Happy New Year!
And welcome to the first issue of this new newsletter.
You will receive it Sunday morning, unless you tell me there’s a better day. I’m open to suggestions.
And I’m very open to suggestions about content. So anything that has to do with making money writing (thus MMW) will do.
Oh, except writing fiction and nonfiction. Those topics are for other lists, and you are free to join them. Just use the link in the footer to change your settings.
Enough with the household. Let’s get to your problem.
When You Can Only Find 15 Minutes at a Time
Maybe you think that you cannot create and make money with your words when you only have limited time.
In today’s newsletter, I’ll give you proof that it’s not so and give you tips how to work around this problem.
A Blessing in Disguise
Lots of people wanted to write a book (or something similar) when they had "time."
Then came Covid and people had to stay at home. Suddenly, the had "time."
And they found out it wasn’t enough.
The answer to the problem is not having plenty of time. It’s having limited time.
💡 Tip: If you have plenty of time, then use this tip anyway and limit yourself to having only 15-minute time slots.
I discovered by doing lots of trial and error that writing a little every day beats writing a lot on some days.
4 x 15 min = more work than 1 x 60 min
But before you get to working 15 minutes focused, you need to start the good habit.
Start with Mini Habits
I’m reading Mini Habits by Stephen Guise. It’s inspiring me big time.
I know his method work, because since August 4th, I’ve been on a streak of doing daily exercises, 6 days a week.
The thing is that they only take 10 minutes.
To begin with, I would sometimes tell myself that I didn’t "have time" to do my exercises that day.
An inner voice would then question that premise.
"Not time for 10 minutes of exercises? Really? You’re such an important and busy person that you don’t have 10 minutes?"
So Busy Britt would get her hiney up from her chair and do the exercises. And now they are a part of me. They’ve become a habit I cannot (and will not) break.
In Stephen’s book, he starts easy. He promised himself to do ONE push-up per day. At least. If he felt like doing more, he could, but he wasn’t supposed to go overboard and exhaust himself.
You can use that same method for getting your daily writing for money done.
Set a minimum target that is so ridiculously low that you cannot not do it.
Like write 50 words.
Or write for 1 minute.
It’s a personal preference. Test it out.
I get more writing done, when I set a timer with a limit (like 15 minutes) than if I aim for, say, 500 words.
For example, I could set a timer to 15 minutes and write 750 words. But if I aimed at 500 words, it would take me 18 minutes.
Why? No idea. But that’s what I’ve discovered.
It could be the same for you, or it could be different. That’s why you should test this.
For How Long Should You Have This Minimum Goal?
If you settle for 1 minute per day… how long before you can skip to 15-minute slots?
You’ll know.
The day you’re in bed, about to sleep and then sit up straight, eyes wide open, and gasp.
"I haven’t done my 1-minute writing session."
And you then get out of bed, because you cannot sleep and break the streak…
That’s when you can go on and do 15-minute sessions.
And for the Proof? Where’s the Proof?
Right, I said at the beginning, that I had proof that 4 x 15-minute slots worked better than 1 x 60-minutes.
Well, I’ve written books that way.
And I know that it’s easier to build a habit when you do something daily than weekly. Or even the random "once in a while."
Also, it keeps me focused on the project. If I only do it once a week, I need to get back into it. I won’t remember it as well.
It’s like writing to a friend you haven’t spoken to in years.
Maybe he used to be a colleague. You used to talk daily and never ran out of conversation ideas.
Now it’s been a while. What’s he doing? How much did you tell him the last time? Where should you start?
That one email with fewer words than you would normally exchange in 5 minutes will take you an hour or more to write.
The next one, if you reply to his reply the following day, will be a lot faster.
And more importantly: more fluent.
Remember these words from now on:
Do It Daily.
Do What?
Here are some things you can do in 15-minute time slots:
- Brainstorm ideas for info products
- Make a list of affiliate products to promote this month (preferably max 2 per week)
- Write an outline for an info product (or part of an outline)
- Create the graphics for a sales page (Canva, Affinity Photo or Designer)
- Write a short chapter of an info product – or write half a longer chapter
- Write an email to your list
- Plan bundles to participate in to grow your list
- Write 2-3 tweets on Twitter and schedule them
- Plan your 4 x 15 minutes tomorrow
- Visit my Facebook group and learn more by checking the latest posts: https://clq.cx/fbg
How Do You Start?
It’s not just to decide to work 1 minute or 15 minutes daily.
That would just leave you confused when the moment comes: What should I do today?
And then you’ll browse Facebook for inspiration.
No, it all starts with a plan.
Actually, spend your first time-slots coming up with the plan.
Yes, it’s okay to spend your time just by sitting and thinking. If you can do this in the sun, there’s an extra point for you.
Start by brainstorming your project.
Then during your next time-slot(s) sit down with pen and paper (or electronic notepad) and list all the steps from start to completion of your project.
When you have the order right and think you have everything nailed down, add it to a tool like Dynalist or Notion so you can experience the joy of checking off little boxes for every task you’ve completed.
Yes, that works. You get a boost of endorphins and it will help you to stick to this good habit of creating in small time-slots.
When First You’ve Started…
You’re unstoppable.
You got your habit built.
You work in 15-minute slots.
You’re bound to make money with your writing.