Back around December 3rd I wrote a post talking about not having written a post in the previous two weeks. In fact, there had been several months of intermittent posting any where from me.
I’d go days or even weeks without opening Scrivener and writing a post. Scrivener is the software I prepare all my posts in and then transfer them to wherever I plan on posting. I like being able find my articles without searching through the platforms I write on.
But, I digress.
Some where around the same time I noticed a post from 
He discovered he was having fun writing as well as playing. The gamer in him took notice of the 
His post got me thinking. In all the time I’ve been on the chain, I’ve never earned the Monthly Author badge and had only earned the Weekly Author badge about 3 times.
I decided I was going to give writing every day a try. I wouldn’t be able to do the Author badge in December as I’d already missed a couple of days.
I could certainly start adding to the Weekly Author badges and then shoot for all of January to get the Monthly Author badge. Here we are, three days away from the end of January and I’m on track to get that monthly badge. Three posts and I’m there.
Coming up with posts every day is not always easy. I often post on topics that takes some reading and note-taking before I compose the post. I enjoy the learning and there are several topics I want to learn more on.
One of the challenges I had to get past was the idea that I needed to know a lot before I could write something on a topic. Some of that imposter syndrome I talked about yesterday trying to stick it’s nose in.
I sometimes have to remind myself, I don’t have to an expert to write on a topic. I just need to know more about a topic than at least one other person.
I do work on having enough knowledge on a topic to form some opinion or perspective on a topic.
Once I get that firmly entrenched into my thinking, I am then free to write as I learn on topics I want to learn more about.
There are several topics I want to become more fluent with my know on in the coming months. You’ve seen me writing on some of them, like Web 3, the creator economy, creativity, note-taking etc.
The note-taking topic in many ways is pretty central to my learning.
In the past I’ve taken notes for a post and then moved on. Much like when we were in school, we made notes and learned them enough to pass our exams and then rarely gave them another thought.
Note-taking on a consistent basis starts to build a database of information. Instead of just consuming information and then trying to rely on my memory to retrieve it later,
I am working on being more deliberate about making notes and processing what I’m reading.
I’ve mentioned a few times that I receive several newsletters each day. I’ve chosen them deliberately to bring me information on topics I’m interested in. Many of them send curated links that I comb through for articles of interest to me.
Part of my note-taking process is setting up a note for each article I want to read, even if I don’t read it right then. They are all sorted by topic and I’ll be able to find them when I get some time to go back and read or I decide they need to be read for what I’m writing that day.
Doing this saves me a ton of time finding reference material.
As I work through these articles making notes and creating tags, I’m building sort of a second brain. As it builds, I will be able to readily access information I’ve already learned and my research and reading time builds out from there instead of finding the same material over again.
No, but it does help me to making my writing time more efficient and gives me a place to go when I’m seeking inspiration.
I’ve gotten into this habit of writing daily and will try to continue on past the end of January to see how long I can extend the streak.
I’d like to reach the point that writing a post is as much of my daily routine as making coffee or feeding the cats.
I also want to continue working on my other creative pursuits so the more effectively I organize my writing time, the better.
Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
