About a year ago I was meeting with Gary in my one-on-one program. Gary was a mystery author with a lot of books written. His progress had dropped to nearly zero. The excitement he had for his mystery series was fading, and what he told me was that he could not find any time for self-publishing.
The real problem was that he did not have the right habits in place.
Why habits beat goals
Habits are the daily rhythm that gives you wins in the long run. We expect far too much of ourselves in a couple of weeks. Over several years, we underestimate how much we can do. A small amount, done every day, builds up much more than most people guess. These are the three habits I gave Gary.
Gary had no shortage of books or ideas. What he lacked was a rhythm, and when nothing happens for long enough the enthusiasm goes. That is where a small daily habit does its work.
Habit 1: a daily time goal
Set a daily time goal. Jerry Seinfeld is the person credited with this idea. His rule was to do the work every day and mark each day off on a calendar. As the X marks pile up they form a chain, and the rule is don’t break the chain.
Notice that this is a goal about time and process. It is not “I want my next 30 books out by the end of the month, and then 40 more.” Goals like that just create stress. A habit goal says you may get a lot done or a little, but you will give it this much time.
One version I have seen rocket clients forward is the five minute rule. Every day of the week you do five minutes on self-publishing. Set a clock and start. I use a free timer, and I start it when I begin and stop it when I finish, which tells me how long I really worked.
The point of five minutes is that it is too small to say no to. Once the timer is running, you usually keep going, but even if you stop at five you kept the chain.
For me the time is much more than five minutes. But I have had dry periods in my own self-publishing where I felt I could not get anything done because I had no time, just like Gary. Setting a timer for five minutes was the way out.
Habit 2: know the most important task
You want to spend your hours on what matters. That includes writing the books, formatting them, getting covers, working with the freelancers who do different jobs for you, getting the book on the market, and then the content marketing and ads that sell it. What are you doing right, and what are you doing wrong that needs fixing?
I keep this in a task manager. I use Todoist, and I have used it for many years, I think around eight. I am an affiliate, and you can try it for free. You mark the tasks that matter most, prioritize them and schedule them so they get done before anything else. That way you do not waste a day on low-priority things.
If you can get into the habit of using a task manager, it will help in your personal life as well.
A list of priorities only helps if you check it. Each day, look at what is on top and do that first. Then ask yourself what you did this week that was low-priority, and cut it. Most of us have a few of those, and they eat the hours the writing and marketing need.
Habit 3: someone to hold you accountable
This one beats the rest. During my dry period I hired a business coach for accountability. The coach looked at what I was doing and helped me see which tasks I should spend my time on to move my self-publishing business ahead. The big tip they gave me was that having a person hold you to what you said you would do each day makes the difference.
You can set a daily time goal and not do it. You can write a list of the most important jobs and not carry them out. Someone has to ask. It should not be a family member or a friend, because they are too nice. I’m nice too, but I will ask what you have done and whether we are on the most important things, and then we can double down on them.
That is why I offer group coaching. You post your progress in the app and I respond to everyone’s comments each day, going back and forth until you reach your goals. If I could go back to the start of my own self-publishing, I would have joined something like it much earlier.
Start small this week
You do not need all three on day one. Start the five minute timer tomorrow. Add the task list when the timer feels normal, and find your accountability person soon after, because that is the one that keeps the other two going.
Your turn
Which habit has made the biggest difference to your own progress? Is it one of these three, or something else? Tell me in the comments.
If you want a hand setting up your daily routine, book a free 25-minute discovery call. You can also start with my free 12-step self-publishing checklist, or look at the group coaching program.
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