I have a goal to be more consistent with my newsletter, and that means I have to be more consistent with my writing. So recently I wrote down all the steps of my most generative writing dates. No gatekeeping here: steal my Writing Date SOPs, and plan your own writing date!

Here’s what I would do if I'd set aside an hour to write:

First, I would brew a cup of coffee (or matcha or tea).

While waiting for the water in the kettle to boil, I’d tend to my senses. I’d grab the good candle from the other room, make sure the flowers from the weekend are visible from my writing desk. I’d crack a window – or close the window. I’d put on a cozy pair of socks – or change into a tank top. I’d definitely take off my bra. I would make sure I have a claw clip close by in case my hair starts to bug me. I’d find a focus playlist (like the ones I play during creative coworking), press play, and then move my phone into another room – or at least out of sight.

Once the coffee is ready, I’ll place it on my desk with a glass of water. Depending on the time of day - or month - also a piece of chocolate.

Then I would sit down at my writing desk (or cozy chair or kitchen table, wherever I’m writing) and set a 5 minute timer. This step is especially important if I haven’t been tending to my systems or project plans lately. With five minutes, I would brain dump into my notebook or a random piece of paper. When the timer rings, I’d number the most important or urgent items one through four and add a star to anything I need to revisit later that day. Then I’d put that piece of paper out of sight, maybe wherever I left my phone.

Then I’d write. I would set a timer for 15 minutes and just keep the pen moving on the paper for that amount of time (I do this stage of writing by hand in a notebook - you can do the same by just keeping your fingers moving on the keyboard if you’re not a pen and paper girlie). Maybe I have a topic or idea in mind, maybe not. Maybe I know this piece of writing is going to be a newsletter, a page on my website, a social media caption, a chapter in the book I someday hope to write. It doesn’t matter. Fifteen minutes will usually get me enough writing to figure out what the piece is going to be, what the main points are, and where I’ll need to fill in any holes.

I would use the rest of my writing time to edit, to fill in those holes, and I would type a more polished version into a Notion doc.

I would save a few minutes at the end of hour to go back to that brain dump list and add the urgent items to a calendar or to-do list. From the rest, I’d add the ones I want to remember to my inbox or project pages in Notion. And then I’d probably decide that many of the items weren’t as important as I thought they were at the beginning of the hour, and I’ll cross them out or toss the list. This step is important because you want to trust the commitment you made to yourself at the beginning of this process to come back to this list, or the next time your brain won’t actually leave them on the page and they’ll keep interrupting your writing.

Then, I would schedule time on my calendar to come back and edit this piece if needed, or time to format it and post it where it needs to go. I’d capture a few quick notes about where I’m headed with the piece so the next time I can engage with it, I can jump in right away.

What I’m not going to do:
Forget that I’m a human with a body.
Stare at the blank page or blinking cursor while thinking mean things about myself.
Give up on writing when it doesn’t feel easy.
Make my resistance mean anything.
Force myself to work in a way that doesn’t work for me, just because it works for someone else.

create your own writing date SOPs with this Notion template.

Sign up below to get this Writing Date worksheet delivered to your inbox. And then the next time you sit down to write, you won’t have to wonder where to start.

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