Early this week I wrote a post on limiting distractions to get more focused writing done. Today I thought I would share how I optimize my natural habitat to get the most out of the little time I have to actually write.

Envisioning Your Space

This may sound a little…wooo (if you know what I mean), but just trust me, I’m going somewhere with this. To optimize your writing environment, you must first envision what your ideal writing environment looks like.

When I envision myself in my favorite writing space, I’m in a coffee shop surrounded by the gentile voices of people chatting. Soft music is playing in the background and there is an iced coffee in hand. I am writing on my laptop, the sun is shining, and I feel comfortable.

It’s basic, it’s sweet, and it’s rarely where I write.

The reason this is useful for me is because it allows me to identify the elements of my dream writing spot and recreate them anywhere.

Right now, I’m in my work’s conference room on my lunch break. I have some soft lofi music playing, some coffee sitting beside me, and I’m writing on my laptop. When I’m in the laundromat parking lot, I usually have some music going on my car’s radio and my laptop propped up on my lap. When I’m writing on my couch in the morning, the whir of the AC replaces the music, I have my freshly made cup of coffee, and my lop top is settled on a pillow on my lap.

You’ll rarely ever get to write in your ideal environment, which is why I try not to be too precious about it. But I would encourage you to see if you can recreate elements of it in the different places you inhabit.

Reduce Friction

There are many elements that can increase the friction between our desire to write and actually getting writing done. For me, it’s my phone buzzing, my space being messy, my laptop being dead, not having a pen to write with, etc.

That’s why I try my best to reduce the friction between me and the story I should be writing. Here are some friction reducing habits I have:

• Just call me the backpack kid – Yes, I’m in the habit of carrying a backpack with me EVERYWHERE I go. My fiancé teases me relentlessly about it. But it has everything I need to write: pen, paper, laptop, chargers, and a first aid kit (hey, writing gets intense).
• Keeping my shit charged! I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve reached for my laptop and found that its life has been completely drained (Oh, how I empathize with you, my dear laptop). I’m working on building up the habit of charging my laptop at least once every other night.
• Turning off notifications on my phone – You probably have heard this time and time and again, but it’s only because it works. Humans hear one little bell, and their lizard brain goes wild! I’m guilty of this and it’s something I’m still practicing.
• Keeping my writing space clear – I constantly find myself leaving coffee cups, plates, clothes all over my writing spaces, which makes them less desirable to write in. I’m trying to be better at putting stuff away and not just down.

Routine

At this point, I’m in a pretty good routine with my writing…sort of. I used to write a lot more in the mornings, that has slowly eased up these past few days. Instead, I’ve been writing during my lunch break. Either way, I have a routine that I simply do on autopilot. I eat my meal prep in fifteen minutes and then I write for the next forty-five.

My recommendation is trying to find a time in your day to write for at least 30 minutes and be consistent with it. It’ll be hard at first, but once our lizard brains get used to the queues, they automatically start going through the motions of performing the habit.

I hope you have found some of this advice helpful. If you couldn’t tell, I’m a big fan of James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. His book has helped me improve my writing habits. I recommend reading it if you find yourself struggling with being consistent with writing.

That’s a wrap on this week! I look forward to posting next Tuesday and seeing you all then. Happy writing!