In my experience, writing a book—at least some parts of it—requires concentration and deep thinking. But what happens when your brain is not firing on all cylinders? You’re exhausted, your allergies have flared up, or your child has brought home yet another cold from school.
Ideally, you would rest and refill the creative well. Forcing yourself to write when you’re in a depleted state makes the process harder and less efficient.
And yet, sometimes you need to be productive even when you’re not in top form. You might have a deadline and limited time to meet it, or someone may be waiting on you.
When you decide you do need to write while tired, instead of brute-forcing it, look for the easiest ways possible to be productive.
Three Tips for Easing Your Writing
Here are the three tips I frequently share with people who need to keep writing despite feeling tired. In fact, I’ve shared them with at least three people over the past two weeks (and reminded myself of them too). I’ll describe each separately, but as you’ll see, they are interrelated.
Tip 1: Write in chunks
Back in my corporate days, I did a lot of technical writing, and one of the most useful techniques I learned was Information Mapping®. A key part of this methodology is to break information into small, labeled “chunks.” Not only does this speed up the reading process by keep things concise and scannable, it speeds up the writing process by allowing the author to draft one small piece at a time.
I no longer use the full InfoMapping methodology, but I do break my writing into chunks using headings—similar to an outline.
For example, when writing about a complex legal concept in an insurance book, I might break it into chunks like:
- terminology used
- concept/principle
- example 1
- example 2
- common questions
Or in a self-help book, I might break a chapter on meditation into chunks like:
- what is meditation
- benefits of meditation
- guided vs. silent meditation
- what to do when you can’t focus
- now you try it (exercise)
The headings can be kept, changed, or discarded later, but they create useful boundaries for tackling a small piece of writing. Pick one chunk at a time to write—even if it’s just a paragraph or two. Later, when you have more time and energy, you can connect the dots and edit more easily.
Tip 2: Write nonsequentially
While some topics are easier to write in a linear fashion, many books—especially knowledge-sharing books—can be written out of order. Writing nonsequentially gives you the freedom to choose the chunk that is easiest to draft or that fits your mood or the time you have available.
It also lets you group like items together, increasing efficiency. For instance, if your self-help book has a “try this tool” section in every chapter, you can write several of those sections at once.
Tip 3: Write the easy stuff first
By working in chunks and allowing yourself to write nonsequentially, you can focus on the easy parts first, skipping around if necessary.
Save the deep work and hard thinking for when you have the capacity—after the cold passes, you’ve caught up on sleep, or you’ve finished a milestone and have room to breathe.
If none of the writing feels “easy,” consider what you can do. When I am really tired, generating new content feels impossible, but I can review my drafts, editing what I’ve already written or making notes on what to change. I can also journal ideas for filling gaps.
Focus on the easy stuff first, and—who knows?—you might gain enough momentum to tackle something harder. But if not, you’ll still have made progress toward your deadline.
My Meta Example
These articles often serve as advice for myself as much as for readers, and this one is no exception. I knew I needed an article topic for this month, and I knew I had a tight timeline with travel, other people’s schedules, and various appointments. But I had no energy to think. All I could do at first was journal and make a weak effort at brainstorming.
One regular brainstorm question I use is: “What challenges have I run across with clients lately?” By the end of my 20 minutes of scribbling, I realized I’d discussed how to make the writing process easier with multiple people lately.
Identifying a topic lifted my fatigue a bit (having a looming deadline carries real emotional weight), and I managed to type some brief notes. By “notes,” I mean partial sentences, no capitalization, sloppy punctuation. I didn’t even have the energy to create a bulleted list!
But by getting a small start, I would have something to come back to and my brain could keep working in the background. As it happens, I never got truly rested or fresh, so when I came back to my notes, I worked on this article exactly as described: setting up the chunks I needed, working out of order (writing this section first), and focusing on the easiest parts first.
By working in this manner, I drafted the full article. Later, when I finally had moderately fresh eyes, I was able to revise fairly quickly.
Try These Tips Anytime
Of course, you don’t have to be exhausted or have a tight timeline to use these tips, but that’s when I find them especially helpful. And don’t forget to tap into other support tools: try Pomodoros, take frequent breaks, meditate for five minutes, go for a walk. Use whatever methods support your writing.
Let me know how these tips work for you!
Need some support while you write? Or need a fresh set of eyes on your draft. Get in touch at karin@clearsightbooks.com.