How To Write When You’re Exhausted and Don’t Feel Like Writing

You know you want to write, but your energy levels are low.

Not just low, they’re at rock bottom.

You just want to back to sleep.

Or maybe you just want to sit on the couch and watch some Netflix, right?

The remote is next to you. The screen is right in front of you.

You planned on writing.

You even pictured yourself looking a lot like this.

But then the time to write comes, and you realized you are exhausted.

Soon you find yourself like this.

When your eyes open later, something inside feels a little empty. You’re unsatisfied.

You really wanted to write, but it just didn’t happen.

I’ve been there.

What can you do?

First, stop dreaming about the perfect writing scenario in your mind.

It’s easy to assume that when you sit down to write and the words just flow right out of you. You’ll write about 10,000 words in the next hour. That’s the dream, right?

Instead, when you sit down to write, your son has a bad dream. Or maybe your spouse gets a migraine. Your computer crashes. Your blog gets hacked. There are a billion different things that can happen.

So to avoid these problems, you need a simple writing plan.

Form a SIMPLE Writing Plan

Whoa, what do I mean by writing plan? Sounds complicated, right? I promise it’s not. You only have to answer two simple questions.

1. What specifically do you want to write about? You must have an answer to this question. Otherwise, you’ll have half-finished work. You’ve got your bow (the blank page) and your arrows (words), you must pick a target (a writing project). This can be a blog post, an essay, a short story or even a chapter or scene in a novel.

2. How many words do you want to write? (Or, what is the least amount of words you want to have on the page at the end of the day?) For you, it may be 300. Maybe it is 1,000. The number really doesn’t matter, but setting a goal helps. Whatever the number is, stick with it. Get stubborn. Sink your teeth into that word count and don’t let go.

As you write, a domino effect of momentum builds over time. This is one reason why the feast or famine approach is not sustainable and leads to burnout. It’s better to write 200 words a day for a week than to write 2,000 words once a month.

3. Forget word count and just focus on 15 minutes. It’s possible that a word count won’t help you right now. It may even discourage you. Instead just set a timer for 15 minutes and write. Even it’s lousy — that’s okay. This simple, achievable goal will often help shake off the rust and may even lead to more writing. So if you feel better after meeting the 15-minute goal, keep writing! (If you’d like more help with this, I’ve created a free 5-Day Write First Challenge that breaks this approach down into more detail.)

4. After you’ve written, celebrate in some small way. Maybe it’s going out for a cup of coffee or watching your favorite TV show. Whatever you decide, it is really helpful to celebrate in some small way. For some reason, it’s often easier to focus on failure than it is to celebrate the victories.

Commit to Showing Up

Why is this so important? When you write regularly, you become more disciplined. You’re also taking away power from the muse. As wonderful as it sounds to be inspired every day, you won’t be.

There will be times that you may have to go through the motions and put in the work anyways — even when you don’t feel like it.

The Take Away

Being online is like being a kid in the candy store, right? You’ve got a few billion websites just a couple clicks away. Not the best environment for building up the discipline consistent writing, is it?

Many of us are living in a state of distraction ALL DAY LONG. Start saying no. Start making intentional choices that will help you write.

The decision to write is not just one decision. You must protect your mental energy and make writing a top priority.

For every writer at every level making and defending writing time is a lifelong battle.

But you can do it. No doubt.

I’d like to leave you with this fantastic quote from Joyce Carol Oates.

“One must be pitiless about this matter of “mood.” In a sense, the writing will create the mood. Generally, I’ve found this to be true: I’ve forced myself to begin writing when I’ve been utterly exhausted, when I’ve felt my should as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes… and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.” Joyce Carol Oates

If you would like some help developing your writing habit, I’ve created a 5-Day email course for you called the Write First Challenge. It’s absolutely free, and I think it will encourage you to put more words on the page.