A Writer Life

Hack your productivity with ZERO brain power. The secret? Habit stacking, routines, and a Just-Do-It mindset.

🎶 Let’s talk about routines, Baby. Let’s talk about Ha-bits, you and me. 🎶

Writers and artists often recoil at the word “routine.” They scratch. They hiss, “You won’t put me in a box! I am a Creative Being who will not conform! I am FREE! Ah-ha! Ha-ha-ha!“

Routines establish mindless productivity. They extinguish decision fatigue and clear mental clutter. No need to waste your last two precious brain cells deciding what to wear, when to write, or whether to wash your face. You’ll just do it.

This is why you’ll find successful CEOs and scientific geniuses to be creatures of habit—men and women who wear the same clothes every day, eat the same meals, and keep to the same schedules. Their minds are too burdened, and their time is too precious to waste.

Routines free mind-space to focus on what truly matters: your creativity. Take control of your mental clarity and your time with these four steps.

🧐 Hack your productivity — #1. Identify your existing routine

Before you can make routines work for you, you need to know what you’re already doing.

Take an average day and track your habits.

Make a list. Study your schedule, your habits, your free time, your “scroll time,” your moods, and your energy levels. Do this without judgment and with full honesty. Right now, you’re just collecting data, and you need the data to be as raw and accurate as possible.

🧠 Hack your productivity — #2. Eliminate mind-clutter

The average adult makes an estimated 33,000 to 35,000 decisions each day.

Specifically, there are two decisions guaranteed to show up daily, no matter who you are (and they’re more complicated than you think):

1. Food —What to make, how, when, and where? Eat out? Order in? Cheat meal? Chicken and veggies? Meal plan? Bagged lunch? Snack time? Etc, etc, etc.
2. Appearance —What clothes to wear? How to style your hair? Up or down? Makeup: full glam or minimal? Does the bag match the shoes? Too many accessories? Not enough jewelry? Trying too hard? Not trying enough? DID I PUT ON DEODERANT?!

Eliminate these sources of mind-clutter by:

• Eating the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. (Or every week. For example, Taco Tuesday, Italian Wednesday, Indian Thursday…)
• Choosing what day will be your “cheat day,” what day to eat out, and your snacks—before the week begins.
• Wearing your hair in the same style Monday-Friday.
• Establishing a consistent makeup routine that you can complete in ten minutes or less.
• Selecting three core pieces of daily jewelry, specifically ones you don’t have to remove before showering or working out.
• Creating an “outfit recipe”—wear the same type of bottoms, tops, and shoes every day of the week. Or—go for the gold and wear the same outfit every single day. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[🎬 This woman wore the same black dress for 30 days straight, just to see if anyone would notice.]

If you think people are watching you, that they’ll notice your consistent appearance and call you lazy or boring, they will not. By contrast, they’ll find you more polished, focused, and professional.

📚 Hack your productivity — #3. Stack your habits

Habit stacking is a technique created by BJ Fogg in his book, Tiny Habits. It means to link a new habit to an existing one. 

What do you want to incorporate into your daily life? Want to write daily or schedule an after-lunch walk? Do you want to nurture your creativity by fitting in a weekly Artist Date or a quick tidy session to refresh your space?

Look over the list of existing habits you made in Step #1. Zero in specifically on mood and energy, first. Then, look at your schedule, your free time, and your scrolling-on-the-phone-mindlessly-because-you-just-need-to-disassociate-for-one-second time. (If only there were other habits you could do mindlessly to disassociate … while being productive … 🤔 … oh wait! There are! And you’re about to put them into practice. Smarty.)

1. Choose ONE new habit. Just one. You might be tempted to incorporate several new habits into your routine. Start with one and repeat until it becomes mindless, before adding a second one.
2. Link your habit to an existing habit. Without trying, you’ve just established a time, place, and trigger for your new habit. Look at you go. Look at you freaking go. 🎉

👊🏻 hack your productivity — #4. Don’t think. Just do.

Step four is the EASIEST STEP, AND YET IT FEELS LIKE THE HARDEST. So, listen up. 👂🏻

Manager You set the ball in motion. You are now a cog. A soldier. It is not your job to ask questions or evaluate as you go. Not anymore.

Count to three (actually, don’t even make it to three) and Just Do. JUST DO—JUST DO—JUST DO.

Being mindless is a choice. Go figure. 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you’re taking time to think, if you’re asking yourself, “Do I want to do this? Do I have the energy? Do I have the time?” you are not being mindless. Instead, you are wasting your energy (and time) talking yourself out of the healthy habit you’ve already established is something you want to do!

Don’t do that. Don’t think. Just do. Then, enjoy that incredibly satisfying dopamine hit from a job well done.

🤔 Final thoughts

By putting these techniques in motion, you’ll find yourself completing more tasks, staying on top of creative projects, making time for rest and play, keeping you and your Tiny Writer fed, clothed, and healthy—and all without putting a minute’s thought into it.

ONE planning phase = ZERO brain power productivity.

Not to mention: The less energy you spend on decisions, the more energy you have for creating.

Routine doesn’t kill creativity. It unlocks it, establishes a foundation, makes time, and creates space. Structure isn’t your enemy—it’s your sidekick. 💪🏻

Now go be brilliant, productive, and get—stuff—done. ✨ Mindlessly.✨

🤩 Bonus content! More, more more!

Check out these resources for more info on habits and setting the foundation for mindless productivity!

❓What do you think?

• What new habit do you want to incorporate into your existing routine?
• What do you think about the act now, think later approach to mindless productivity?
• Have you found a habit stacking system that works for you? Share it!
• Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below! 👇🏻

😲 Up next:

• 3 Small Habits That Will Change Your LIFE
• REFRESH your creative space (as a work-from-home employee) 👩🏻‍💻
• Stoking vs. Nurturing your creativity—What’s the difference?
• FREEBIE! “52 (Wholesome) Artist Date Ideas” 🌼
• Meet Tiny Writer, Your Inner Artist 🐀