3 Tiny Habits That Will Train Your Subconscious to Write for You

In just 10 minutes a day

Hello friends,

I used to struggle with writing on Saturday mornings. I’d stare at a blank computer screen and not know where to start. Or I had pages of notes, but no structure.

Then I adopted three habits into my week, and it was easier to write on the weekends.

Implementing the first habit was the hardest. Daily, I’d stare at this task and do nothing: “Read your collected notes about your article for five minutes.” I was finally able to make the three habits stick after I learned the story of the shoemaker’s elves.

How Elves Helped a Shoemaker Make Shoes While He Slept

A poor shoemaker had enough money to buy one piece of leather. After cutting the leather for a single pair of shoes, he crawled into bed. The next morning, he stumbled toward his work table. But the leather pieces were gone. In their place was a pair of stunning handcrafted shoes.

After the shoemaker sold the shoes, he bought dinner and another piece of leather. After cutting leather pieces for shoes, he did not go to bed. Instead, he hid behind his workshop and peered through the window. At midnight, two tiny elves hopped onto the shoemaker’s table and sewed the leather pieces into exquisite shoes.

Every day, the shoemaker cut out leather for shoes, and every morning, a new pair of elf-made shoes waited for him.¹

Writers don’t have elves, but we can create the next best thing: an active subconscious. We can create conditions where our minds work on our articles when we’re not typing away at our computers.

1. Work on Your Article for a Few Minutes Each Day

Every day, I work on my article for five to twenty minutes. I was able to integrate this article-thinking habit into my daily life because of habit bundling.

First, I identified a habit I practice often: I go to the gym at least five days a week. I have a habit of cycling on the recumbent bike. I combined that existing cycling habit with my new habit. Whenever I cycle, I spend time reflecting on my article such as reading my collected ideas.

When I first started this habit bundling, it took a couple of tries to make the new habit stick. Initially, when I cycled, my first instinct was to open Instagram. But I’d encourage myself, “Think about your ‘How to Create Happier Memories’ article for ten minutes. Then, as a reward, you can entertain yourself.”

Often, once I started to think about my article ideas, my mind would be engaged.

2. Ask an Intersection-Seeking Question

I used to ask myself, “What will I write about this weekend?” Broad, open-ended questions might generate lots of different ideas, but they didn’t help me make progress. When the weekend came, at best, all I had was a vague article idea. Nothing else. No placeholder title, subtitle, or section headings for my article.

Things changed when I asked questions that look for an intersection between two ideas. Here are three examples:

• If I have a specific habit that causes problems for me, I try to understand its source. I do this by asking a question in this format: “How does this unhelpful habit increase this unfavorable result?” Here’s an example of a problem-exploring question: “How does repeating the word ‘nothing’ when I speak make me feel bad about myself?”

• I ask myself a solution-seeking question with this sentence structure: “How can this concept/tool/solution help me achieve this benefit?” For example, “How can the same approach I use to plan a dinner party help me generate lots of article ideas?”

• I ask myself a list-creating solution-seeking question such as "What are five ways to do this and get that?” For the article you’re reading now, it was inspired by this question: “What steps will coax my subconscious mind to think of article ideas?”

These questions narrow down the scope of my inquiry. But more importantly, intersection-seeking questions create an unresolved tension in my mind. They kick my mind into problem-solving mode. Determined to find the answer, my subconscious tinkers away at this task, just like the shoemaker’s elves worked while the shoemaker slept.

3. Add Silence Into Your Day

To create more space for my subconscious to do its work, I added more silence to my day. This is the third habit that helped. Without it, my subconscious wouldn’t have time to think about my article.

I love listening to podcasts and music. They entertain me when I fold laundry and clean kitchen surfaces. I realized there was a trade-off. I liked the entertainment, but I allowed the podcasts and music to occupy my brain. As a result, my brain could not occupy itself with creativity.

Now, I give myself some time to think. When I wash dishes, instead of music, I keep asking myself my intersection-seeking question such as “What mantra will calm my anxious mind?” When my mind wanders, I gently bring my attention back to my question. After a few minutes, I start seeing benefits: my subconscious mind starts sending me ideas.

The key is to create conditions that allow the mind to relax. This is why silence helps.

When I’m looking for ideas for my article, I add more silence into my life. Instead of showering, I’ll soak in a bath and ask myself my selected question. I also take walks just to ruminate about my article’s question.

Making Habits Stick

The shoemaker’s story helped me to stop procrastinating.

Whenever I sigh, “I don’t want to think about my article. I want to be entertained. When I’m cycling, I want to scroll through Instagram and find gifs that make me laugh. Folding laundry is more fun with Taylor Swift.”

But I picture the shoemaker saying, “If I take a few minutes to cut up the leather, later the elves will create shoes for me.”

This scene encourages me to practice my three habits. I remind myself, “If I take a few minutes to read my initial article ideas, later my subconscious writing elves will create an outline for me.” ² Or I tell myself, “If I embrace silence and ponder my intersection-seeking question, my subconscious will suggest subheadings for my article.”

Your Turn

1. Choose a habit you practice several times a week. When you practice this habit, think about your article. Examples are showering, running, commuting to work, and walking your dog.

2. Select an article idea. Form an intersection-seeking question. Write your question on a sticky note, and post it where you’ll see it often.

3. Identify activities when you can ask yourself your article’s question in silence. Examples are eating breakfast, washing dishes, folding laundry, watering plants, making dinner, meditating, and taking a walk.

Together, these three habits create time for your subconscious to think about your article’s structure. Partnering with your subconscious will streamline your writing process and reduce writer’s block.

Best wishes with your writing,

Jenny

References:

¹ Jacob W. Grimm and Wilhelm K. Grimm, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (Princeton University Press, 2014), 132–135.

² This article was inspired from Andy J. Pizza’s Creative Pep Talk episode 436 when Lisa Marchiano said, “I try to write 300 words….I cut out the leather and the unconscious is making the beautiful shoes so that when I wake up in the morning, I have another 300 words.”