How to Get Into Writing Flow (Even If Blogging Feels Like Pulling Teeth)

Transcript of episode 211: How to Get Into Writing Flow (Even If Blogging Feels Like Pulling Teeth)
If you prefer to read or want to skim through what I've talked about, here’s the full transcript below.

You know that moment when you finally sit down to write a blog post for your private practice. Maybe you've cleared your schedule, maybe you've made a nice cuppa, opened up a document, and then. Nothing. Nothing happens. You know, there's crickets. Your brain decides that now is the perfect time to spiral and you can't string two words together.

And do you think to yourself, should I be writing this? What if it's just rubbish? Will people find it interesting or are they just gonna think, this is just boring, twaddle, I don't know how to write, I don't know what to do. Is this even worth it? And before you know it, you're considering, I dunno, repainting the hallway rather than actually writing anything.

Does that sound familiar? Well, look, if blogging always feels a little bit like wading through treacle. Well, this episode is gonna help because today we're gonna talk about how you can get into that writing flow. You know that magical but totally replicable place where your thoughts connect and your fingers start moving and you actually enjoy writing your blog post.

Hi, and welcome to the Grow Your Private Practice Show, the podcast for counselors and therapists in private practice who want to get more of the right clients through the door without feeling bogged down or confused or just stuck in your own head about marketing.

I am Jane Travis. I'm an ex therapist turned marketing mentor, and I'm here to help you grow private practice that works for you using simple ethical strategies like blogging and content creation, and a little bit of mindset support when it all starts to feel a little bit too much. So if blogging feels like one of those things that you want to do, but somehow it always slips down the to-do list, this episode is for you because today we are talking about a writing flow, how you can find it, how you can keep it, and how you can stop spinning your wheels so that you can actually get your blog written.

Okay, let's get into it.

Now if blog writing for your therapy practice feels a little bit like pulling teeth, I just want to let you know that you are not alone in that. Now, I dunno about you, but before I write a blog, I suddenly become deeply invested in doing literally anything else. You know, it could be rearranging the kitchen cupboards, it could be, do you know what I've started doing recently?

I've been watching these guys who deep clean these filthy, filthy rugs. It's on YouTube, go and check it out. It's kind of addictive, but you know, I can easily spend 20 minutes watching that instead of starting to write a blog. If, like I say, if that sounds at all familiar, you're in the right place because what starts as, I'm just gonna write a quick.

Blog can very, very quickly spiral into a full-blown identity crisis, you know, complete with imposter syndrome and comparisonitis. And the weird part is, you know, I know what I want to say. It might be something that I say all the time in. You know, working with clients or in conversations or even in my own head, but the minute I try to capture it and write it down, my brain just goes blank.

And my confidence, well, it just exits, you know, it exits the room. So if you are stuck and spinning your wheels, let's get you unstuck, because writing flow isn't something you're born with. It's something that you create. So what is writing flow and why does it matter? Well, writing flow is key if you want to blog consistently and confidently as well as a therapist. Now writing flow is that satisfying focused state where all of the words are coming and you are not over editing every single sentence, and your inner critic finally pipes down.

You know, you're not worried about how it sounds at the moment. You are just writing. And that writing flow is just amazing. It's when you stop looking at the clock and you get totally into it, and the more often that you experience this flow, the easier it becomes to blog consistently without turning every blog post into kind of a personal drama of starting and stopping.

So how do you get into that writing flow state when your brain would rather go and, you know, deep clean the fridge or research something ridiculous? Well, let's break it down. So here's the first thing that I would suggest. Use a framework that's gonna jumpstart your writing. So getting into a writing flow from a standing start is a little bit like trying to push a swing with no momentum.

You know, it just wobbles awkwardly, and that's why using a blog framework is so powerful. You know, it's gonna take the pressure off and it's gonna help to get you moving fast. There's no more staring at a blank page wondering where to begin and look, I've got something to share with you because I am so excited to share this with you because I've got something new that's totally gonna help you to write a blog every month without the headache. Now it is taken me absolutely ages to find the right way to help you to write blogs. It was far more complex than I'd ever realized because.

It has to help you whether or not you have a niche, and it can't just be a fill in the blanks template because otherwise all the blogs out there would sound familiar. They'd all sound the same, and I've been trying to make this work for a very long time, about a year, to be perfectly honest, and I'd just about given upon the idea of ever being able to find the answer.

And then my friend Fi had a brilliant idea and she said. How about frameworks? Can you use frameworks? And I thought about it and I thought, yes, yes I can. And it absolutely works perfectly. Okay, so what is it? Well, let me introduce you to the Framework First Blogging Method. Now, this is a low pressure mini membership for counselors who want to publish one meaningful client centered blog every single month without the writer's block, without the fears and the worries.

So each month you'll get a blog post framework, which is a step-by-step system that walks you through what to write, how to shape it into something that sounds like you. So you're gonna have no blank pages, no blinking cursors, no 47 open tabs, and no words written. Because what you'll do is you'll.

You'll pick your topic, you'll follow the step-by-step guide, and then you'll hit publish and you'll feel extremely smug about it too. So it's blogging, but it's blogging with a plan, a shortcut, and a little bit of handholding. And even better than all of that, the price. This is going to be a low cost membership.

So it's just nine pounds a month. Yep, nine pounds a month. How cool is that? Now, one of my members who's tested it said, what I loved was the step-by-step layout and the useful little tips you've added in. So whether you are stuck on what to say or you just need a little nudge to get going, this is designed to help you to blog without the hassle.

Now it's not out today, so this blog post is going to come out, well, this podcast is going to come out on the 31st of July. Just looking up my diary. This comes out on the 31st of July, so it's not actually going to be out quite yet. It officially launches on Monday, so that's Monday the 4th of August.

So just a few days after this episode goes live. And you can check it out janetravis.co.uk/framework-first, and I'll share those details in the show notes for you too so you can go and check it out. And look, the good news as well is if you are already a Grow Your Private Practice member, then this is included in your membership.

No, you don't have to go and sign up for it, and it's there for you. No extra cost, just some more support to help you with your writing, and you're very welcome. So please go and check it out, and I can't wait to share it with you. So yes, one of the easiest ways to get into a flow when it comes to writing your blog post is using frameworks, and I've sorted that out for you. So yeah, feeling very excited about that.

Something else that's going to help you to get into a really good writing flow is to create an environment that actually works for you. So if blogging always feels like a massive slog, your setup might be part of the problem because you don't need a perfect desk set up for this. You know, you don't need to be inspired by inspirational quotes or candles unless you want to. If you want to go ahead, but what you do need is some space. And that space could be physical space or mental space, and that's gonna help your brain to focus.

So here are some of my favorite ways to create a writing flow. Now, if you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time at all, you'll know this is something I do all the time, and that is take yourself out of the house. And go to a cafe or go to a pub. There's something about getting out of the house that helps you to think and focus on your blog and the ambient noise.

And a good coffee can do wonders as well. You know, you can also work outside. You know, if it's a beautiful day, you can go and sit in the garden or go to the park and just spend some time in the sunshine. So, yeah, think about where you actually, you know, physically are going to sit and write your blog post.

And then there are a couple of things that you can try as well. So there's something that I use that's called Brainfm and I'll put a link in the show notes for you. Now, Brainfm is something you use, you basically put your earplugs in and you start Brain fm. And it's music that's designed to help you concentrate.

It's all like, it's all tested and it's all, it works. It's very clever and I find it really helps, especially if I'm being a bit procrastinating and I'm struggling to get started. I put my earphones in. I put brain affair. Brain FM on, and you can set it to help you with your, you know, help you with your creative flow and it really helps me.

So you could try doing that. Now, something else I do regularly is I use something called Focusmate. And Focusmate is Virtual Coworking with somebody else while you are quietly doing your thing and they're quietly doing their thing. So basically it could be somebody from anywhere in the world. You meet up for a set amount of time.

You tell them what you want to achieve, they tell you what you want to achieve. And then I just turn my, I leave my camera on, I turn off my microphone, and then I just work for that set amount of time. And there's something really magical knowing that there's somebody there with you doing it. It's pretty cool.

You get three of those a week for free. So it is definitely worth doing that. That's a great way to help you to get into a writing flow. And something else that is in my membership is I have something called a Get It Done Co-Working Session. So very similar to Focus Mate. You'll come and join the Get It Done Coworking session and we do exactly that.

You turn up, you say what you want to do and then you just do the work and that's included for free in your membership as well. So that's cool. Something else that you can try is the Pomodoro technique. You've maybe heard of this, I dunno if you've tried it. If you haven't, I very, very, very strongly recommend it because it's one of those things.

Again, that I use. Can you tell that I do a lot of procrastinating? So this is, again, working in short bursts of writing and then having some timed breaks. And I have actually written a blog about this, so I will share that again in the show notes and tell you exactly what to do. But basically you're going to write probably for 20 or 25 minutes.

And then you'll have a timed break, usually five minutes to stand up, walk about a bit, stretch your legs, and then come back and you do another burst of writing. So you do up to three times of doing the writing. And that's great. Again, it helps you to just really focus on what it is that you're doing. So yeah, those are some of the things that I regularly do.

There are probably other things that you can try. I would definitely. You know, say to you, try one of those things because they definitely work for me. So whether you are a therapist that's blogging from home or on the go, the right environment is gonna make all the difference for you. So the third thing that I would suggest that's really gonna help you to get and stay into that flow, and that is to write a shitty first draft. Wow, Jane. Rude. Well, it's one of the things that kills the writing flow is perfectionism. And what people sometimes try to do is to write their blog post.

In one go and kind of edit it as you go along. And that's just not the way to do it. That is not the best way to do it at all. So the best way to do it is to write your first draft. And you don't worry about your grammar, you don't worry about your spelling, you don't worry about anything. You just get what's in your head and you get it out, and it doesn't need to be polished.

So it's you telling yourself what you want to say before worrying about how it's gonna sound to anybody else. So it's about getting it out of your head and getting it down on paper or dictating it, whichever you do, and then you'd go back and tidy it up. Now, I did not come up with the term shitty first draft.

This is a well-known phrase in the copywriting community, but it really is something that's gonna help you because when you are in that first draft phase, you are just writing, you are in your headspace. You are letting yourself just have that creative flow without worrying about, you know, tarting it up.

So I, again, I highly recommend doing that. It's gonna save you a huge amount of time. So give it a go and let me know how you get on. And then the last thing that I would say is. Really notice what's going on for you. No. What is really blocking you? Because sometimes it's not about the writing. Sometimes it's not the writing that's really hard, it's the feelings around it.

So it could be things like, you know what if I don't sound professional? Or what if somebody I know reads it and then they have, I dunno, thoughts about me? Or what if I get it wrong or what if people laugh at me or think this, or think that. There are so many different things that can block you, but the problem with it really is that these are normal fears.

They're real. And they're normal and they're part of the process, which is a bit of a pain in the backside, but that's the way it is. So being in your creative flow doesn't mean that you have to feel confident the whole time. It just means that you've created enough kind of safety and structure and support to keep going despite getting the wobbles.

And that's really what we do together in the Grow Your Private Practice membership. And that's also what the framework is designed for, to reduce the resistance and to help you to move forward as easily as possible. So writing flow, it's not magic, you know, it's something that, you do yourself.

It's something that you build, you make it happen. And if you decide to have a method to help you with this writing flow, that's gonna help you enormously. So, if you are ready to make blog writing for your therapy practice easier.

Don't wait for inspiration. You know, build your own writing flow because if you are waiting for inspiration to strike, you could be waiting for a very long time. You know, the flow comes from repetition. You know, the flow comes from showing up even when you are not sure that you've got anything to say. The flow will happen if you make it easier for yourself to begin. So the next time you are staring at a blank Google document, try this. Instead, use one of my frameworks to reduce that overthinking.

Change up your environment because that's gonna help to shift your mindset. Stop aiming for for perfect and aim for progress and be kind to yourself and that part of you that feels very vulnerable and exposed. And if you want some help building your writing flow, that's literally what I'm here for. So look, if Blogging's been feeling like a bit of a slog, and if you keep getting stuck in those swirls of ideas and doubts and distractions, I really hope that this episode has helped you to see that a writing flow isn't some mystical, magical state.

It's something you can take steps to physically, practically build for yourself. So start with a structure. Create an environment that works for your brain. Lower the pressure. And remember, you don't have to get it perfect. You just have to get started. And like I say, if you want some practical support with that, go and check out the new framework first blogging method.

It's out on the 4th of August and it's designed to take the guesswork outta blogging. One solid structure. Delivered monthly to help you write faster and feel more in control. So like I say, please go and check it out and I'd love to know what you think of it. And again, if you are already in the Grow your private practice membership, it's gonna be included for you at no extra cost.

Like I say, you're very welcome. So that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, it's always progress over perfection. You are doing better than you think. Right. See you next week. You take care. Bye-bye.