✒️ How to get 'unstuck'

Procrastinating? Here are some easy tips to help you get back to work.

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Dave Polykoff & Dusten Carlson
November 28, 2023

Hey, ProWriter!

You probably thought we’d need the week off, huh?

Pictured: Dave last Thursday

Not so.

Dave climbed his Everest, Dusten survived dinner with his in-laws, and we, collectively, have emerged from our mashed potato coma.

What’s more, we have a packed edition this morning to help rouse the rest of our stateside audience out of their holiday fugues.

Since we have precious few productive weeks left in 2023, let’s not waste another second.

This edition:

  • In a productivity rut? Here’s how to get unstuck 🪢

  • Just what in the blue blazes is going on at OpenAI?? 🤔

  • This week’s influencer could be YOU. 🫵

  • Two book recommendations that will change your career 📖

  • A raft of new writing gigs 🖊️

Let’s get busy!

- Dave and Dusten

#ProWriterTips 💡

5 techniques for getting ‘unstuck’

Freelance writers are born hustlers.

Even when they’re doing so well that they’re turning clients away, in the back of their heads, they just know there’s a fallow period right around the corner.

This puts pressure on many freelancers to maximize productivity when things are booming — to take on as much as they possibly can.

But the problem is that you can’t predict the boom and bust cycle of freelancing.

What if you’re burnt out at a time when you need to be earning? What if your productivity and motivation are gone right when you need them most?

What do you do when your hustle is gone? When you have deadlines looming, but you’re just… stuck?

The hours are falling off the clock and before you know it, a whole day has gone by. You didn’t get anything done, and you have that awful feeling in your stomach.

Worse, you don’t have anything close to a plan for getting on track again the next day.

All you can do is hope for a spurt of motivation to come back.

What successful people do when the hustle dries up

This part probably won’t surprise you, but it needs to be said: hope is not a recipe for success.

Overall, successful people have this in common: consistent productivity.

But that’s not an inborn talent that some people have and some people don’t. In fact, most successful people have another thing in common: they weren’t always consistently productive!

They had to develop productivity skills so that they could outsmart themselves and get back on track when a spell of procrastination or burnout set in.

Everyone gets stuck. The difference is that successful people have tools for getting unstuck.

The good news is that you don’t have to go to some expensive entrepreneurial training camp to learn productivity skills. Sometimes, getting unstuck is as simple as shaking things up just a little bit.

Here are 5 easy-to-remember techniques to do just that, and get your productivity back on track:

  1. 2-Minute Rule: List out all your tasks that will take 2 minutes or less and do them first. If you’ve got a lot of busy work to do that is distracting you from deep work, this can help you get that big chunk of time.

  2. Pareto Rule: On the other hand, decide that the busy work is not important today and focus on the most important 2-3 tasks. The idea here is that the top 20% of your tasks yield 80% of your results.

  3. Schedule it: Also called “time blocking.” Open your Google Calendar, look at your tasks for the day, guess how long they’ll take, and set them as meetings.

  4. Parkinson’s Law: Struggling to figure out how much time tasks will take? Set shorter deadlines. This prevents you from procrastinating (see: Makes You Think today for a book recommendation on this).

  5. Pomodoro Technique: Schedule productivity and breaks/rewards. So, 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest or play. You’ll have to be strict on your rest windows, but this will help with difficulty focusing.

Next time you’re feeling stuck, give each of these a try until something works.

There are hundreds of productivity hacks out there. Do some research on your own and find what works for you (most people only need a couple).

Lastly, if you’re feeling frustrated by the whole boom and bust cycle, here’s a ray of hope: Most successful freelance writers aren’t trapped in that cycle.

But like we said, hope is not a recipe for success. Stick with us and we’ll offer more practical tips for breaking out of that cycle in future editions.

If you have any questions, please reply to this email and ask! We read every reply, and if we see a challenging question, we’ll answer it in a future newsletter.

Want to check out all of our Writer Tips for free?

📺🎙️A word from our sponsor📲🤑

Pop quiz: How can you show a potential employer that you’re a good fit for the gig?

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That’s right, ProWriter is our sponsor once again.

ProWriter isn’t just a newsletter. It’s an entire resource for helping freelance writers launch their writing careers.

When you become a ProWriter member, you get:

✔️ A free portfolio to highlight your hard-earned skills and experience

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Ready to grow your writing career?

Eye on AI 🤖

In this section, we bring you the top stories about AI that affect creatives. Mostly so you can stay informed, but also (hopefully) worry less.

Today’s robopocalypse headlines 🤖💀

  • Last week’s ProWriter Newsletter commented on the shock firing of CEO Sam Altman by the OpenAI board. The ink on that edition barely had a chance to dry before Altman was reinstated and the board was fired instead.

  • What happened? To completely understate a murky and complicated story, a lot. Over 700 employees threatened to quit and rumors of legal action by investors against the board pressured Altman’s reappointment early last week. The full picture is still unknown, so be careful what narrative you pick up and run with. It’s always okay to wait for more info.

  • In other, non-CEO OpenAI drama, Nature reports that ChatGPT made a scientific hypothesis and provided an entire database of info to support it. The problem? It’s all made up.

  • Down on AI replacing your job? Don’t be. According to ‘ol Billy Boy (that’s Gates), AI will just make jobs easier and finally make every weekend a 4-day weekend.

  • The next target of AI disruption? Religion.

100 content people you should be following 🤝

We made a big list of the most successful and influential voices in marketing.

The main thing they have in common? They post free content advice that will make you a better writer.

This week, here’s who we think you should follow + connect with on LinkedIn: 

#91 Anna Burgess Yang

Anna is a freelance writer who focuses on fintech, SaaS, and product-led content marketing.

She spent 15 years in customer service before changing careers to become a freelance writer in 2020, and has worked with agencies like Animalz and Campfire Labs, as well as respected SaaS brands like Zapier.

Why you should follow her

In short, freelance writers, especially earlier in their careers, can learn a lot from Anna, and see what they can accomplish in just a few short years.

Makes you think 🤔

Two book recommendations that will change your career

Dave here.

With the holidays coming up, I have two books I think every freelance writer should read.

  1. Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller. It’s targeted to marketing professionals, but is nonetheless an essential read for writers. If you only read one book from the last 20 years about breaking down complex messaging into powerful copy, this is the one. It will give you essential storytelling skills that aren’t just in demand — they’re timeless.

  2. The 10x Rule by Grand Cardone. Productivity just might be the unofficial theme of the newsletter this week! The gist here is to approach your daily and long-term goals on the assumption that you can do 10x more than you think you can. This means setting your goalposts higher than you think because you will always land in a more productive and lucrative space than if you wing it.

Add these to your gift list, and take a couple of weekends to knock them out. They’re easy reads that make big impacts, and they’ll change your whole career outlook as you head into 2024.

Good luck!

Top Freelance Writing Jobs 💼 

  1. Planet Interactive needs a fintech copywriter. It’s 100% remote, but if you live in the Boston area, it looks like that’ll give you the edge. $50+/h. Apply here.

  2. Zengig is looking for a copywriter for a 4-6 month project. Subject matter knowledge in higher ed or HR/recruiting a plus. $40-$50/h. Apply here.

  3. Robert Half is on the lookout for a telecom copywriter for a 1-year contract. $50-$55/h. Apply here.

  4. Here’s a lower-tier role for the same client for $30-$35/h.

  5. Spotted a guy on LinkedIn looking for fintech writers. He didn’t specify a rate, but we’re including it since it’s one of those sneaky opportunities that don’t make it to the job boards. Check out the post and apply here.

  6. Another “guy on LinkedIn” opportunity, this one seeking a healthcare copywriter for landing pages. Reach out here.

  7. Valnet, a respected publishing brand (Dusten has done some freelance for them), seeks automotive writers. Apply here.

  8. If Figma, fintech, and ad copy are words that jump off the screen for you, check out this copywriter role with the agency Steyer Content. $45-$50/h.

  9. Zocdoc is looking for a healthcare freelancer to help with white papers and thought leadership content. No price was disclosed, but it’s advanced content marketing, so it should be a good rate. Apply here.

  10. Lastly, for the pharma pros out there, here’s a sweet gig with Omnicom Health Group that pays $85-$110/h.

Don’t forget — all the jobs we post here are remote and we privilege gigs with transparent pay.

A handful come from our personal networks and aren’t on any jobs boards… yet. So get on ‘em.

What’s on your 🧠?

Here’s your weekly reminder that if you’re one of our 5,000 subscribers, you can reply directly to this email.

That’s because we want to hear from you!

  • We want your feedback, so we can make this newsletter better

  • We want your questions, so we can create relevant content for you

  • We want to build relationships, so reply with whatever is on your mind

Send us compliments, concerns, complaints, questions, story ideas, memes, whatever you got.

Thanks for reading, ProWriters!

Let’s have a great week.

Dave & Dusten

P.S. Want to look smart to all your friends? Forward them this newsletter.

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Until next week, see you on Twitter and LinkedIn.