Renewed!
I have also published a more recent story about daily writing (1667 words daily), also the year 2016-2017 was mine a year of daily writing.
Valio (valio, valio) - February 2014 is over! And with it, the challenge of 500 words written every day.
The purpose of the test was quite simple: to write a coherent, cohesive text of at least 500 words each day. It doesn't matter what it is about and what I will do after writing it. I didn't allow myself to write down the days I missed.
I took this challenge hoping to get used to (and learn) writing, improve my discipline skills, and try new ways of writing.
...And I reached my goal. Partially.
Challenge summary - half a month for nothing.
Although I wrote a record 8-9 full texts this month, I only reached the 500 word mark on 8 out of 28 days (28.6%). Another 5 out of 28 days (17.9%) I wrote less and the remaining 14 I didn't write a word.
I'll admit, at the end of the month I felt crushed by it. I failed to achieve what I had planned. Even after 4-6 days where I rested my head with my girlfriend or when I was able to forget about the suvis challenge, that's a number you don't want to write in your achievement book. Oh!
But still, I was able to learn this, which should help in the future.
3 little discoveries about writing every day:
1) Evening is not the best time for spelling.
Or, indeed, for any activity that requires attention and mental strength. I noticed the same thing month without video entertainment years.
As research shows 1 or the knowledge of marketing specialists, 2 when we're tired, we make the worst choices and make the most excuses for being lazy.
These no-do or "I'm buying because it's fast" decisions make sense—our brains know that if we don't rest or try to cut corners, we'll overwork ourselves and possibly get sick. 3
...However, these decisions are potentially harmful when faced with challenges or changes.
Don't think that athletes and coaches like Ignas Bakkei, 4 so praise getting out of bed earlier than usual. those few minutes especially having a reason to get up, 5 is at least fourfold 6 more valuable than bedtime work.
For this reason own current writing and I plan other work for the morning. Not too early, 7 but still for your morning. That is, about two hours after I roll out of bed.
2) Writing requires preparation.
It's easy to think that writers drink coffee all day and then, with a sudden stroke of genius, write a text in just a few free moments. I partly expected that too.
However, I found that some evenings I spent longer thinking about a topic than writing. And to write a text of 500 words, if the thoughts flow smoothly, I can do it in an hour. Which... Stretches the process a bit.
Renewed: In 2016, after 3 years of writing training, I write about 1500-2000 words per hour, depending on the topic. I recommend Rachel Aaron's book "2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love", if you also want to learn to write faster.
That's how I realized that it's best to start when you have a plan ready. It doesn't have to be exact - it's important that the idea is captured in more than just your head. 8
This is my desk when preparing to write - planning a new text and selecting arguments
3) Writing takes time. More than you think.
I made a mistake during the challenge - I left only one hour for writing. If the thoughts flow smoothly, yes, that is quite enough, but it is quite another thing if the thoughts stumble over each other. Not to mention the writer's usual lack of focus. 9
That's why I started giving myself twice as much time as I thought I would take to write. Because somehow everything drags on.
What will I do differently from now on?
One thing is for sure, writing in the evenings when I'm tired after a day has not worked. Old times I used to write in the mornings and it suited me. Therefore, I will spend time again at the beginning of the day for work.
Also, at the beginning of the month, I threw away all my notebooks and left only one each for notes, diary and studies. That alone, the notes, the notebook allowed don't lose ideas for new texts - I intend to continue using it.
I hope I will get used to it and learn to write more efficiently. Although the month-long challenge is over, I will still aim to write 500 words a day. This has become one of my new dreams!
Update: And the dream comes true. The year 2016-2017 became mine in the year of daily writing.
But hey, I have a little question for you:
And how do you force yourself to overcome your challenges?
Do you promise to give something away if you reach a goal? Using Jedi persuasion tricks on your head? Or do you hire a coach to watch you and remind you what you should be doing? 10
Share your experience in the comments. After all, you can help others! 🤞
For example In the study "Extraneous factors in judicial decisions" conducted in 2010 over 10 months, the decisions of Israeli judges were investigated. It was observed that before lunch, judges' decisions were the strictest and fastest, and after lunch they were looser and took longer.↩
They are being prepared special short-term marketing campaigns, and the "Taste it for free" stands in stores point to hungry buyers.↩
I write in more detail about the harm of overwork to health in The Sloth's Manifesto.↩
One of the craziest athletes and coaches in Lithuania. My one hero.↩
If you have the problem of "Just a few more minutes..." delays in the morning, I recommend reading this article.↩
Well, I have no basis for this number. I'm just guessing.↩
Because I can afford to sleep until the sun rises - 9 o'clock in the morning in the winter.↩
I use small pieces of paper torn from a notebook for ideas. However, you can use Trello, Evernote or other notation systems.↩
Some authors, like Austin Kleon, see this as a positive feature - you get a bunch of fun reading random texts as a hobby. new ideas. Others, like Finnish DJ Ilpo, evaluated as negative.↩
Like a guy who hires a girl to bang him as soon as he gets online.↩
Since I noticed that I was becoming addicted to Facebook games, I decided not to play at all for a week. I chose a week to see how strong the addiction was.
I can say that I passed this test smoothly, although there were moments when I wanted to abandon my plan. Well, I just rewarded myself with a smile drawn on the calendar. That was enough to make me feel stronger, more willful and satisfied with myself.
Ps If I had set a time frame of a month, I don't think I would have stretched it, it would have been extortion. It is better to achieve the goal little by little, but surely 🙂
What games are you talking about here? Do you seriously go on facebook and play games like farmville there? 😀
It's kind of strange to me... At least I never played fb games because they are full of ads and otherwise not very interesting (unless zynga poker, but I play that on my iphone too).
No, it's not "farmville". It's a different kind of game 😀 Eg: Candy crash doesn't seem to commit to anything and it's not that special, but it's still engaging 🙂
Roberta, great commitment! And the fun-sounding smiley calendar method - I'll try it sometime. Are you not getting back into gaming after a while? 🙂
I'm back, but now it's not a "necessity". I can stay without games, I will look for other activities. 🙂
It is best to fill such challenges with words every day - well, I will write for five minutes and rest :)
It's the same with Facebook games - you get the urge to play and you put it off for a while. There is a high probability that other activities will appear during which the original impulse will be forgotten :)
And it's not bad to set a timer for those 5 minutes. Or ten. And write, write... About what the soul speaks, not logic~
8 + 5 + 14 = how many? Can't get 28, no way for me 😀
Oh, I probably have problems not only with the Lithuanian language, but also with mathematics. :))
I don't know, Debesyla, even in your rewiev you made style mistakes ("thoughts flow smoothly" was used twice). by the way, "determined" not "determined" teehee
And you, Ms. LOL, should learn English, because even though you wrote one word, you still made mistakes ("review", not "rewiev"). 😉
Thank you!! I fixed the mistakes 😉
what good did you write in a month?
okay? Trying to write for the first time? It goes without saying that it is not much 😉
Oh my god, it would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Without comment.
You know, sometimes it's better to just not write.
Maybe take pictures. Maybe draw. Maybe... But don't write.
Maybe buy a kebab?
Thank you, no. I will write better and learn to write! 😀
Real, filled with challenges, 2014 is here. The only self-mobilization project I have tried so far is "one photo a day". There were three times when I thought that I would give up - such crisis periods, when it seems that you have already photographed everything possible, but then the battery seems to activate again and you start again. True, while thinking and preparing for the last photo of the year on December 31st. I almost had a very serious fight with my family - everyone is preparing for the New Year, and I'm somewhere from home :))
Writing texts is really not easy. For the umpteenth time, I'm trying to revive my bad one, but I can't find a charge that will carry it, so even if the goal is 50% achieved, you can pat yourself on the back - not everyone can even after that.
Good luck in your new challenges! :)
Oh, he keeps getting mad at me too - I can't watch a movie, he doesn't know what I cover the refrigerator with, I don't use the Internet after 11 o'clock, you know. 😀
And thank you. I hope you will also be able to revive the bad one - it is quite interesting. 🙂