This fall, join us for Writing Sprints — workout classes for your mind — to take you from zero to published in one day. Enrollment is open until November 1. Join us next Friday, November 3, or on Wednesday, December 13.

The Clock Silences the Ego

In conversation, you can sling ideas with ease. But when it’s time to put words on the page, do you become paralyzed by perfection? 

Maybe you turn into a tiptoe-typer, an over-editor, and a stickler for standards. You can fill 15 pages, but then you rewrite your opening line 40 times. Editing your draft into a piece you're proud of feels like slogging through waist-high mud. 

Can you imagine if you followed the same process in conversation? It would be a disaster. You would struggle to form a coherent sentence. That’s why, when you speak, you let your words flow and you lean into your intuition. It’s natural and easy. So, why not do the same when you write? 

Writers often set their internal bar so high they can’t reach it, and they self-sabotage. Hours, days, weeks, months fly by as you meticulously craft the “perfect” piece of writing. Your ego whispers in your ear that your work needs to be flawless and awe-inspiring. 

Our culture calls this perfectionism — but really, it’s procrastination. And here’s the key to overcoming it: Practice analytically, perform intuitively.

Like an athlete, develop your skills by getting your reps in — long stints at coffee shops, late-night writing sessions, and productive Sunday mornings. Hone your craft in practice, as you take notes and have conversations. Then, when it’s time to write your piece, let intuition take over. Keep the analysis out of the process and avoid paralysis. Don’t shoot for perfect. Shoot for “Publish.”

The most effective way to do this is to write against a deadline. 

Working against the clock quiets the mind and silences the ego. It forces you to stick to one idea and follow it through. Just like a soccer player in the World Cup, the clock catapults you into a flow state, where it’s just you and the task at hand.

The result? Ideas pour out of you. What was waist-high mud turns to whip cream. Are you ready for this breakthrough of clarity? Ready to get your ideas out of your head, and into the world?

Join us for Writing Sprints, workout classes for your mind. You’ll work against a firm deadline to write, edit, and ship a piece you’re proud of — all in one day. 

The upcoming workshops will run on Friday, November 3, and Wednesday, December 13. To secure your spot, click the button below and enroll before November 1. I’ll see you on the starting block.

To publishing over perfection,

David

P.S. Check out this video to see how you’ll go from zero to published in a day: