This is a follow up post of ‘How To Write An EBook In 4 Days? My Story – Part 1‘. I have written the story there in part 1. This post brings out the why and how of the story.
I give out answers to the questions I asked to myself when I just got super productive in an unexpected time. I hope you can use these tips to boost your productivity.
Being offline
One of the main, main reasons that I could turn to be so super productive is that I was offline. Being online is good but it brings in a lot of distraction.
When I am online…..
The fact that I am aware I am online is a great distraction.
I do stuff to stay focused. I know the applications that distract me. I turn off Tweets, I don’t check emails often. I don’t check blog stats, or adsense earnings or anything else.
Yet, there’s always a chance to get distracted quite often when I’m online. I get distracted in search when I’m looking for important information or when I am expecting some important emails.
Actually, I would say that it is not literally a distraction, but I deal with something else that is equally or even more important. But still I am not doing what I had to be doing or what I started to do.
When I am offline….
Since I happened to be offline, whatsoever, during those 6 days, I could simply do what I wanted to do.
If I started to type something, I just went on and there was nothing else that was more, less or equally important that came by my way. My flow was not diverted and I could stay focused for as long as I wanted.
My commitment
Something inside me was always telling that I am not writing. For the first couple of days, even though I was not wasting my time but reading an important book, I felt guilty about not writing.
My mental system is so set that I write every day for my blog. Even if not blog posts for my blog, I write chapters for ebooks, I write guest posts, I write emails that could be used as newsletter material.
I make it a habit that I write every day as if I eat and sleep every day. I am committed to this schedule. Not doing this pushed me from the inside.
That very guilt acted as a very good motivator which literally pushed me to start writing ‘something’ even if not regular articles. And, that is how I ended up writing a brand new cool e-book from scratch.
If I didn’t have this commitment, I wouldn’t mind going without writing for a few more days. My commitment has trained my body and mind that way.
Capture idea
Well, I don’t let a single idea to leak out. I have quite some applications and methods to help me with capturing ideas as they occur.
It is quite common that ideas occur mostly at odd times and odd places. I make it a point that wherever I go, I have with me some sort of application or method to capture any idea that may occur.
Here’s a handy presentation where I talk a bit more detail about using Evernote for productivity:
Like this presentation? Feel free to embed it on your blog using the code below!
Writing practice
Since I am committed to write every day it has become a practice. When I have something to say, I just write it down without having to research for the right words and try to get the writing to proper format.
The flow comes just like that. I don’t struggle to put my ideas out. This is because I have practiced regular writing. It has become a skill that helps me to achieve more in less time and at the time when I want to achieve something.
Not just with writing; the point is, if you are skilled enough or have enough expertise in your field you can achieve whatever you want to achieve.
A clean mental state
My every day routine is something like this
Wake up, sit in front of the laptop, go to work, again sit in front of the computer, come back to home, have tea and sit in front of the laptop, cook dinner, eat, sit in front of the laptop until eyes go blurry, go to sleep.
Well, not exactly, I have exaggerated a bit ;). I do some physical movement, workout and outdoor activities, but still there is a lot of ‘sitting in front of the laptop’ part.
When I was offline for a few days, my mind and body got refreshed. Pushing commitments and schedules got flushed away from my mind. I felt fresh.
This change in state super charged my mind and triggered my productivity. The ‘away’ time acted as a perfect productive break.
Take productive breaks and you can keep your productivity on top of hill; it won’t decline.
Writing an E-Book fast
I’ve told my story. It’s your turn now. Find out your hot spot - well, I mean, find out what makes you productive.
In my case, the “away” time helped me recharge my batteries and helped me think creatively.
However more importantly, I had everything ready to help myself get the job done. I had captured every idea and I had the necessary resources to bring the idea to the form of an ebook.
So make sure you keep your productivity levels high and also provide yourself with ample resources and tools to help yourself create stuff!
