Making Time

Neera

Productivity is not about doing more in less time.

It is not about making to-do lists, prioritizing them, or even outsourcing.

It is about “making time” in your day for the things you care about.

What are your priorities?

– Spending time with your family?
– Learning a language?
– Starting a side business?
– Volunteering?
– Writing a book?

Whatever you want to do, “make time” for it.

Life is so busy and chaotic. That’s why we are constantly stressed and distracted. We have too many things on the go that are competing for every minute of our time.

We are in we-must-fill-every-minute-with-productivity-bandwagon.

Overflowing inboxes, stuffed calendars, endless to-do lists, apps, and other sources of never-ending content, most of our time is spent by default attending to these things.

Productivity isn’t the solution.

I have tried every productivity trick to do more.

The trouble is there are always more tasks waiting to be done.

The faster I ran on the hamster wheel the faster it spun.

So I got off the hamster wheel.

– I deleted apps.
– I banned devices.
– I scrapped to-do lists.

And I “made time” for the things I really wanted to do.

I am now less busy but feel more productive.

I am working only 4 hours a day now but achieving much more.

What things you are doing by default?
What do you need to “make time” for?

How To Write About Anything

Neera

This one simple trick will empower you to write about anything with confidence and ease.

I could easily turn this into a product and charge you for it, but to be honest, I just can’t be bothered.

So I am going to give it to you in 4 words.

If you want to write about anything – turn it into a question.

That simple.

And it works every time.

Why?

Because our brain is geared towards answering questions.

When someone asks us a question, we often intuitively begin forming an answer and blurt it out even before we realize it.

Did you notice that I just asked a question (“Why does asking questions work every time?”) and provided the answer?

I have been using this technique for a long time and can vouch for its effectiveness.

When you turn a topic into a question, your brain starts working on answering it.

If you do not know the answer, you can start researching to come up with interesting ideas and a different perspective. This will provide you with material for writing.

Here is a set of questions, see how your brain is already forming answers:

  • How to beat perfectionism?
  • What mistakes do new writers make and how to avoid them?
  • What challenges do creators face every day and how can they solve them?

My approach is to first rely on my existing knowledge and then conduct research. This way, I don’t lose my unique perspective on the topic.

So I direct the questions to myself.

  • How can I beat perfectionism?
  • What mistakes I made when I was new to writing and how to avoid them?
  • What challenges do I face every day, and how to solve them?

Then I research to see what others are saying about it.

Once I have a better understanding of the topic, I rewrite my response, incorporating the new information I have acquired.

Try it.

You will love the technique.

Self-doubt Is Our Ally

Neera

Self-doubt is your key to success.

Self-confidence is overrated.

Every personal development book puts “confidence” as the number one skill to achieve your goals. Like, if you have “self-confidence” everything else will come by default.

The problem is most people don’t have self-confidence.

Whereas everyone has self-doubt.

It is almost natural to doubt our abilities, our knowledge, our ideas, our decisions…

You don’t need “self-confidence” to achieve something.
You need “self-doubt.”

“Self-doubt,” helps you prepare better.

Makes you cover all grounds so that you can achieve whatever you set out to do.

“Self-doubt” helps you question whether you are on the right path or not.

It makes you analyze what should be the best way to achieve things.

Do You Know Why Most Writers Don’t Succeed

Neera

I started making money from my writing when I ditched the writer’s mindset and adopted the entrepreneur’s mindset.

This is how I did it:

• Rather than “writing” books, I started “creating” products.

• Rather than relying on just “one” income stream, I created “several.”

• Rather than engaging with “readers,” I started engaging with “clients.”

• Rather than focusing just on “writing,” I started focusing on “marketing.”

• Rather than building a backlist of “books,” I built a portfolio of “products.”

• Rather than having just an “online presence,” I started building a strong “personal brand.”

The landscape of writing has changed immensely.

Writing can’t generate enough income by just writing books.

But by adopting an entrepreneurial mindset, you can transform your writing into a thriving business.

Have you been looking at monetizing your writing?
How are you succeeding?

What’s your conversion story?

Neera

Every successful coach knows they need a signature story.

The story that builds their creditability and inspires their audience to resonate with them.

But most coaches tell the wrong story.

They share a story that builds their credibility or connects with them but DOESN’T make the audience want to work with them.

They don’t need to tell their credibility story. They need to tell their conversion story.

A “conversion story” is the story of your transformation.

Your transformation story builds creditability, connects you with your audience, and leads them to want to work with you in your program.

People come to you for transformation. Show them how you did it.

My transformation story is:

I was a terrible writer.

In a performance review, my boss told me, “The only thing standing between you and a senior management position is your written English.”

I was crushed. I desperately wanted to succeed in my career. But in my heart, I knew he was right. English was my second language and my weakness. Rather than getting disheartened, I took his feedback as a challenge.

I joined a writing group.

I enrolled in writing courses.

I learned to write minutes, reports, and discussion papers.

I started working on improving my written English.

But instead of focusing just on business writing, I learned storytelling.

I gathered that writing was nothing but storytelling.

I learned to tell stories in my resume.

I started including stories in my reports.

I developed skills to weave stories in discussion papers.

With my storytelling, I not only won the senior management position I wanted, but I became the author of five books.

Now I coach others to write their books.

My transformation story is my conversion story.

They see my transformation and they think, “If she can do it, I can do it too.”

And that converts them from being my audience to my client.

What’s your “conversion story?”

7 Ways To Make Your Writing Punchy

Neera

Dear Writer,

Is your writing sloppy?

Here are 7 ways to make it impactful.

Address your audience directly: Think of your audience as one person. You are not writing to the masses. You are writing to one person. Address them directly and you will have a much better impact.

Start with a hook: Begin your writing with a strong opening that captures the reader’s attention. This could be a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, or a bold statement.

Vary sentence length: Mix up short and long sentences to create rhythm and maintain the reader’s interest. Short sentences emphasize key points. Longer sentences provide context.

: Get rid of filler wordsWords like “very,” “really,” “quite” etc. don’t add little to your writing other than making it weak. Removing them will make your writing more direct and impactful.

Create Contrast: Using contrasting ideas or concepts to create a sense of tension makes your writing more engaging. Opposing words, ideas, or even sentence structures make a good contrast.

Ask questions: Asking questions is a powerful way to make your reader think. You don’t have to provide answers all the time. Sometimes a question is sufficient.

Edit ruthlessly: Punchy writing often comes after multiple rounds of editing. Review your work. Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases. Avoid overly explaining concepts or blabbering.

Trust your readers will pick up your message without unnecessary repetition.

Remember, the goal of punchy writing is to grab your readers’ attention, convey your message clearly, and leave a lasting impact.

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