94 How to Use the Ancient Power of Discipline to Accomplish Your Goals
How can you keep your annual writing goals from slipping into the abyss of distraction and business? With one word that might make you groan: discipline.
Before you roll your eyes and exit, I want to offer you ten tips to help you maintain your pace and stay on track with your writing goals throughout the year.
Tip #1: The Jerry Seinfeld Calendar Method
Renowned comedian Jerry Seinfeld was credited with creating the Seinfeld Calendar Method. One rainy day, when he felt particularly unmotivated to write, he looked out his window and saw construction workers headed to their job site in the rain. He figured they didn’t want to do their work either, but they still showed up. He decided to put an X on his paper calendar every day he did his work as a writer, and he resolved not to break the chain of Xs.
After a few years of connecting weeks and months of Xs on his calendar, he got pretty good at writing comedy.
You can apply the same method to your writing goals. Connect your chain of Xs on your calendar, and don’t break the chain. Before you know it, you’ll have written hundreds of thousands of words in a year.
Tip #2: Take One Day Off Each Week
In ancient Hebrew culture, the practice of Sabbath was an intentional resting from work each week. It sounds like a great idea, but few of us actually stop working for an entire day because we’re afraid of falling behind.
However, regular rests will help you go farther faster.
Whether you decide to rest on Sunday or another weekday, be intentional about resting from writing, or technology, or your regular work. Consider doing something that refreshes you, such as walking or playing your instrument.
In the 1850s, as people traveled the Oregon Trail in wagons, a flyer that encouraged people to rest was circulating. It told travelers that resting one day each week would help them reach their destination earlier. Regular rest meant fewer injuries and illnesses for humans and animals and helped travelers reach their destination sooner.
Writers who rest one day per week can refresh and actually write faster on the remaining six days of the week.
Tip #3: Study Time Management and Time Discipline
One of my favorite books on time management is Dave Allen’s book Getting Things Done (Affiliate Link). He offers a very flexible plan you can adapt to fit your lifestyle. I have also used a project management method called Kanban.
It doesn’t matter which method you use as long as it works for you. If you want to be more disciplined, create a time budget and decide beforehand where you will spend your time. It may be as simple as scheduling an hour of writing from 7:00 to 8:00 AM on your Google calendar.
James L. Rubart has used the Pomodoro time management method. The Pomodoro method encourages frequent and regular breaks. You simply subject your to-do list to a timer. Set your timer for 25 minutes and focus on a single task until the timer goes off. When your session ends, mark off one session, record what you completed, and then enjoy a five-minute break. Jim found this method to work better than “grinding it out.”
Tip #4: Experiment with a Media Fast
Fasting from our constant intake of media input is essential.
It’s easy for novelists to spend their time watching movies and reading other people’s books in the name of research and education. While it’s important to learn from other writers by reading and watching their work, you may find that fasting from other people’s stories will free up space for your own characters to start speaking to you again.
Plot ideas that have been drowned out by other people’s stories may suddenly become crystal clear, which may give you the energy to stay disciplined. You may be surprised at the number of ideas that come to you when you silence the external media input.
Writers often find that binging on TV shows to relax isn’t actually relaxing. They end up mentally critiquing and editing the show or characters, which is a writer’s work and, therefore, not so relaxing.
Tip #5: Get to Bed Earlier
It might sound simplistic, but if you’ve ever tried going to bed earlier, you know it can be challenging.
Tip #6: Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is different than going to bed earlier. You don’t simply need more time in your pajamas; you need the right amount of quality sleep. Lack of quality sleep becomes a carcinogen in your system and results in irreparable damage to your body and brain.
You wouldn’t eat Twinkies every day for ten years because it would wreck your body, but a lack of quality sleep year after year can damage your body in similar ways. In these days of bombarding ourselves with blue light from our screens, our sleep and productivity often suffer. In the book Sleep Smarter, author Shawn Swanson offers many tips for better sleep.
Even your willpower is stronger in the morning after a good night’s sleep. Willpower is like a muscle. The more you work it, the stronger it gets. At the end of the day, your willpower is typically worn out, and you’re less likely to discipline yourself to write in the evenings.
Getting enough sleep and waking up early to write will help you give your best energy to creative writing.
Tip #7: Practice Discipline in Tiny Moments
James L. Rubart tells of disciplining himself not to scratch an itch. He had a friend who was paralyzed in an accident and lost the ability to act upon the most basic urge to scratch his face. He simply had to wait for the itchy sensation to pass. To empathize when his friend, Jim started to practice resisting the urge to scratch his face. It forced him to examine other areas of his work and life where he could discipline himself to wait or resist.
You can also connect new disciplines with existing daily routines. For example, weight loss studies show that people who establish the discipline of weighing themselves every morning tend to maintain their weight loss. When you weigh yourself in the morning, you’re more motivated throughout the day to eat right and work out.
Putting together daily rhythms that start a chain reaction is a helpful practice. Maybe you wake up, wash your face, and then sit down to write. Splashing water on your face will start to trigger the pattern of discipline.
Tip #8: Find an Accountability Partner
People have accountability partners in many areas of life, and inviting someone to keep you accountable for your writing goals can really change your life.
Set a goal, tell your accountability partner about it, and invite them to ask you about it by your deadline. Something about saying it out loud to another person is very motivating. Your partner doesn’t need to be another writer; they just need to be someone who will encourage and motivate you to sit down and write.
We are communal creatures, and sharing your creative goals with another person fuels motivation.
Tip #9: Make NOT meeting your goals PAINFUL
When James L. Rubart started writing novels, his critique group made a deal. Each of the five members committed to a word count they would meet before their next meeting. If the members did not meet their word count goal before the meeting, they would owe $50 to each group member. Imaging himself writing a check to each group member helped motivate Jim to finish his writing.
I had a friend who had to take two CLEP tests in college, which would save her an entire semester of time and money, but she was afraid to take the tests. To help motivate her and keep her accountable, I had her give me two $100 bills. I promised to give them back after she took the tests. If she didn’t take the tests, I would give away the money. It was so effective. She took the tests and ended up graduating.
Some writers respond better to a reward, while others respond better to a consequence. Figure out which method suits your personality and work style, and then use it to further your writing goals.
Tip # 10: Install MyBookProgress on Your Website
The number two reason readers visit an author’s website is to find out when their next book is coming out. MyBookProgress is a WordPress plugin I created with my team that installs a progress bar on your website so readers can see where you are in the writing process.
It has the functionality to help you share your progress on social media and encourage people to sign up for your email list. Learn more at MyBookProgress.com.
You don’t have to implement every tip in this list, but choosing at least one will help you maintain a disciplined writing habit and achieve your writing goals.
