The finite reality of your creative energy ⚡️ and why writing less might help you accomplish more.

To celebrate the release of my new book, The Writer’s Career Guide: How to Build a Sustainable Creative Life on Your Terms, all month long I’m sharing professional tips and industry insights on how to make a living as a writer. 

Today, I want to talk with you about the reality of your creative energy.

The truth about productivity as a writer

Recently, a client named Susan asked me a question I get all the time:

“How can I make a living without working 18 hours a day at a desk? (Or even more than 3-4, because that’s all I could possibly stand).”

First off, Susan is right. After twenty-five years of writing professionally, I’ve found that 3-4 hours is about the maximum you can be creative in a day. Sure, you can sit at your desk longer, but the quality of your work starts to decline after the fourth hour.

I learned this lesson the hard way. When I first started out, I thought being a “real writer” meant writing eight hours a day like a traditional job. I’d park myself at cafes, determined to write my ​great American novel (I fell for the myth too, it isn’t just you!​). After about three hours, my writing would get convoluted, my mind would wander, and I’d end up spending more time scrolling social media than writing.

Some days, my ADHD brain will hyper focus and write for hours, but most days I can get only about 90 minutes in before I’m tapped out.

This is one of the reasons I like having a creative business that is more than just writing. When my right-brain artist self is tapped out, I can switch to left-brain work, like responding to emails and prepping marketing material. I try to keep mornings and Wednesdays clear to write, but otherwise I have accepted that I’m not going to be a “full-time” creative writer – and I don’t want to be! My body and brain need more than just sitting at a computer all day long.

Instead of feeling guilty about not writing eight hours a day, I’ve built a career that supports my optimal creative schedule. My goal with The Writer’s Career Guide: How to Build a Sustainable Creative Life on Your Terms is to help you do the same!

Identifying Your Creative Energy Rhythm

There are a lot of programs out there that will have you do a “time audit” where you track all the time you spend on things throughout a week and analyze it for “peak performance.” While those may help others, they stress me out and make me feel like I’m a slacker who has the audacity to take a nap in the middle of the day.

Instead of a time audit that tells you how productive you “should” be based on capitalism and toxic hustle culture, let’s look at your ideal creative life.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What part of the day do you feel most creative?
• Is there a day of the week that you feel more inspired than the others?
• Are there parts of your month when you’re more tapped into your creative energy? (For people who ovulate, this can be especially helpful to track.)
• What season of the year makes you most excited to write?
• How long can you realistically sit down to write without your body hurting?
• What’s your creative attention span? Do you ever hyper-focus? Do you see a limit to how long you can focus?

Look for any patterns that emerge in your answers. That’s your creative energy roadmap.

• Are you someone who loves to wake up and write at the same time every day?
• Are you more of a spend all Saturday at the café hyper-focused type?
• Do you have creative bursts that come and go? 

Your job is not to judge or “fix” your creative habits. Your job is to lean into them. 

That’s where you’ll find your own creative rhythm and be able to flow with it, being the most productive, sane, and satisfied.

I used to beat myself up that I couldn’t be one of those people who did the same thing every day. I hated structure as a kid and still struggle with routine as an adult. It goes against every fiber of my being and my brain can’t handle it. It caused behavior issues in school and makes me burn out as an adult.

For years, I tried to follow a strict routine, thinking it would make me more productive personally and professionally. It sucked. I hated it. But I made myself do it because it was what I taught success looked like.

Until one day I realized that strict routines were cutting off my creative flow. I’d get inspired and want to finish something but then look at my calendar and say “well, sorry muses, but I’ve scheduled in time to reply to emails right now, so I guess that great idea for a new chapter will have to wait.”

Instead of a strict routine, I have rituals (more on that next week) and a solid promise to myself: when creativity hits, I drop everything I can and lean into the flow.

Sure, sometimes that means I’m in the middle of making breakfast and burn the gluten-free toast because I’m busy typing my idea out. Or I’m driving down the road recording a voice memo and I miss my exit. And yes, that means that sometimes I take a bit to respond to emails. But it’s worth it to get books like this one out in the world.

Even when I worked sixteen-hour days as the right-hand content person for Tony Robbins at his events all around the world, I still would pull out my notes app and jot down and idea, take time in the airport to write out that chapter that came to me, or stay up late to finish a thought. 

No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I take time to honor the creative muses for visiting by writing down the ideas they pop in my head. Not only does this give me a long list of places to start the next time I’m feeling creatively blocked, but it also puts me in the habit of letting creativity have an important place in my life.

You can – and absolutely should – build your life around your own needs, rhythms and flows.

Even if you work for others, and especially if you want to build a successful career long-term. Start with small steps – like pausing to jot ideas down when they come to you – and let the flow grow from there. 

The truth is rigidity kills creativity in most of us. If you want a successful writing career, you need to understand that your creative time is limited and make the most of it when you can.

This is why I always suggest rituals over routines – the topic I’ll be sharing in next week’s post!

Ready to build a thriving writing career on your own terms?

Grab a copy of my book The Writer’s Career Guide: How to Build a Sustainable Creative Life on Your Terms today!