Maybe you have thought about being a content writer and are worried about the stress. Perhaps you’re not sure if it can pay well or even if you would be good at it. The good news is that there are strategies to be more productive, have fun, and get paid for being a content writer.
Content Writing can be a stressful job because it’s creative. There are ideas to reduce your stress and have more fun writing.
Please keep reading, and I’ll share my top 9 ways that writing can be stressful and 9 ways to overcome these challenges, as well as become more productive. Plus, I’ll share 2 ways you can earn “really” good income being a content writer right now.
1 – Write Content that You Want to Learn More About
Arguably, the biggest area of stress with writing or any type of creative work is known as “writer’s block,” and this is when you don’t know what to write about.
I’m going to tackle this issue as a blogger and YouTuber even though there are many different types of writing professionals.
As a blogger, the single MOST important thing is to pick a niche that isn’t too narrow and that you’re interested in. For example, a VERY successful blogger named Jim picked a niche in soundproofing a room. As you can guess, after 10-20 posts, he ran out of stuff to talk about.
Yep, no more growth for that website.
Your interests are going to change; this is why going WAY too narrow is a bad move. Some people feel that going too broad is bad, but it’s probably better to go too broad than too narrow.
By picking a niche that is broad you give yourself a lot more freedom and breathing room.
You might be wondering what happens if you don’t have any interests or you’re not sure what your interests are.
Well, what do you want to learn more about? What are you curious about? If you had all the money in the world, what would you be doing?
Maybe it’s learning how to be a better writer. Guess what you can actually create content around this.
You could even pick topics that you don’t know a lot about, then as you learn, you’re just documenting your journey.
This way, no matter what you WILL win. Of course, if you know “a lot” about your niche, then you’re going to write more quickly.
The main thing is to have fun, because if you’re not having fun you’re more likely to quit!
2 – Don’t Judge Others and You Will Not Judge Yourself
If you enjoy what you do, you’re more likely to stick with it rather than ONLY looking forward to a paycheck.
Don’t get me wrong, a nice paycheck is great, but if you love what you do and you get paid, then you’ve WON!
The biggest tip to having fun with creative work, such as writing or creating videos, is…
Don’t judge other people.
By NOT judging other people, you are not going to judge yourself and will be happier. Give yourself permission to make mistakes and do things differently.
Another way to NOT judge yourself is to write a rough draft as quickly as you can. Whatever comes to your mind, just put it down.
You can always edit and create the diamond out of rough later. The real writing is the editing portion, but by putting “something” down, it creates momentum, and that is everything.
Most importantly, having a rough draft is going to make you feel good because you accomplished something.
If you’re stuck on EVEN coming up with a rough draft, AI can be a wonderful way to brainstorm ideas. If you’re curious about how to use AI, I made a blog post HERE, that shares 10 of the BEST ways to use AI for blogging and content creation.
Another idea is you could EVEN post your worst content to start with. You might have just overcome your fear, and the world didn’t end.
Honestly, sometimes I do this for fun. I create junk videos, junk written stuff, and it feels great!
Now, just keep improving on it and keep writing! You will only get better with time.
3 – Only Focus on What You Can Control
The MOST difficult part of doing creative work, such as writing, is dealing with rejection. I know what you’re thinking, but nobody rejects you.
Well, if you write an article and nobody sees it, then Google rejected you.
The biggest mindset shift that helps me with writing or ANY sales job is to ONLY focus on what I can control.
Focusing on things that are outside your control is stressful because you have no control over them.
A great way to be happier is NOT being attached to an outcome. You could say that by having VERY low expectations or NO expectations, you’re guaranteed to win.
Of course, writing and a marketing job is a numbers game. The more content you write, the more money you will earn.
It’s like instead of focusing on walking 1 mile, focus on just taking 1 step at a time, and before you know it, you will have walked 1 mile.
Funny enough, this is how I thought when I walked the PCT trail, but I only walked across the state of Oregon and not the full trail.
4 – Create Realistic Deadlines
Are you the type of person who ONLY did homework right before it was due? If so, you know deadlines can force you to stop overthinking and get the stuff done.
The BEST deadlines to have are the ones that you have 100% control on.
What is the one area you can control when it comes to writing? You can control how many hours you sit down to write every day.
By having a conversation with yourself about how many hours you’re willing to work writing, and when you will get off work, you are setting a deadline.
You really should put on 1 hat as the business owner and come up with a work schedule. Then put on another hat as the “employee” and come up with a work schedule. Now, meet somewhere in the middle.
That is a firm deadline on something you can control, and by focusing on that part, everything else will take care of itself.
Instead of some crazy, unrealistic deadline involving things you can’t control (which creates stress), you’re setting the deadline on the ONE thing you can control, and that is when you are showing up to work.
An example of a deadline you can’t control would be becoming a millionaire in 1 year. There are so many variables to it that it’s going to create unhappiness, disappointment, and stress.
5 – Don’t Focus on Perfection, but Be Good Enough
One of the words that I dislike the most is “perfect.” If you wait for something to be perfect before you publish it, then it’s NEVER going to get done.
I like publishing something when it’s “good enough.” Sure, you want to proofread your content a few times, install a free version of Grammarly and use it, but after it looks “good enough,” then just publish it.
Quality Vs. Quantity is a debate, and I would argue that speed and quantity are superior to quality. The quality of content and creative work is subjective (up for interpretation), while quantity is NOT debatable, and it’s something you can control.
Plus, I really feel quality is MORE attached to someone’s ego.
I’ve gotten TONS of views on YouTube videos without even a custom thumbnail and no edits. It’s the same with written content, where it’s never going to be 100% perfect. Striving for 100% perfection just leads to undue stress.
The worst thing is deleting your work and starting over (I’ve been there). Perfection is tied to insecurity! Being ok with getting laughed at, rejected, mean comments, and looking stupid is MOST of the battle when it comes to creating content.
My goal with content is to aim for ok content!
6 – Take Many Breaks to Stay Focused
It’s true that the human brain can ONLY focus on something for so long. When I think about writing or content creation, I think of the saying.
“how do you eat an elephant?”
One bite at a time
When it comes to staying focused, I FORCE myself to take breaks. Get up and walk around, stretch your eyes, and look at something in the distance. I do this “at least” one time in an hour, sometimes more.
The human body can only sit down for so long.
The author Ernest Hemingway had a tip to stop writing when it’s going well and when you know what will happen next. If you do this every day, you will never be stuck.
This is another way to say “force yourself to take a break.”
Another great idea is to give yourself “little rewards.” I like to break up my writing by watching 1-2 minutes of a TV series.
By forcing yourself to take breaks, you are more likely to NOT get burned out and write for much longer periods of time.
You could also look at it like instead of writing 1 LARGE post of 2,000 words. This post is just 10 posts with 200 words each. If you break things down, it becomes less intimidating.
7 – Always be Sharpening the Axe
The saying to always be sharpening the axe means to always be learning from people better than you. Being humble and open-minded to learn from other people cannot only shorten the learning time by getting better, but can also give you inspiration.
If they can do it, then there is NO reason you can’t either.
Also, by finding a mentor, you can gain confidence because it will reduce the stress of wondering if you’re doing the right thing.
The reality is that there are easier ways to do things. Learning from other people’s mistakes can only help you as long as you use what you learned.
8 – Always Have Inspiration Around You
The journey of a thousand miles always starts with a single step, and that first step is usually the hardest. Whatever you do to make that first step as easy as possible is ONLY going to help.
Maybe coming up with stuff to write about is challenging, so having a hit list of MANY articles with their titles already ready can help give you that first step.
Have you ever looked at a blank sheet of paper and wondered what the heck you should write? You could have a default template to work off.
Maybe the first few sentences that you write are almost always the same as your other writing, and that makes it easier to continue.
Even though songs (which are very creative), there is somewhat of a template to work off. Many songs have a few verses, then there is the chorus (big sing-along), then sometimes a bridge, and back into the chorus (sing-along catchy tune).
Another idea that I love to do is to have good background music on. Right now, I love listening to video game background music, and writing is almost like a video game, but I can get paid for it.
Also, write when you’re at your peak time for inspiration. I really LOVE waking up insanely early and writing when the world is asleep.
Maybe you prefer writing late at night, but work with what feels good.
Another way to have inspiration around you is by NOT reinventing the wheel. Being creative doesn’t mean you have to come up with something brand-new.
Creativity is just combining things.
Steve Jobs
I love this saying because it takes ALL the pressure off. Nothing is 100% original. Everything new just got that way by combining different things that were already there.
To be creative, all you have to do is combine things. Easy right?
Of course, AI can be helpful, same with watching YouTube videos, reading other material, phoning an expert, DMing an expert, and many other things.
9 – Make Writing a Win-Win Situation
Writing and learning can be very fun activities, but getting paid for your time is also rewarding. The truth is, you can have your cake and eat it, too.
It’s called blogging, and it’s what I’m doing now.
You might think blogging is dead. What about AI?
I’m actually VERY bullish on blogging, and AI can help. Plus, going through Reddit and LinkedIn and I’m finding that many people don’t like AI-created content.
This is an opportunity for you and i!
The best part about blogging is repurposing your blog. The same past can be used for Medium, LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, Substack, and more.
Plus, you can make a YouTube video on your post.
If you want to learn more, I created a post that shares 20 benefits of starting a blog, plus how to get started HERE.
I get it, a blog takes some time.
Maybe you want to get paid NOW. There are work-from-home jobs and flexible work, but finding these legit jobs is not easy.
This is why I recommend this network HERE.
They only specialize in work-from-home jobs and flexible work. You can do it around your schedule.
Yes, it’s a subscription service, but is worth it because they filter through the bullshit, scams, low-quality jobs, and 100% commission jobs.
Plus, they can help you land the job with interviews and your resume. Give it a whirl, you might like it.
Conclusion
Writing is a fun activity that you can do anywhere and anytime. The best part about it is that it can be a jumping-off platform for many other creative works.
For example, you can use the content you create with writing to create videos, podcasts, eBooks, and more.
I hope this blog post on how to make writing less stressful was helpful and at least gave you some inspiration. Bye for now.