Comments on: “Write Every Day” is Bad Advice: Hacking the Psychology of Big Projects http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/ Decoding Patterns of Success Fri, 17 May 2013 22:44:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Success Isn't Always Daily - The Inspired Day | The Inspired Day http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-68888 Success Isn't Always Daily - The Inspired Day | The Inspired Day Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:30:56 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-68888

[...] Cal Newport says no: [...]

]]> By: Melanie Wilson http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-68714 Melanie Wilson Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:03:51 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-68714 I’m quoting this post for my inspirational blog. I’m a psychologist and I love studying productivity. Thanks for a great post.

]]> By: Kristine Weite http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-66615 Kristine Weite Sun, 31 Mar 2013 03:29:57 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-66615 Thank You Thank You Thank You….I have for(don’t laugh) 8 years had a story in my head that has been doing it’s best to drive me mad in the attempt to put it’s self on paper. Not having the time to deal with it I kept it toned to a whisper by placing parts of it in a journal. I now have the time to start thinking about writing it and ….Uh Oh…where in gods name did all my words go? So to say the least the last month has been some twisted version of hell but, I am up every morning at 4:30 to put as many words as possible on paper (at this point that is not much). I am happy to read that perhaps I should relax and that doing so will not kill the story.
thanks again.

]]> By: Jim Stone http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-66410 Jim Stone Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:07:53 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-66410 Cal, you had me worried at first! I’ve been writing/coding for the first 2-3 hours of every day about 6 (and often 7) days a week for years. For some reason it works for me.

I was worried you were going to tell me to stop :)

Since your main problem is that people are unlikely to establish such a habit, and, since my habit is obviously already established, I take it I should continue one business as usual!

]]> By: Daniel http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-66184 Daniel Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:11:03 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-66184 Cal, can you send me research that supports this? This is intuitively compelling so I’m curious to follow up – does good research exist to ground these statements?

]]> By: Battling Writer’s Block: 9 Ways to Keep Writing http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-65972 Battling Writer’s Block: 9 Ways to Keep Writing Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:53:33 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-65972

[...] to maintain. Missing a day may lead you to feeling discouraged and quitting completely. (Check out this article from Study Hacks about how writing every day is actually a bad [...]

]]> By: And Now For Something Completely Different | Bare Knuckle Writer http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-65092 And Now For Something Completely Different | Bare Knuckle Writer Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:28:10 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-65092

[...] Why ‘Write Every Day’ Is Bad Advice [...]

]]> By: Have You Hit a Habit Fork-in-the-Road? — Life After College by Jenny Blake http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-64860 Have You Hit a Habit Fork-in-the-Road? — Life After College by Jenny Blake Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:00:53 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-64860

[...] Cal Newport takes the opposing view in Why “Write every day” is bad advice [...]

]]> By: Write When You Feel Like Writing (by: Rachel Lynn Brody ) | JESSE Novels http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-64784 Write When You Feel Like Writing (by: Rachel Lynn Brody ) | JESSE Novels Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:03:07 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-64784

[...] themselves outside the offerings of their muse. Is voluntary self-muzzling  any wiser than the flagellation that unfolds when one fails to produce  on a [...]

]]> By: Kynan Brown http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/01/13/write-every-day-is-bad-advice-hacking-the-psychology-of-big-projects/#comment-64769 Kynan Brown Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:42:01 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=2698#comment-64769 Just adding to my earlier comment on this article:

It seems like there are two points of view on this subject.

1) Regular deliberate practice is important to being a good writer. (People arguing this point seem to miss the point of the article — Cal is speaking specifically of finite and challenging projects, not one’s daily “practice”.)

2) Getting ambitious projects done requires a flexible approach to one’s schedule, fitting in the requisite high-quality working hours wherever one can manage.

Kynan Brown
Thimphu, Bhutan

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