Slow Productivity Approach Towards Writing Online — If You Want to Be In It for the Long Haul

Hi friend!

This week I want to talk about why I’m back for my 6th Ship 30 for 30 writing cohort this October! And how the Slow Productivity approach has helped me consistently show up to write online amongst the demands of work and life.

Here are a few ways I use the Slow Productivity approach towards writing online and towards each Ship 30 for 30 cohort I do:

• Practice writing and aim to become so good you can’t be ignored

• Each writing cohort is my opportunity to gain more clarity on my niche

• 30 days is the perfect duration to move your side hustle goals forward if you have a busy day job

Unfortunately, many people think writing is no longer required in this digital world of Videos, Tik Tok and ChatGPT. But it’s actually more important than ever. Writing is the basis for almost every form of communication. Be it making Youtube videos, sending an email or selling a product.

Learning to write and share your ideas in a sustainable and consistent way is key to writing and creating a solobusiness for the long haul.

Use the Slow Productivity approach for writing online and creating content (especially if you have a 9-5)

In order to create content and write online for the long haul without burning out while working a day job, don’t make these common mistakes (One’s I’ve definitely made myself!):

• Starting a blog where you feel like you’re writing into the void and then you give up writing.

• Trying to grow an audience quickly with growth hacks & tactics ‘cause that’s what everyone is doing.

• Writing and creating a ton of content, only to burn out and stop entirely when you can’t sustain that level of output.

• Writing for yourself instead of for your reader—When you treat writing online like a personal journal, without the intention of how you can help your reader, it’s unlikely to get your very far.

The reason people tend to make these mistakes is because they haven’t approached writing online in a deliberate and systemised way.

Here’s what I do instead.

I use each ship 30 for 30 cohort as a writing sprint challenge. And in between each sprint I’m less structured and will experiment with different formats of writing outside of the Atomic Essay (e.g. Medium articles, tweets, threads, digital products).

Here’s 3 ways I use the Slow Productivity approach towards writing online and towards each Ship 30 for 30 cohort I do.

1. Practice writing and aim to become so good you can’t be ignored

Slow productivity is all about being focused on the important things and working at a natural human pace to achieve your goals or maintain good habits.

With that in mind, I don’t approach each writing cohort expecting to go viral and gain a ton of followers. Sure it might happen, but that’s not the goal. And that’s totally out of your control.

Instead, I focus on honing my digital writing skills:

• So that I get 1% better at capturing attention

• Consistently share ideas so I can see the trends of what works and what doesn’t

• Most importantly delivere knowledge and experience that adds value and helps the right people who might benefit from my content

2. Each writing cohort is my opportunity to gain more clarity on my niche

Writing daily for 30 days gives you 30 opportunities to practice your writing and test out your ideas to see what resonates with your readers.

30 days is short enough that you can sustain it along side your day job, but long enough that you can start to spot trends and resonance in what you’re sharing.

The goal is to find the intersection between:

• Your writing interests (what you enjoy writing)

• Your skills, knowledge & experience (what value you can offer)

• Your reader’s interest (what people actually want to learn or gain from consuming what your write).

By sharing your ideas consistently you will gain clarity in your own thinking and ultimately what value you can offer your readers for them to keep coming back to you.

Practicing slow productivity in this case is about really focusing in on listening to your readers and your inner voice so that you can double down on the intersection of these 3 things.

That’s where your niche lies.

3. Writing can help you figure out what value you can offer to your readers

I’ve bought many course over my lifetime.

Many have sat in the digital wasteland untouched. But Ship 30 for 30 is one of a few course that I’ve bought and actively still use the principles from it to this day.

I completed my first Ship 30 for 30 writing cohort 12 months ago and since then writing online has helped me:

• Kick start this newsletter

• Grow from 0 to 1100+ followers on Twitter/X

• Write more than 200+ atomic essays and pieces of social content

• Write a 37 page Ultimate Guide teaching people how to build their own Writer's Hub OS in under 1 hour

There are plenty of online writers, creators and solopreneurs who have grown significantly larger and faster in 12 months.

But as someone who is balancing a day job, family commitments, personal hobbies and cultivating a side hustle, fast growth isn’t my goal. Sustainable and enjoyable slow growth without the burnout is.

And as someone with zero sales and marketing background (I work in healthcare), selling to anyone feels like a giant mountain to climb.

But writing online and sharing content has helped me identify what skills, knowledge and experience I can offer that people care about. That has been a big mindset shift.

This has led me to create free products that people have given great feedback on and paid products like the Mini-Course: Writer’s Hub OS in Notion that people are actually willing to pay for.

There is a quote I like from Cal Newport’s book So Good They Can’t Ignore You that speaks to this point:

“Money is a neutral indicator of value. By aiming to make money, you're aiming to be valuable.” ― Cal Newport

Writing online with the Slow Productivity approach has helped me make steady progress towards being a part time solopreneur alongside a day job, and creating products that people find valuable.

In Case You Missed It On Social

I shared the lesson cover images on X and was excited by the feedback! What do you think about the covers? I would love to hear!

That’s it!

Thanks for reading.

Hit reply and let me know what struggles you face with writing online consistently —I’d love to hear from you!

See you next week,

CK

Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Travel Hub Notion Template (Free!): All-in-one Travel Planner that helps you ideate, plan, research and organise your trip using Notion. So you can plan & travel stress-free!

   Join 700+ people who have already downloaded this and upped their travel planning game.

2. Mini-Course: Writer’s Hub OS in Notion (Pre-sale Available): Learn how to build a simple “Idea to Published” writing system in Notion or plug & play a done-for-you Writer’s Hub OS Notion Dashboard. Perfect for digital writers, solopreneurs and content creators to help you achieve long term sustainable and stress-free daily writing & content creation habit.

3. Historical Architecture Lover's Guide to Vienna eBook: A must-have eBook if you’re traveling to Vienna, Austria and don’t want to waste hours researching and digging into through general travel guide books for historical architecture recommendations and unique travel ideas for a memorable trip.