Day 30: 30 Day Post-mortem and Reflection (So, I did it!!)
30 days ago, I committed to writing and publishing a piece of writing every day, with the ship 30 for 30 challenge.
In that time, I wrote & published 30 Atomic Essays, practiced the fundamentals of Digital Writing, tackled my perfectionism and irrational fear of sharing my work and started gaining clarity over what my niche might be. I enjoyed writing about mental health, self confidence, mindfulness, stoicism and my personal life experiences. The practice of completing the essays and writing each piece to conclusion, helped me build confidence and make progress in my other writing projects. It's also given me a foundation to build my on-going writing habit.
Throughout the challenge, I kept scores of different aspects of my experience, to track what factors impacted my writing and focus. These included factors like perceived effort, energy, uninterrupted flow (etc) to understand what patterns or changes might emerge. During the 30 days this was my reality:
I wrote for at least 75 minutes each of the 30 days.
Average time to finish the atomic essay was 40 minutes.
30% of the month, I didn't feel like writing, and if it weren't for the challenge, would have succumbed to the impulse to do anything else.
I wasn't happy with 60% of the articles when I completed them - but in hindsight the days I perceived the worst, weren't too bad.
I was able to focus for longer, if I had some sunshine and movement before my writing block.
I increased my productivity and focus by sticking to a routine and protecting sacred writing hours. I always thought I needed to write first thing in the morning, but turns out I write best in the afternoon.
I felt less resistance to posting my work online from day 8. I still feel self conscious and that the essays need work, but I do enough to give justice to the topic without overthinking it. It isn't about me.
40% of the days, I had no idea what topic to write about. This shouldn't be a reason to not write. I now know I can free flow until I have a concept and then knuckle down on that.
Reflecting on the 30 days, I can say that I will walk away with the following insights.
1. Perfectionism Is Unattainable And Must Be Overcome
Perfectionism is a vehicle for procrastination and will lead to missed opportunities. I can say that I have shifted my mindset from desiring a perfect article, to focusing and pumping something out there. Within my volume of work, I would find a few nuggets worth exploring, and that's how I came out with some of my best articles and ideas.
The unrealistic goal to execute something perfectly, or create the best piece of work, leads to unnecessary anxiety and stress. When I felt that my work wasn't good enough (like i said 60% of the time I felt like I wanted to start over and wasn't happy with it), I'd focus on the purpose and message I was trying to share. What is perfect anyway? I was simply trying to convey something in my brain to the digital page. I was delusionaly trying to create high stakes for myself. Again, unnecessarily.
2. Mood Shouldn't Dictate Work
Just do the work. We have been fed this idea, we should listen to our moods and "be kind to ourselves" by cutting ourselves slack. Sure there is time to step away and give ourselves a break. In this case, for me, I can say that being kind to myself is being disciplined in doing my creative work. When I write and create stories, I feel the most alive, open to experience and curious about the world. I am doing a disservice to myself and those that have to interact with me, if I give myself an excuse to procrastinate, or work on things that don't energise me.
Knowing when you really need to take a break, versus when fear is holding you back from the amazing things that can happen when you put in the work, is super empowering.
3. Embrace Practicing in Public
While motivation can get you a long way, having accountability and people supporting you along the way, can be the wind beneath your sails. It was really important to complete what I said I would, since I had shared it with my friends and network.
Sure, everyone has their own lives going and may not have even read a post, but that wasn't the point. It was completing what I set out to complete, which was writing every day for 30 days. Would I have let anyone down? Maybe not, but I would have let myself down, had I not published on time. I fully appreciate the power of accountability, and will try to incorporate more of this in my upcoming projects.
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If you have been thinking about getting started writing online too, let me know. I'd love to share more about the experience and what I learned, and learn from you too.
