Yep, that’s right. This is blog post #200 for Opinion@Large, which I launched 10 months ago. It hasn’t always been easy to stay consistent, but I made it a necessity, and pushed through plateaus to stay productive. For everyone who has stuck with me this long, I appreciate your continued support, and for all those who have recently started reading, why haven’t you commented yet? ;). Seriously, let’s hear what you have to say…
I hate “me” posts, so I’ll keep this short, but I thought some of the philosophies and tips that have allowed me to consistently publish five posts a week might be helpful to some people. There is no magic or secrets to being productive, but the following ideas have helped me keep churning out content who’s quality I hope delivers at least some value to others.
-Maximize highs and minimize lows. As humans, we are always functioning somewhere between 0-100% of our capacity. The way to generate more output isn’t by trying to keep the needle closer to 100, it’s to produce as much as possible while you are near 100, and spend as little time as possible near 0. Don’t fight your natural creative and productive flows, but make the most of the best times, and the least of the worst times.
-Take pleasure in the struggle. It’s not easy to stay consistent, but who said difficult had to be painful? If and when you can accept that the goal is in the means, not the end, you will have much more control over your happiness and productivity.
-Think less and do more. There are so many quotes and ideologies that embody this truth, and yet so many people still drown their productivity under the weight of inaction. The creative mind is not a factory churning out the same perfected product over and over. Blog posts are meant to be a raw product that are constantly being molded and evolved by time and community. Be 9 parts builder and 1 part architect.
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Hope some of these are useful. Please share any other tips you have. Would love to know what has worked for you to stay consistently productive.
2 Comments
1 Leshanne Pretty wrote:
Congratulations! I read your blog daily and its hard to believe how fast you’ve pumped out 200 posts. I only recently launched my blog (approx 6 months ago) and have often felt the same struggle to post. This was a much needed reminder to keep production going! Cheers and I look forward to the next 200 :)
2 EF wrote:
Hi Leshanne! Great to hear from you. thanks for the support. just read a few of ur posts and subscribed to ur blog. great stuff in there. looking forward to reading more ;) . and if u ever need someone to bounce ideas off of or kick start some creativity/productivity, my inbox and tweet stream are always open to u.
best,
-ef