One day, the sand in your hourglass will run out. We have a limited amount of time on this earth. What will be left after you’re gone? Certainly, there will be social media posts, mementos, people’s memories, and what you created.

Those things can fade over time, but your words can be immortal.

We all have the same amount of time in life. Life is never going to be ideal, and things are not going to slow down. There is always going to be something happening. You write in the midst of an imperfect life, in the mess and the muck of what is happening all around you.

In the musical Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton asks her husband, “Why do you write like you’re running out of time?”

The truth is that we’re all running out of time. You don’t have an infinite number of days. You only have a limited amount of time on this earth. How will you spend the days you have?

Question: Does knowing your life will come to an end someday motivate you to make the most of every day? Why or why not?

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He held up another person’s book, and to the front of it he had taped a mock-up of a cover for the book he was writing. He already knew in advance the print size of the book, so he made sure to choose another print book of the same size.

I thought this was a genius idea and have been doing the same thing ever since. Anytime I’m working on a book, I always have the cover designed as early in the process as I can.

Then, I find another print book of the same size, tape the printout of my cover to the front, and keep it on my desk during the whole writing and publishing process.

This helps make the book tangible and real, instead of just a file that just lives on your computer. It also helps you make it through the rough spots in the writing and editing. When you keep the vision of the final product clear and it’s sitting on your desk, you will feel much more motivated to keep going.

Question: If you are working on a book project, do you have the cover designed yet? Have you printed it out and attached it to another book of the same size to keep your vision clear?

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The way some of us writers shrink back from a challenge, you’d think we live forever.

We hesitate to write that book because we fear what others will think. We don’t set up that website because it feels too hard. We don’t meet with that person who is five years ahead of us because we’re intimidated. We don’t make that social media post because we question whether we’re a good enough writer.

It might feel scary in the moment, but what about a hundred years from now? We will all be gone. That’s a hard truth to hear, but it’s still the truth. Our lives are but a blink of an eye compared to the endless expanse of eternity.

Steve Jobs gave a helpful perspective when he said, “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked.”

When you die, you can’t take anything with you. All those words and ideas and stories you have been storing up to write “someday” will vanish. You can’t take that material with you. If you don’t write it, it won’t get written and we will all be the worse off for it… simply because you were too scared.

When you’re gone, everything goes back into the box. All your goals, hopes, dreams, plans, stories, ideas, and vision. So, you might as well go for it now while you still have time. What have you got to lose?

Daily Question: Does knowing that you will die someday help motivate you to say what you want to say in your writing?

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Have you ever tried taking a cold shower? Apparently, it’s all the rage these days. If you want to spend a couple of hours going down a rabbit hole, hop onto YouTube and watch a few videos where people experiment with taking cold showers and talking about the positive effects, such as helping them wake up fast or having more energy. I can tell you that it does work, even though I don’t take a cold shower very often.

If you watch any of these videos or decide to experiment with it yourself, you will find that just jumping into the cold shower, and being all-in, is a lot more effective than gradually sticking one body part in the shower at a time. It’s better just to get the discomfort over with as soon as possible and get on with the cold shower so you can experience the benefits.

The same is true for writing. Writing takes mental energy and we sometimes have trouble starting. We piddle around for a few minutes, have a few false starts, then decide the effort isn’t worth it.

Instead, treat writing like you would treat a cold shower. I like the follow the 30-Second Rule when I don’t feel motivated. The idea is just to write for 30 seconds without stopping. 30 seconds is enough time to switch your mental focus and get you into the groove a bit.

It doesn’t work to just write when you feel like it. There are a million things to distract us, a million excuses we can offer for avoiding writing. So try writing for 30 seconds to give yourself a little jumpstart when you don’t feel motivated.

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If you’re having trouble getting focused and using your time well, I highly recommend using the Pomodoro Technique. This is a simple focus strategy used by people all over the world, and it works super well for writing.

In the 1980’s, a university student named Francesco Cirillo was having trouble staying focused, so he decided he would try focusing for just ten minutes. As part of his experiment, he used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. “Pomodoro” is the Italian word for “tomato.” Therefore, a simple yet effective new productivity technique was born.

Today, this technique is commonly practiced in 25-minute segments. It works like this: pick an activity to focus on, set a timer for 25 minutes, focus on the task till the timer goes off, then take a break for 5 minutes. Repeat several times, and then take a 30-minute break after a few rounds.

The genius of the Pomodoro Technique is that it only requires short, 25-minute bursts of activity. You also know you’re getting a break frequently.

Almost anyone can focus for 25 minutes. Give this technique a shot, and even if you only write for 25 minutes per day, you’ll get a lot more done that if you only write when you feel motivated.

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You can make a lot of mistakes as a writer and still be successful. But one of the mistakes that will kill both your enthusiasm AND your success is constantly comparing yourself to others.

Granted, it’s almost impossible not to do this as a writer. After all, it’s human nature to compare ourselves. And social media has made it impossible not to notice other people’s success in writing. Whenever you see a friend hit a bestseller list or launch a new book, it’s hard not to feel jealous.

But that negative energy doesn’t really help you with your own goals, does it? When you focus on what you lack, that negative mental energy only slows you down and makes you feel bad about yourself.

Worse yet, what you see on social media is only a small part of other people’s lives. When you see a successful book launch, you’re only seeing the highlight reel. You don’t see the months—or even years—of hard work that went into the making of that book.

So instead of feeling jealous, let other writers’ success spur you on to your own achievements. You’re not on the same journey as they are. You have your own journey with writing. There is no point in comparing yourself, because you either end up feeling bad about yourself, or you feel prideful because you seem to be doing better than someone else. Both of those perspectives will take you off course.

You can learn from other writers, but never compare yourself. Comparison kills your energy and motivation. Instead of comparing, compete against yourself. It’s the only true measurement of your success.

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