should say screen) if some inspiration strikes you. And next thing you know, some good ideas, something you didn’t expect will come out of it.
As far as the time, morning and night are good. From noon till about 3 o’clock I cannot write at home. If around that time, going to a cafe gets me in the zone to write!
That’ why it is better to write earlier Taka,
so that we’ll bound to get ideas running from time to time and we can keep adding to our outline. I sometimes add whatever new ideas I have on my phone so I can continue writing those when I get the chance. And yeah, a cafe works too! You can’t sit in the same place the whole day and except new ideas to flow in easy right? Appreciate the feedback, cheers!
Hello Riaz,
Thanks for sharing this post.
its really helpfull for me Personally.
stay fit and healthy
and thnks again Riaz
Shekhar Chauhan would love you to read ..Internet Marketing: The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing
Sure thing! Glad you found the article helpful Shekhar 😀
Hi Raiz,
You have mentioned some great tips for writing articles. I agree the proper time and choosing a quiet place for writing will help to write great articles… will follow these tips in future…Thanks for sharing..!!!!
arvind would love you to read ..Best free places to find the targeted keywords
Anytime, Arvind! Timing and location are two of the main factors that affect productivity in just about anywhere and anything you do too. Glad you liked the article! Have a great Thursday 😀
Your post is informative and all the hacks are really related to work delayed. thanks for sharing this types of posts.
Anytime, Jane!
this is quite helpful, though some points could be fine tuned. overall the article was a good read
Lumix Killgrew would love you to read ..So i heard someone is giving away plushies
Glad you liked the article Lumix, thanks!