For the last few weeks I’ve fallen back into a habit that I genuinely like in my writing practice – writing without releasing.
For so much of this year I had a consistent stream of content because I was good at batch producing content. I would write 8-12 blog posts, schedule them out in advance over a period of 1-2 months, and then buy myself another 1-2 months to write the next 8-12 blog posts. It’s a system that has worked well for me…when it works well for me.
But then in around May I began to travel and the backlog caught up to me. I was able to create some space for myself again with the flow articles, but then I moved to Brazil, work became hectic, and I fell off the batch production train again.
So recently rather than feeling the anxiety of needing to release, I did what I care most about….writing. I decided to get back on the train of batch producing and I’ve been consistently writing again, but just not releasing any of it to the world.
Now I have a backlog of around 10 posts I haven’t released yet, and today I sit down to schedule all of those out.
At first I was thinking I would releasing these in January. Rather than producing 8-12 at a time I would produce as many as I could and try to buy myself a 90 day (or longer) window instead for the next year. I would say fuck it to the posts of 2019, throw the year in the bag, and then move on to the next.
But then today while I was meditating I decided that I didn’t want to carry my thoughts and reflections from 2019 into 2020. I decided that I went to document these thoughts in writing for the year of 2019, and start 2020 fresh with a new mindset, new focus, and new strategy (which is still largely to be decided).
It was a quote from Josh Waizkin in a Tim Ferriss podcast that stuck with me. He said something along the lines of, “I hate going on book and speaking tours because I’m talking about the things I was thinking about a year ago, rather than what I am thinking about right now.”
This is how I feel right now. I feel like my backlog of writing is a reflection of what I was thinking a few months ago, rather than what I am thinking about right now.
I’ve also been in a fun place where, for the first time since I’ve started writing, I’m somewhat out of topics to write about. I feel like I’ve sufficiently caught up to the backlog of ideas in my head. I’ve put my thoughts, ideas, and philosophies out there and now I’m stretching for topics. The topics I am now thinking about are longer projects. I want to dedicate 2020 to those and give them the time and space they deserve.
So this is a heads up that to close out 2019 I’m going to release the backlog of posts that I’ve been piling up on my computer over the last few weeks/months. I’m going to release about 3/week to close out the year and empty my mind before the new year.
To those of you who read this, thanks for following along and enjoying the ride with me. Now we close out 2019 with some enthusiasm after the best year of my life physically, mentally, creatively, professionally, and otherwise 🙂
WOOOO!!!!!!
You’re an interesting guy who I have never met in person. I know you through your blogs and posts some of which I can relate to as a fellow guy and others that are out of my league in terms of comprehending them. That’s o.k. you probably feel the same about others. I like your interesting life and how you pursue stuff and I especially like to hear about your travels and how you make things work in different environments. Looking forward to 2020 and all that you have to say. Maybe tell us how 2020 will be different for you and how you are moving on from 2019. Keep throwing stuff at us!!!!
Thank you! Love and appreciate the reply. Will definitely be posting more about traveling and my nomadic lifestyle (both where I’m at now and where I came from in the past), throughout this next year. Will also keep your suggestions in mind as I release some of the final posts of 2019. Stay tuned brother and thank you for the support!