7 Tips to Save Yourself from Article Writing Burnout!

Some people say that article writing is boring, while others think that it is impossible to write ten articles within a day. In this short article I will tell you what I do to write ten articles in 24 hours!

Now, there is one point to keep in mind: if you are a beginner in article writing, it will take you at least an hour to crank out a well researched, 'profitable' article of reasonable length, unless you are going to rewrite others' articles or using an article rewriter software. ;)

However, if you have been writing articles for quite sometime, it shouldn't take more than half-an-hour to write a well-finished article. I usually write two articles within an hour!

I pointed this out because it is always important to know your strengths and weaknesses before starting any new venture or learning any new skill. I know several ghostwriters who have no idea of how much they can write within a given day.

They accept way too any orders and even promise a 'deadline' to each of their customers; however, often they are unable to meet those unrealistic deadlines!

Anyway, here is the schedule I follow to write ten articles per day. Now I don’t write everyday, as I have managed to outsource some of my writing jobs; but since I am not a 'guru' yet, I still have to write now and then ;)

1. Morning: When I am in the 'article writing' mode, I set to write a minimum of ten articles within 24 hours, which would normally take me about 5 to 6 hours, if I write them without a break. I break down that target into two parts: five articles before my lunch time and the five other before dinner!

If I start at 11:00 AM, I am usually able to finish off two articles before noontime. At this point of time, if I get bored, I usually take a break and visit youtube.com to watch some cool videos; otherwise, I continue to write.

In all cases, I will write no more than my set target of five articles! If I have some free time left before my lunchtime, I usually spend that in some 'entertainment' ;)

To make sure that I don’t get distracted or lose focus when I am writing. I use a free digital timer called eggtimer. Its name is weird but it is pretty simple and easy to use. You can download it here:

http://www.bttsoftware.co.uk/eggtimer.html

You can set the software to the number of hours you want to work, and it will start counting down from that hour. If you are chatting with friends then you can set it to a time by when you expect to finish the chatting and get back to work (believe me, if you don’t do this, you will spend the entire day in chatting :D )!

Another thing I usually do is shut down my internet connection. You know only too well that internet is the major source of distraction for internet marketers (as odd as it may sound). So I usually disconnect my internet connection until my task is over!

After lunch, I usually go to bed to take an afternoon nap. :)

2.  Evening: In the evening, I set a similar target of writing five articles before dinner, and as usual, I do take breaks as and when appropriate. After dinner is finished, I get back to do other stuff: that is, building my websites, checking emails, chatting with friends, etc.

I have very few friends by the way and fortunately, many of them are night owls like me; so I catch up with them once my 'boring' job is finished!

Regardless of whatever I do, I won’t write one more article on that day!!

Do the following five things and you won’t say that article writing is boring or impossible:

1. Pace yourself

2. Set small goals for yourself

3. Take frequent breaks and entertain yourself, but at the same time, make sure you don’t spend the entire day in entertainment! As with anything else in life, moderation is the key to success!

4. When you set a target for yourself, make sure it is realistic, and at the same time, try to finish your target within the given schedule. If you're able to finish your job within the scheduled time, you won't be overburdened or overwhelmed at any point of time!

5. If you take up ghostwriting jobs, and if you are new to it, don’t take up more load than your shoulders can handle! You could start off with 10-20 customers! As you become more accustomed to it, and learn about your strengths and weaknesses, you could scale it up as appropriate.

Gradually of course, you will want to build a team of writers so that you can delegate some of your 'chores' to them as well! In fact, you should do this even if you are not a ghostwriter!

Remember that we are all here for one reason: we want to work 'on' our business, not 'in' it!

6. Take to reading: When you feel burnt out, quit writing for the moment and take to reading. You can read anything: from a how-to ebook to fiction: anything that helps you unwind!

Remember that reading would not only increase your knowledgebase and vocabulary but also make you refreshed and ready to get back to…writing!

7. Walk a few steps: Sitting on the chair the entire day could stress the hell out of you; not to mention that it could result in severe muscle and back pains. Sometimes, I just get up from the chair and take a walk or two in my room; usually, I feel better after that!

I am not a 'workout' freak but I have heard fitness experts say that workouts can be good stress busters as well!

If you do it this way, article writing would appear less boring to you, if not more interesting! If you can write ten articles like this every day, for five days a week, you could easily churn out 200 articles per month!

Of course, once you start making profits, you will want to spend some cash on outsourcing so as to lessen your 'burden'.

In this article I used the example of article writing because to me (and many other writers) it is the 'most boring job' out there. If you have a different type of 'boring' job, that is, programming or anything else, you can follow a schedule like the above to make it less boring!

Remember that if you set a huge goal for yourself, it would seem to be unachievable; however, break down that same goal into several smaller parts, and it would seem easier! This is the basic premise on which the above article writing advice is based! :)

As always, I look forward to your comments :D