What’s up? Hangin in there?
I just had my 1 year wedding anniversary and it snowed so we went outside together. ❄️
Today I have the burning urge to share my fix for STOPPING and STARTING.
This is totally different from what I expected today.
I had all these plans, I already drafted a beautiful email…
But I’ll talk about it later, we are going to stop and pause on that.
I had an idea for writing, I started, and then I stopped.
Sound familiar?
If you are experiencing this stop-start pattern with writing for your book or business and you have not yet finished,
you are not alone.
I’ve helped many clients with this.
But for years I’ve been making a really big mistake.
I’ve been telling people that I can help them with their pattern of starting and stopping, as if I can eliminate it altogether.
I never directly said it but I fear I have implied it.
Stop-start pattern begone! Consistency forever!
Sometimes. But I think what I’m really capable of doing is something so much better than that.
What’s better than getting something done easily and fast?
Well, experience has taught me the value of patience.
I’ve seen enduring, deep work come out of days, months, and years on a project.
Cool things come out when you’re really committed through the twists and turns.
To get something done over the long haul, however long it takes, can give you priceless insight.
Long-term projects can be dope.
Big things are possible when you realize stopping and starting is NOT the main problem.
And when you embrace stops as inevitable on a long-term journey.
Meeting that REALITY is when you can get more done.
If you think starting and stopping is like failing: meaning you never finish…
That’s not true. It’s a temporary pause in the process.
I’ve written and published online lots over 20+ years,
a lot of writing, producing, sharing, and selling in public.
From outside, you may see me writing and sharing in a pretty constant stream.
But behind the scenes, I must admit it doesn’t look so linear.
I’m a creative octopus. I juggle a lot of projects at once.
I start and stop one, and another pops up in its place. And so on. Several things in a day.
I’ve started, and stopped on a lot of writing!
–but the thing is I also finish a lot, too.
I have no desire to fully end my starting and stopping ways. I like it.
If I need to get something done ASAP then I’ll stop everything to finish that, but that’s not my preference.
My preference is many things at once, or what I call braiding projects, with tiny stops and starts in a short time.
From the outside, you don’t see my process:
you see finished results.
My brain isn’t linear.
That doesn’t stop me from publishing and finishing things.
I like me, my brain and my productivity level.
In sum: to be on track you don’t necessarily need to fix stopping and starting on your writing.
Your ideas or projects are threads.
You can weave them and braid them together like a friendship bracelet.
OK BUT HOW DO YOU FINISH THINGS?!
Read on to understand…
The real PROBLEM is not stop-starting,
you just need to do two things.
A. Stop getting down on yourself for uncontrollable things that interrupt your projects
Getting sick,
having to work,
being triggered,
another deadline to handle, or
your project just isn’t RIPE yet.
Creativity is mysterious, and divine timing is real.
Sometimes you have to stop writing something.
Getting down on yourself about things you can’t control is extremely disempowering and anti-productive.
So get rid of that.
And tackle the next problem:
B. Get organized so you stop wasting a lot of time
You stopped writing a while back. Now you want to start.
Don’t reinvent the wheel–find your notes.
But where is that piece of paper?
That document with the thing?
Which document? (if there are a lot of documents)
When you find it, you think, “Where was I?”
“What was I thinking the last time I worked on this?”
“What did I intend for this?”
You can’t remember. You are overwhelmed.
You don’t know where to start next.
You either can’t find your notes or cannot make sense of them &
Now you have to reconstruct some things just to be where you ended off last time.
This is annoying, exhausting, and not very gratifying which can cause you to lose motivation and stop.
That is a waste of time and energy.
You need a better system so you can start right where you finished: remember what you were doing and plug right in.
I have a system for this.
I have a million projects but it is okay.
When I want to write my next email, I already have my ideas.
When I want to work on my next Vlog (video blog), I know where everything is for that.
Notes on every project are in one single place for each, which I call a hub.
I can find notes on anything easily so I finish things more quickly.
The key is that I have my notes.
MY NOTES ARE ORGANIZED.
This is a big deal for me and something that took me forever to figure out.
But now it’s a whole new world.
Namely, because I know how to jog my memory to finish things
–I just go to my hub and look at my notes. They make sense so I get to work.
If “plugging right back in” is something you struggle to do,
then it’s time to work on having a better system for your writing and work projects.
Stop reinventing the wheel every time you start or sit down to write.
Organization makes everything easier:
you’ll start feeling less confused or overwhelmed, and
more focused, clear, and excited.
Because maybe you don’t need
-a ton of pressure to finish it all in the next 30 days.
-another self help book
-to have an expert tell you what to do.
Maybe you already have what you need,
YOU JUST CAN’T FIND IT OR CAN’T REMEMBER.
Assume you’ll always have to start and stop, and learn how to better prepare for it.
Treat pauses as inevitable, like taking a sick day, and optimize for that scenario.
Don’t leave yourself hanging when you come back after a pause with no idea what you were doing…
If you want a new way to solve the problem of stopping-and-starting in your writing:
Plug back into your projects more easily with my new digital organization membership.
This way you can never lose your place again.
Don’t waste as much time, energy and momentum each time you try to make progress.
When you are organized, your breaks will be more satisfying.
You will be re-inspired afterwards, rather than feeling behind.
When you are well organized, you can hop back in after a long period of time and immediately get writing done,
it’s fulfilling and you’ll feel a deep sense of accomplishment.
Do you want to experience that sense of accomplishment?
Develop a system to organize your writing so there’s only one place to go to find things.
A new Digital Organization Membership open now:
❄️ Everyone in the 6 Month Winter Writing Group 2023 is getting early access!
And there is still time for you to join and receive a new program to take action to:
-Clean up wherever you keep your business, project or writing files and notes so you can focus on what is important now and going forward.
-Develop and Gain Clarity on your priorities, intentions and vision for your project so you can birth it in the real world.
-Organize your next steps so you know what to do next and captured that in an easy to find place
How does it work?
First, you pick ONE PLACE to put the most essential notes, learnings, documents, and keys to your writing and business projects.
AND
Second, you update this at least once a month to stay organized.
We will set this hub up and check in monthly together:
In monthly live zoom calls, you’ll make and maintain a digital hub to organize your projects.
Use free or cheap software like Notion, Google Docs, Word, Obsidian, Evernote, Microsoft Word, etc.
The group meets monthly on weekends for 1 hour:
First, a quick 20 minute lesson.
You’ll learn a new organization skill, do a written reflection, or check-in on your projects.
Then you’ll implement what you have learned live with me.
That co-working time is so you implement and organize right there on the spot and it gets done.
I’ll help you know what to do and how to stay organized. You can ask me questions. We can chat.
And over the next 6 months, we will have at least 2 special sessions just to sit down and organize your CONTENT.
Content includes any documents, emails, blogposts, book chapters, scripts, articles, transcripts, pages, paragraphs, ideas, drafts, or completed written works you want to share with others.
Together, over 6 months we will organize your writing in the live monthly zooms,
And you’ll get Q&A, self-study organization classes, templates, and more.
By the end of 6 months you’ll be better organized and have a better system to finish your writing
(even if you stop and start).
Why does this work?
I’ve been using a system of having ONE PLACE to check my projects and making regular check-ins for about six years.
The way I’ve refined the system has been a GAME CHANGER for me.
From having a million ideas hidden on a shelf, with who knows how many gems…
To now, finding my ideas quickly across any computer or my phone, building on them seamlessly over time, and publishing more of the work I like.
Finally, I finish things I’m proud of and show up more, so people see me at a higher level and I’m feeling the love.
Less is dropping into the cracks.
I’m not so overwhelmed or confused.
Every valuable idea gets the attention that it deserves.
Your ideas are valuable, too, and getting them out matters!
Let’s make sure you can act on them and finish your projects by being more organized.
Make faster progress and finish writing projects more easily with organization:
The bonus Digital Organization Membership is included as a free bonus if you join the ❄️ 6-Month Writing Group this Winter.
We start organizing on Sunday, December 2nd!
❄️ Check out the details here. ❄️
Have a cool day.
