How to Trick Your Brain into Writing on Your Schedule

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. READ THE FINE PRINT.

Hello, fellow heroines (and heroes!). We’re halfway through January. How are your writing goals going? I set a goal for myself to write 5,000 words each week, and I’m doing pretty well with it. (I had minor hiccups with a pipe that burst in our bathroom [thanks, polar vortex] and getting back into the 9-5 routine, but c’est la vie.) Today we’re talking about how to trick your brain into writing on your schedule so you can reach those writing goals!

If you’ve read my writing goals post, you know that I used the SMART method. That means they are all specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. Basically I sat down to consider my schedule (and therefore how much writing time I could fit in), and then created word goals from there.

When I first looked realistically at my weekday schedule it looked something like this:

6:00 am      Wake up
6:30 am      Actually wake up
7:30 am      Bus ride (Write!)
8:30 am      Work
12:30 pm    Lunch break (Write!)
1:30 pm      Work
4:45 pm      Bus ride
6:00 pm      Cardio/Yoga
7:00 pm      Dinner
9:00 pm      Write!
10:30 pm    Nighttime Routine
11:00 pm    Sleep

So that’s about 3.5 hours a day during the week that I can set aside to write, which is nothing to scoff at. Then I looked closely at each one of my designated writing times and realized I might have a problem. Let’s see if you can spot it.

7:30 am      Bus ride (Write!)
12:30 pm    Lunch break (Write!)
9:00 pm      Write!

Everything I’ve ever read about becoming your best writing self, beating writer’s block, inspiring your inner muse, etc. stresses the importance of the writing routine. Especially when you’re just starting out, it’s ideal to sit down at the same time each day, in the same place each day, and essentially train yourself that when I sit in this spot at this time it’s time to buckle down and write. (Rewarding yourself with Skittles for every 100 words you write is totally optional.)

My issue? Ideal isn’t always realistic. My schedule allowed me time to write, but in three different places: from the seat of a Cincinnati Metro bus, my cubicle at work, and my preferred writing space in our house. How would I ever convince the muse to follow me to all three places every day? What you need is a way to trick your brain into writing whenever and wherever you are in any given moment. That’s eventually what I found.

Despite being fascinated by it, psychology was never a strong subject for me in school. I took classes on it in high school and college so I know the basics, but I never excelled in behaviorism and social psychology and all that Freud stuff. (If you want to be inspired by the endless ways psychology can influence writing, you need to check out Faye’s blog, Writerology. It is a treat!) I did, however, use a bit of what I remembered from those AP Psych days to find a way to make my muse work on my time: I would use an external stimulus to alert my brain that it was time to start writing.

There are many different practices you could use to jump start your writing time:

• listening to a specific song
• reading a synopsis of your story or what you wrote during your previous writing session
• scrolling through a story-specific inspirational Pinterest board
• getting your heart pumping with a little physical activity
• drinking some tea or coffee to get you started

But there’s one thing in particular that’s helped me get into writer mode in 3 minutes or less!

Trick Your Brain into Writing with Meditation

I’ve been dabbling in meditation for a few months now, and I’ve found it to be the easiest, quickest way to clear my brain and get ready to write. I can do it anywhere, it doesn’t take more than a few minutes, and it gives me a mental clean slate that doesn’t influence my writing.

If you’re anything like I was, you’re currently thinking something like “But don’t you have to sit cross-legged and say oom a lot to meditate?” And I’m here to assure you that if it required that kind of overt participation, I would not be doing it on the bus every morning.

I was a complete meditation newbie, which is why Headspace was a godsend. It’s a free-to-download app that starts you off with a 10-day “basics” course and continues providing daily meditation practice for free. You can also purchase a monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscription that gives you access to meditation on topics like health, happiness, and even creative writing. (I suppose I’m not the first person to recognize the benefits of meditation for the creative brain!)

Along with its ability to coax my muse into working for me when I need her, meditation is all sorts of good for your mental health. Headspace has a whole page on its website about the science, but my big takeaways are 1. stress reduction and 2. enhanced awareness of my state of mind. Mindfulness enhances not just my writing productivity but my overall happiness and mental health.

Now my writing routine includes two simple steps:

1. Trick your brain into writing whenever, wherever with guided meditation
2. Write to your heart’s content

The combination hasn’t failed me yet!

What is your favorite way to trick your brain into writing? Have you ever used meditation as part of your writing practice?

P.S. Which tool do you use to track your writing progress? This one is my favorite!