Here’s a startling revelation…
As a writer, I spend a good chunk of my time not wanting to write.
If you write, you’ve probably experienced staring at a blank page for hours on end. Or getting “something” down on paper but throwing it out after a few hours of work because it’s just not cutting it.
For me it can be because I didn’t get enough sleep. Or it’s noisy. Or I’m just not “feeling” it when I sit down to write.
I can come up with a million excuses to avoid writing.
But, when it’s your job, even if you don’t feel like it you have to do it anyway.
I find writing (and just about every other kind of work I do) is A LOT easier when you feel like doing it. Sometimes you just feel like you’re “in the zone”, you fly for a couple of hours, and you come up with something great.
I’ve found 2 ways that help me get “in the zone”.
The first is doing my “money work” first thing in the morning. In my case that’s writing. That’s nothing new, it’s something I’ve heard a lot of successful people talk about. But for whatever reason it does work for me. Once I get past the first 5 minutes or so in the morning I’m usually on cruise control for the rest of the day.
The second is when I can get myself truly fired up about a project.
I’ve written an entire sales letter overnight for a client after waking up with a headline idea.
I’ve created entire products and sales letters for them in less than 24 hours.
Whether you get fired up because of a new idea, or a new project you want to work on, wherever the inspiration comes from I’ve learned it’s CRITICAL to feed on it while it lasts.
Work that would normally take me 20 hours to do suddenly gets cut down to 4 hours when I’m in that zone.
Projects that seemed mind numbingly boring suddenly become a blast to work on.
I get much more accomplished, and I have a lot more fun working when I’m in the right state of mind.
The trick is getting into that state of mind.
And to do that, you have to figure out what motivates you. It could be money. It could be providing for your family. Or doing a good job for a client you want to work with again. Or breaking your own sales record for the month.
Point being, we all have different ways to motivate us to get there.
But if you want to get a lot more accomplished in a lot less time, you’ve got to figure out a way to motivate yourself to get into the zone, and always take advantage of it when it happens.
Peace,
-Scott Murdaugh