Why is developing a daily writing habit so difficult?

Lifelog  •  24 Oct 2021   •    
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If you know, you know: Starting a daily writing habit is hard. Especially if you’ve never done it before.

Most start out enthusiastically, but drop out after one week. A few might stick around for one month, but inevitably lose steam.

I’ve written for 200+ days straight here on Lifelog, and around two years before that. Over this three years, i’d observed many daily writers come and go, so I’ve got some insight into why it’s hard for keep a daily writing habit.

Here’s the top five most common reasons:

Lack of purpose- To keep doing something every day, it has to serve you in some tangible way. We never fail to forget to eat, because eating is enjoyable and gives us energy. We brush our teeth every morning because we feel cleaner and better after that. Many people drop out of daily writing because the writing is becomes a chore than a need.

Not enough time to make it stick - Sometimes we might not have a strong reason when starting out writing daily. It might be a whimsical decision. But given enough time, your purpose for writing daily might emerge. It might be 1 month for some, it might be 1 year for others. Sometimes we give up too quickly and fail to let the experience unfold naturally and bear fruit.

Commitment issues - yes life happens. There’s a dinner that run late into the night. A work emergency that needed your attention. We often tend to invent excuses for ourselves, because right from the start, we never thought to commit to it. The ones who stuck to writing daily are the one who make a firm decision to make time for it, and put their full conviction behind that decision.

Not making time for it - After you commit to it, you find ways to make time for it. Intentionally. Because the world will take all your attention if you let it. And time will not magically appear for you to write just because you made a decision. You got to plan to make it happen. Making time for daily journaling means things like blocking time in your calendar for it. It might mean writing on the subway/train on your commute to work. It can be writing in the car while you wait in traffic. Or even, writing when everyone is asleep after your chores are done, kids put to bed.

Lonely journey - Sometimes having some social accountability helps. Find a writing buddy who you nudge and keep each other accountable. Join a writing community and write alongside others to stay motivated. I personally write every day here at Lifelog, and it’s a great feeling to come in and see what everyone else had written, and read the comments people had left on your post. Every tiny bit of feedback or engagement keeps me going.

What else do you think makes developing a daily writing habit difficult?

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