8 unusual ways to boost your writing efficiency

Looking to become more prolific as a writer?

I previously wrote “13 ways to improve your writing productivity,” and I’ve come up with eight more—slightly counterintuitive—techniques to give your productivity a jolt.

Together, they give you 21 ways for writing more efficiently and effectively. Here are the new ones:

1. Take plenty of breaks. Doing so might make you feel like a slacker, but time off helps us become more productive in two ways. First, breaks keep us from getting bored and becoming unfocused. (That’s why the pomodoro approach helps.) Second, breaks help us make new connections. Our minds solve challenging problems—including those related to writing—when we aren’t working on anything. We might be walking or driving or taking a shower, and, kaboom, the solution pops into our heads. If you don’t take breaks, that won’t occur.