Thread by @dbustac

The reason why 99% of aspiring online writers fail to start:

Vague intentions & wishful thinking.

Here are 2 strategies from @JamesClear's Atomic Habits to help you stop procrastinating & finally start writing online:

To start building an online writing habit, you must cut out all the vague, wishful thinking.

And replace that with an actionable, specific plan.

Your plan needs to make it *obvious* when, where & how often you're going write.

Here's how you do it:

Strategy #1: Implementation Intention

In 2001, a group of British researchers did an experiment.

They were trying to help a group of 238 people build better exercise habits.

They split them in 3 groups.

The 1st group was only asked to track how often they exercised.

The 2nd group was asked to track their workouts & was told about all the health benefits of exercise.

The 3rd group received the same instructions as the 2n group except...

They also were asked to make a plan.

The results:

35-38% of folks in the 1st & 2nd groups exercised at least once per week.

While 91% of the 3rd group did.

That's a huge difference.

It's worth mentioning that the plan wasn't complicated at all.

It was a simple one-line "implementation intention".

This is the formula they used:

"During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE]."

Short, sweet & ultra-specific.

Now let's apply this to your online writing.

If you want to start tweeting every day, you could say:

"Every day, I will spend 10 mins writing down at least 3 tweets at 8 AM at my kitchen table."

If you want to start writing a weekly article or newsletter, you could say:

"I will spend 60 mins drafting & 30 mins editing a 500-word article on Friday at 9 AM at my desk."

Now stop reading for a minute.

Grab pen & paper, and write down your writing "implementation intention".

Yes. Right. Now. Let's stop procrastinating it.

GO!!!

Strategy #2: Habit Stacking

All of your actions & habits are linked to each other.

Everything you do becomes the cue for your next behavior.

It's like a domino chain reaction.

So the easiest way to add a new habit to your routine is to stack it on top of your existing habits.

If you wrote your implementation intention, you already did 50% of the work.

Now, take a few minutes & review your daily routines.

Find an existing habit you perform on the same:

• Time
• Place
• Frequency

as your original implementation intention.

Then, use this formula to write a new one:

"After I [Current Habit], I will [New Habit]."

Let's do some examples.

If you want to start tweeting every day, you could say:

"Every day after I pour my cup of coffee, I will spend 10 mins writing down at least 3 tweets at 8 AM at my kitchen table."

If you want to start writing a weekly article or newsletter, you could say:

"Every Friday after I clean my office, I will spend 60 mins drafting & 30 mins editing a 500-word article at 9 AM at my desk."

Now grab pen & paper again, and use this new formula to rewrite your original note.

Then, glue it somewhere you can see it at the beginning of each day.

If you add it your calendar or to-do list, even better.

Just remember: be ultra clear & specific on both parts.

That's it!

If you completed these 2 exercises, it's almost impossible not to start.

So congrats - you're all set!

And if you'd like more no-BS writing advice, make sure you follow me @dbustac.