To build myself up to a consistent and reliable level of productivity, I’ve taken to allocating 30–60 minutes to sit/stand in isolation and write nonstop. Mostly I’ll pull a topic off my Trello board and riff on it, but sometimes I’ll just type whatever’s in my head and follow my thoughts wherever they go. So far it’s working incredibly well, at least in terms of turning my ideas into properly articulated arguments.
This was always the purpose of my private stream-of-consciousness journal. What I’ve realised this week is how effectively it can turn an unproductive morning or day into a productive one. If the first ten minutes are rubbish, usually I’m much better structured and more cogent by the end.
Although I now have the bones of a few solid posts, tidying them up for publication is still beyond me, for now. This is as much down to my neurodivergent struggles as my need to build skills and establish habits.
I’m still reluctant to set myself goals for publishing on Medium because I don’t know when I can find the focus and confidence to get that final polish done. I’d like it to be within a week, but if I set that goal and fail to meet it, I’ll feel worse about myself and less confident about my ability. So, for now I’ll keep doing this as often as possible. If I write 50 drafts and publish nothing, at least I’ll have 20 posts close to completion.