You Probably Know More Than You Think
I’ve been suffering burn out recently. I also have an injury in both arms from repetitive use (i.e. typing too much.)
This has tanked productivity.
So here’s what I’ve been doing recently:
- Keeping typing to a minimum
- Using voice-to-text dictation software
- Keeping writing short and simple, only doing small bursts of typing at a time
I probably should rest up entirely, but that’s not all that feasible professionally speaking.
I also have a million projects that I’ve got in the pipeline.
So here’s something else I’ve been doing.
I’ve been making videos.
Every morning, I get up, do my super-productivity routine (i.e. shower and get dressed like an adult – life hacking SUPER STUFF,) and then instead of typing, checking emails or whatever, I’ll pick a subject I know about and just talk into the camera for a while.
Today, I said to myself, “Give your thoughts on starting a service business.”
I talked for about an hour and then wrapped it up because I was losing my voice. I didn’t cover close to everything in terms of running a service business.
When you break it down into chunks, it’s easy. I talked for an hour on Monday about getting clients. I could probably talk for an hour about best practices on customer services.
The point isn’t to brag.
Here’s the point.
You Probably Know More Than You Think You Do
The video thing was just an attempt to get thoughts down for a time in the future when I feel more like writing and putting everything together.
I’m not a natural on video and I’d rather nobody saw these videos except me.
But the videos serve as a no pressure way to get thoughts down without any rhyme or reason. Just start talking. Don’t worry about pauses or “ums” and “ahs.”
The whole point of the exercise is to first show that without pressure, you know more than you think you do.
Most of us test ourselves when we sit to come up with a blog post, chapter for a book or something else that’s going to be put out there for consumption by other people.
Instead, create something that’s just for your thoughts, with no pressure or obligation. It’s better if it’s audio or video, because there’s a more direct link to your brain than typing. (That’s broscience at its best but you know what I mean.)
Subject Matter Expert
People talk all the time about being a subject matter expert. It’s good to be an expert, but not essential.
If you can talk for a few minutes about your subject, then you have something of value. A few minutes talking is the equivalent of an article.
If you can bring in random anecdotes or stories, or you can talk about a specific example of what you experienced, then that’s all useful information as well.
You don’t have to be an expert to do this. “My first day at the gym” will make for an entertaining and informative story.
And especially when you’re talking about online content, people are looking for entertainment as much as subject matter knowledge anyway.
Editing and Valuable Information
It’s hard to sit down and write a book. It’s easy to say what will be in the book.
If you talk about the latter, you’ll find the former much easier. Think and talk in blueprint fashion and you’ll find it comes to you.
Or you’ll have a lot of moments where, “I need to research this” or “I need to start a case study on this” will come up.
So just in general, you could ask things like, “What should I put in my how-to book?” or “What do I need to do before I can write my book?”
And you’ll find that the answers present themselves.
Anyway, I’ll leave this article there. Have fun with this experiment and let me know how you get on.