I think we can agree that all content creators have this problem at some point. Whether it concerns writing content for your blog, your newsletter, your social media or any other form of written content for yourself or your business. Some days you lack creativity and other days you like one idea after the other is coming to you, without effort. If you've ever wondered how those Youtuber and Instagrammer stay as consistent as they do, before they had a team to hep them, I am going to give you a couple of tips that I personally use that help me keep me creative machinery active and working, while I'm doing almost nothing. 

I wrote about my daily writing routine  a while ago, but I really think that these tips could be useful to you, so let me quickly summarize them:

https://steemit.com/blog/@mrs.steemit/daily-writing-routine-1-2-increase-consistency-decrease-procrastination

1. Find your creative time of the day

2. Use props like "calmly writer"

3. Have a checklist

https://steemit.com/blog/@mrs.steemit/daily-writing-routine-2-3-the-urgency-of-creativity

1. Sub-conscious writing - just start writing something 

2. Consistency - to form a habit

https://steemit.com/blog/@mrs.steemit/daily-writing-routine-3-3-the-urgency-of-creativity

1. Get inspired on social media

2. Let go sometimes - You cannot force creativity

3. Change your environment

And finally my newest additions to the list:

1. Begin with the end in mind

.. and then reverse engineer the answer. With this tip you can avoid unnecessary lengthening and cut straight to the points you want to make. If you start with writing before having thought through where you want to end (yes I've done this mistake multiple times myself), you end up wasting a lot of time and lower the quality of your content.

So always ask this question first, before anything else: What do I want my readers to take away from this? Define exactly what you want to achieve/ communicate in less than a sentence and keep this sentence in mind or somewhere where you can actually see it, throughout the process.  

2. Keep a running topic list!

.. so that whenever you get inspired as you go through the days, you have a journal to come back to and use as inspiration later on. Don't forget to write the ideas down, because writing is already a way of manifestation and there is no way you could possibly loose it. Also don't forget to note down any questions others ask you. Whenever my friends ask me a question about crypto, business or even their relationship I write that question down, because maybe if you can help your friend with an answer, many other people could relate to that and benefit from your advice. I personally like to do it the old-school way and use a notebook, but feel free to you use the notes on your phone. 

Also when you keep a list, your subconscious automatically looks for inspiration throughout the day and your creative machinery is constantly on active mode.

3. Make it short and sweet!

High quality content does not equal long. Often the best way to say something is the short way. I actually suck at this and am working on keeping my articles rather short. I remember somebody giving me an advice that really stuck with me : Nobody is not gonna read your content because it's too long. And how true is that.. the only time people won't read it in regards to the length is when it's too long.

4. Plan it out!

Create an editorial calender. Spend one day plannning out the topics for every week for 3 months ahead. This has a great advantage, when you write you don't have to include everything in one post, but you can look at your calendar and find a section where it fits for later. That way you save lots of content, time and worries. 

5. Don't write and edit at the same time!

.. because it only slows you down. For example: if you write something and then you find a better way of saying it, don't delete what you just wrote (even if you really want to). Simply stop, write the other sentence underneath and continue. This is huge for perfectionists, like myself. It literally stops you from trying to make it perfect and keeps you in the flow. And the editing afterwards goes much faster.

6. Give yourself a time limit!

I can't stress this often enough. We get more done in less time. Deadlines can do wonders when it comes to getting something done. Plenty of studies show that the human mind works more efficiently when given a time limit and I'm sure you can find plenty of proof for that in your own life. We are faster when we know time is working against us (realize this in regards to life and your every day life becomes more efficient quickly).

7. Meditate !

Even though meditation serves the purpose to help you think less, it can also be used as a way of organizing your thoughts and allowing ideas to flow to you. I like to do this in the morning before anything else. It's important sometimes to let go of conscious thought and effort, and simply let the moment be in order to effortlessly receive all the answers and open the gates for creativity to come to you. Especially if you think you don't have the time to meditate, that's a sign that tells you, you need to make time for meditation. It might seem like it takes up time, but actually it helps you get faster at everything, because it clears your mind and strengthens your focus.

I hope you could find some inspiration in my quick tips on "How to: Write Faster". If you find quick tips like this useful, let me know. Also feel free to ask questions you might have and would like me to answer in the future.

Question OTD: What is you go-to method for productivity and creativity?

Much love,

- Mrs.Steemit