On Building a Writing Habit and Improving Productivity

Building a writing habit is hard. Between joining writing cohorts and using coffee as a trigger, what else can I do? Should I write perfectly or imperfectly? How do I win this?

I shared last week that I am on a personal commitment to just write – and write – and write – until the habit sticks.

Along the way, I’ve come across various resources and several people who have been an inspiration for this journey.

And, as is no doubt evident in this blog, I haven’t stayed true to my word. I’ve skipped one day which turned into day 2 then day 3 until I stopped counting the days I’ve skipped.

So now, I’ve rebooted myself and am back to writing.

And this time, I’m committed (yes I am!) to make it stick.

No Such Thing as Perfect Writing

If you want to build a writing habit, you can’t aim for perfection. There are days when your output will really suck.

That’s ok. Just keep going.

Writing is a muscle that we develop over time.

Building the Habit of Writing

How do you build the habit of writing? Write every day. It doesn’t have to be perfect or search engine optimized. It just have to be daily.

Building new habits can be tough. Especially if they do not align with your past habits. Building the habit of writing – when you’re not naturally inclined to write – is hard.

But it’s not impossible.

As I’ve mentioned in my last post, I commit myself to write daily.

It doesn’t have to be a perfect post every time. And, with the spirit of this blog, it can be about anything under the sun.

It doesn’t have to be a long-form content every day. And neither does it have to be search engine optimized. But if I can do that, then why not?

The goal is: to build a habit of writing.

Compounding Effects

As I’ve learned in Atomic Habits by James Clear, to successfully build a habit takes a long time of repeating the desired behavior again and again.

We need to focus on 1% incremental activities daily, instead of doing overnight transformations.

This means that even if I don’t write perfectly today, as long as I keep doing this, I will eventually get better.

It will come to a point when writing will become very natural to me.

And as a writer, that’s what I aspire to be.

I’ve always loved reading and writing – even as a kid. Yet I never pursued writing as a career because I thought, writers don’t make a lot of money. But the pandemic has forced people to work from home, and many have turned to online resources to make a living. Writing for money seems a gig I can pursue.

I’ve written various blog articles in the past – mostly for content mills. They pay you per word or per article. Rates are measly (often starting at 2c to 3c per word). I did this route before I joined the corporate world and while I enjoyed writing, my body protested.

The hours were long. The pay small. And there were no security or benefits connected to the job.

Fast forward to today. I recently explored freelancing once again. This time armed with experience and wisdom. I’ve learned what it takes – and how to become – a premium freelancer. More so, I’ve discovered writers can earn 6-7 figures (USD) for their work without sacrificing too much of their time.

I decided to investigate further by joining the The Freelance Movement Tribe.

PREMIUM FREELANCING

It’s a different brand of freelancing. You don’t waste time searching and applying for jobs in freelancing boards where they pay measly rates at $5/hr. Instead, you treat freelancing as a business and approach it like any wise businessman would – networking.

Yep, forming real-world connections via networking. It can be through warm connections or cold pitches. The point is to go out there, hustle and forge those human connections with potential clients.

Since it’s a business, you need to know your (1) MARKET and (2) OFFER. Just like any traditional market.

So I went in. Armed with my knowledge of marketing and business, I started building my dream freelancing business.

It’s not easy. It’s a path not for the faint hearted. Most freelancers view themselves as remote workers. They deliver a job and get paid for it. It’s a job – a contract – at the end of the day.

As a freelance business owner, I need to think wider. What does my market needs? What skill sets do I have – or can develop – to address those needs? How do I make my business sustainable and scalable?

It’s tempting to fall back into the employee mindset. Just go out there, apply for a job and deliver the output. The end.

But this is not what I want to do. So forge ahead I must.

WRITING for MONEY

As I said in my intro, I didn’t think writing would be lucrative. And when I say writing I mean blog writing. I know businesses pay a lot for copywriters – including email copywriters. The founder of the Freelance Movement Tribe is a famous email copywriter earning 7-figures USD.

There’s money in writing. But the kind of writing I like (blog content) I’m not so sure of.

That’s why I ventured to SEO as a service. I know content writing and SEO goes hand in hand. Websites need to rank in search engines. To do that they need optimized blog content. Viola! I enter the picture.

But to offer SEO content, I need to learn SEO. And as someone who LOVES learning, I adored and absorbed the new knowledge I gained. I loved all aspects of SEO.

Pretty soon, I could explain it like a pro. Without experience, I knew the ins and outs. But it’s nicer said than done.

After gaining 2 clients to test out my SEO skills and immersing in the niche market I’ve chosen, I’ve decided I needed to go for more clarity and define WHERE I really want to head with my freelancing business.

Offering SEO was great but I learn too quickly that it’s something I can’t sustainably do on my own. SEO Service Providers evolve to build agencies. They hire people to do various aspects like keyword research, content gap analysis, backlinking, content strategy and content creation. Not to mention there’s the technical aspect of SEO to consider.

I promise my clients that I can make their websites rank. I can. In theory. In reality, I need to put in long hours on my own to make it happen since I’d need to handle all SEO aspects just to get their sites ranking.

And for someone starting out, I’ve placed such a high bar and charged too little. I overextended myself. It’s a position you don’t want to be in. Believe me.

GAINING CLARITY

So you must be saying, I should have pursued clarity when I started, right? Well, if you spend too much time gaining clarity for your business, you lose precious time to fail and learn fast. I believe FAILURE is the best teacher.

We need to fail more so that we learn faster. When I began (or reignited) my freelancing journey, I simply did what the coach said and picked a market and choose a skill.

It didn’t matter that I had close to zero knowledge on the skill. Or that I had no affinity for the market. The point was I needed to learn. I can’t spend too much time figuring out what I wanted to do or who I wanted to serve.

After two months, I believe I’ve gained clarity. I was not successful with the 1st market. Neither did I like the 1st skill I chose. BUT I learned a lot.

I learned that my primary passion is WRITING. And I don’t need to compromise offering too many complimentary skills just to say that my WRITING is valuable. On its own, my written articles are worth every dollar a client pays. I’m glad I’ve stumbled upon the Freelance to Fortune blog which provides proof that writers can earn 6-figures USD too.

I learned about SEO – a lot. And how it actually shapes my writing. Even defining my tone, the words I use and how I come up with a content strategy. My SEO knowledge is solid. I’m proud of that. I’ve learned the basics and the foundation as well as some great techniques. I can use all of these with my writing.

I learned about the SaaS market – and how wide and in need of content writers they are. I like learning about how tech fits our day-to-day lives. And I love telling people about it. I love to share the knowledge I’ve gained in ways that readers would actually understand and be compelled to act on.

Combining my PASSION FOR WRITING and my LOVE FOR EDUCATING, I believe I am cut out to be a B2B SaaS Writer. For what exact niche, I am not yet sure. There’s a lot to choose from.

But as I dive deeper into this market, I love what I’m seeing. And I’m excited. I’m excited to start exploring the new opportunities in store for me.

SO, WHERE DOES THIS BLOG FIT IN?

I’ve written about a lot of different topics in this blog. I’ve strived to be consistent but in reality haven’t been. I’ve divulged personal rants, political views, romantic hang ups, spiritual beliefs along with reviews, scientific explanations and what nots in this blog.

This blog is a hodgepodge of content.

And I love it for that. After all, the title accurately captures what it’s all about.

BUT I am about to end there. From the time I’ve started blogging in 2009, I’ve matured a lot as a person. The desire to keep sharing my personal life to the world has waned. I’ve become a more private person (or simply have too much in my plate to keep ranting).

So I am keeping the name but archiving the content. They’d be available just as they were but be buried deeper in the site to favor the new content I would like to write about.

What new content? I’ve decided I would write about my freelancing journey, the boom in the online / digital business industry, SEO best practices the way I understand them and anything about business, personal finances & productivity.

I’m excited to go in this journey, and I hope, dear reader, you stay with me through the ride.

The Vast World of Article Writing and Rewriting

Since I am fairly new to this business, I know I haven’t explored or seen the most of it. Since I am an independent person foraging into this freelance writing world, I know I have so much to learn and only myself to depend upon.

One of the early things I learned was that there are certain styles necessary to make an article readable. Most of my clients are those asking me to write contents for their websites. The websites are mostly business ones that needs to come up first in search engines. For this to happen articles must be keyword rich or their language SEO ready. SEO stands for search engine optimized. Also, articles must be easy to read. That means, it must contain simple words and simple sentences. I admit I had to bend my writing style a bit just to comply with these guidelines.

Another thing I recently discovered was that most of the time they ask or they warn me not to use any software or machine to spin or make the articles. I thought to myself, who would do that? Apparently, there are softwares out there, generally called spinners, who automatically rewrites an article for you. The thought was that you create or write an article then submit it to article directories. For you to earn more, there must be a great number of views to your articles. And for that to happen, it must be at the top of search engine results. Also, it would be best if you can submit the article to hundreds of article directories.

Now of course, I don’t know half of what all of those means. What are article directories exactly? I think they are sites where you submit an article and they pay you a dollar per like a thousand views or something. Yes you put your own by-line but then the pay is really low for my tastes. Besides, you need to make sure your article generates like a thousand views or something for that to work. Again, these are all hypothetical in a sense. I am not that well-versed on the entire matter.

Still, after taking a glimpse at the vast world of freelancing, and realizing that I am not even a fraction of a hundredth close to it, I must say it all overwhelmed me. I cannot even begin to describe the enormous possibilities in this blog. For me to be really familiar or engrossed with all of this – you know write articles and spin it like a hundred times to be submitted to like a hundred article directories so that I can earn – would make me an anti-social person for all eternity. I will be as pale as any bloodsucker and as clumsy as their beloved pet.

So when all is said and done, I am still a writer at heart but not a hung-up writer to go that far. I like to write but not push myself too much so I can earn from my writing. For now I will continue writing for the clients I have – which are dwindling in numbers because I refuse to simply accept new ones; write some original articles for those article directories of which I am already a member of and then look for some employment out there that would enable me to meet new people and have a teeming social life – one that is real and not virtual.

the last 24 hours

Or should it be the last 48 hours? I really don’t know but it felt like it’s been so long since I’ve last posted something here. So what have I been up to? Writing and learning – a lot.

Lately, I’ve been given the chance to write my own articles based on topics I care about that are generally interesting. Well, it’s harder than it looks apparently but after the finished product, I can’t help but feel proud. Not to mention the countless times I had to research these topics. Sometimes I wish I could affix my name to the articles. I would really love that. Although I cannot breach copyright laws. Once I submit the article, it is no longer mine to keep.

***

During one of my research, I came upon the dangers of blogging. I wanted to write an article about it but apparently a lot of people beat me to it. So what I learned was that blogging breeds online stalkers. It is possible that they do not leave comments but none the less read through your blog and stalk you. Scary. To think I have linked my facebook account here and although I post my articles using my web name, my facebook is enough to validate my real name. Maybe I should remove my FB widget. Just to be on the safe side.

But everything else aside, I still love blogging. And I still have no qualms divulging who I am and what I think. Truth be told though that I have also learned that there are a lot of people fired over what they wrote in their blogs and in some cases even imprisoned. Given the time, I may just write an article about it and post it here, that is, if I don’t intend to sell it.

New Moon is set to be released on Nov. 20. Although I haven’t been as excited about it as I was about Twilight (New Moon is my least fave of the books), after writing an article about the new comers in the cast, you can say that I am definitely looking forward to watching the movie and seeing all those hunks act out their stuff. Particularly handsome new comer, Tyson Houseman. When I was researching him on the net, there was not enough material about him which is understandable since he has only high school theater experience to his credit. But thanks to an interview, I learned more about him. Maybe I’ll make a post about that too.

So those, I guess are the latest since the last time I wrote anything. I haven’t been out of the house for 2 weeks now, thanks to the constant influx of articles to write. I miss having a social life really and my sister warned that I never took a day off. But how can you want a day off when you love what you are doing? Besides, it’s not like I am not resting and I have learned not to overly stress myself despite all the deadlines. The downside though is that I am as pale as the Cullens and I meet no new person except those I encounter online. Then again, I know I will adjust to this – adjust so that I would still have time to go out.

musings during a sleepless night

I have had the privilege of being a finalist to the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards. Although it was true that I nominated myself to the Best Personal Blog category, still the judges were the ones who deemed my blog worthy of being part of the Top 20 to be considered for the final prize. Although I didn’t win the place, I am still proud for being considered alongside such great blogs as Jim Paredes’s blog, Writing on Air, which was also the winner of the said category. For me, this is a great honor since I‘ve never really written for anything save for myself. Writing blogs for me is my way of releasing stress and tension that would otherwise build up inside of me. Ninety percent of my posts are all about me and my world – selfish if you may call it. The only posts that I write that are, in my opinion, written for information’s sake are those posted under the CURRENT AFFAIRS category. Those are my opinions on what is happening in our society – be it national or international.

Yet most of what I write are actually rants about my hopelessly dry love life, my dissatisfying job and my seemingly dim perspective in life. Seldom do you find posts wherein I actually give an optimistic view about the world I move in. Something so unlike myself really considering the fact that I’ve always been an optimist. Yet reality sinks in and gets the better of us and we learn to see the world without rose-tinted glasses.

Of course I hope to get out of this doldrums. A renewal of my First Love ought to do the trick. I have always been optimistic when I was with Him – seeing the world with all its imperfections yet believing the goodness in each and every situation, person and circumstance. I long to get back to that good old self or maybe I long to find and repair my rose-tinted glasses, wherever I may have placed them.

Reality, as I see it is harsh. Too harsh really.

Today, after dinner I cannot help but cry. In the course of my training as an MT, and even in the words of the HR manager to me, I am really a pretty much skilled person. Without so much except my Bio degree for a background in a job in the medical field, I am able to excel and surpass even those with backgrounds and educations on this field. Without even resorting to cheating, as most of them do, I am able to extract from stock knowledge and common sense forged years ago answers to daily exams so I could pass them – not really with passing colors but rather with acceptable marks. Slowly I can see that I am skilled. I am good, if not great and I say it not with pride or bragging but with honesty on my part.

I can see that I can really get any job my heart so desires. I even have the courage to pursue what I want and the skills and aptitude to learn how to acquire it. Yet the downside to all this seemingly idealistic qualities is that the truth of my compensation hurts even more. The pain forged in my heart runs deeper than for most. The cut is sharper. Everything is more painful. I get to see how much I could actually be worth – how much I should really be earning.

Being part of the workforce is selling yourself. You have your skills, experience and expertise as your commodity. You sell it to the highest bidder. Yet in a society wherein unemployment is the common trend after graduation (or becoming a call center agent), job seekers are left with no choice but to accept whatever a company dictates for their skills. It is no longer the applicant who dictates the amount he or she is worth but rather the employer who determines the salary to be paid based on the contingency measures of the company. As such we become slaves to this degrading society wherein to cope with the effects of regression, multinational companies must search for cheaper labor force but greater quality. And since we face the more garish alternative of becoming hungry due to unemployment, we sacrifice the salary we are supposed to get for whatever it is they are willing to offer. We are slaves in our own countries – skilled yet severely underpaid.

And I lament such depressing turn of events in my life. I am finally in a job I enjoy – I learn everyday and I revel in the knowledge I gain yet when I think of how much I’ll earn, I lose heart and can’t help but regret over the higher salary I was already earning in my otherwise brain demeaning job.

They say in life you cannot have it all, but I beg to disagree. Someday I will have both. For it is written, just as it was promised long ago that the plans He had for me were plans to prosper me and not to harm me; plans to give me hope and a future. And I cling to that.

Finally I can sleep.

A Post After Such A Long Time

It’s been 6 days since my last post. To an active blogger like me, that seems like eternity since I’ve last shared or said anything. Especially when the world around me has kept spinning and ideas kept popping in my head. New ideas. Old ideas. Ideas that haven’t seen the light of words and cyber space yet. I have been lazy. Sloth is the term for it. I’ve chosen to spend my idle times watching gory films one after the next – from Sweeney Todd to the whole Hannibal Series to Interview with a Vampire and playing all the popular games in Facebook – from Farmville to Farmtown to Barn Buddy, Pet Society, Mafia Wars, and even Friend for Sale. I have been very lazy, in terms of physical and mental activity, not to mention emotional wellness. It seems that I’ve been numbing so many things by burying myself in mindless things. And my blog, which is the portal to my innermost self, which is a kind of catharsis to what is really happening deep within me, had been immensely ignored.

I’ve started writing posts about Noynoy and the current state of politics in the country in the effort to mold my mind on some solid political stand. I’ve tried to write a very honest outburst on the current state of my spiritual self in the effort to exorcise some really stubborn demons in my soul. I’ve hoped to write an analysis on why I’ve become cold so suddenly to my guinea pigs in an effort to better understand how I actually relate to people. I’ve thought of writing an article about my most generous (layers of sarcasm here) grandma in an effort to understand society. I even tried doing reviews of all the gory films I’ve watched – just so I could get my mind running! Yet all to no avail. My pen still remains dry. Ink won’t flow. Words are stuck – mere prisoners of the mind; forever not letting go.

I’ve learned how to sleep in between calls – during those dull moments when there’s no call to answer. I’ve even learned to sleep during breaks and even in the middle of really boring calls where computers are uber sluggish or customers are uber slow typing information. Bottomline: I’ve managed to do something else during the times that I’ve normally spent writing or setting free the words that threaten to burst forth from the portals of my mind.

And now I slumber no more. Now the words can not be held back any longer. The dam is threatening to overflow. I must relinquish the pressure that’s building up lest the words just all cause a hurried tumbledown and leave me dumbstruck. Or else they die in the corners of my mind – left to rot away and clutter space otherwise occupied by new ideas; new words; new inspirations. I must allow the dam to burst forth and the words to flow freely once more.

Alas! The ink has once again started to flow.

another writer’s block

I have so many things to write that now I’ve quite forgotten what they were. Now when I actually managed to have the time to blog about my ideas, I can’t seem to assemble the right words to begin to convey them. Even writing this paragraph has left me unnerved and gasping for words.

I guess I should really heed that advice of having a small notebook in my pocket all the time. And of course a pen or pencil along with it. So when inspiration strikes, when words simply flow and ooze out of my mind, I could begin jotting them down. Those phrases of seemingly unending melodious whatever. Argh! Words escape me now, just when everything is so conducive to writing.

Or maybe so I thought.

the writer has been silenced

Whew. The writer in me has been silenced. The words won’t flow to translate the idea into publishable material. Editing my sister’s thesis has taken its toll. No wonder editors are highly paid – editing is no piece of cake. It is easier to write ideas than to edit them especially if they are not your own. I have difficulties editing my own articles, how much more somebody else’s work?

And it is to my regret that she has the unequivocal use of the PC which is the one with Internet access. And so I can do nothing else but write, or force myself to write, using the laptop. Maybe I will just watch a movie but then again time constraints discourages such. Then again, maybe I should just force myself to write – something I never thought I’d go through but apparently am going through right now.

The shifty weather – one time rainy, the next mercilessly hot – does nothing to help alleviate my mood.

Oh well here goes.

haunted to write

It is night time. For a perpetual night owl I should be taking advantage of this opportunity wherein I am not at work to take some shut eye during the night. But the night haunts me. My writer instincts prevail. I must write the million ideas in my mind lest they forever slip away into oblivion – forgotten and rusted. And so I toil on. One by one transforming thoughts into written words.

Tag: writing