Strategies for Writing More Productively (and Holding Procrastination at Bay)

If you are struggling to write something—whether it’s a resume, personal statement, business document, or even social media content—you may succumb to tried-and-true procrastination techniques.

Checking email constantly? Seeing what’s happened in the news in the past 10 minutes? Writing a list of the things you need to do today and including things like “Wake Up” and “Drink Coffee” just so you can feel accomplished? If so, you may find Ilya Pozin’s article “8 Things Productive People Do” to be useful.

Pozin does not specifically address writing-related productivity, but many of his tips can be applied to establishing good writing habits, which will ultimately enable you to crank out your documents and then move on to other tasks.

The bottom line for producing content: focus on a few key things each day and keep your sights set on accomplishing them first—one at a time. Then you can go back to listening to the news … while checking your email … while sipping coffee … and writing a 6-page to-do list.