My Daily Writing System to Juggle Everything
A simple guide to outworking your competition.
In January of this year, I had an existential crisis.
I was writing my newsletter, social content, and for one ghostwriting client. I was trying to do one or two things well and make a living off that, but it wasn’t working.
I was struggling.
The hard truth that I learned is that you can build whatever you want, but the more niche the thing you try to build is, the more time it’s going to take to build it.
A niche grappling-related newsletter? It’s been a grind.
A fun grind, but definitely a grind.
I decided then and there to diversify and work harder to use writing to help me build the life that I wanted to live. That led to the Modern Writer, more ghostwriting, and much more.
Here’s the daily writing routine that I’ve been using throughout most of 2024.
I’m having the best year of my career.
It starts the night before.
Usually on Sunday nights, I’ll make a list of things that need to be written for the week.
That includes social content, newsletters, paid content, major projects I’m working on, and more. When I was writing for an agency earlier this year, I would make a list of all my clients and how much content for them needed to be written.
It was draining and a lot of work, but good money.
The more work you have, the more important your organization becomes. The only reason why I have been able to keep both my newsletters running for so long is because I have an organizational system.
I’ve got ADHD and I’m a bit scatter-brained, especially when life is crazy.
My simple system is that at night (not too late, usually at the end of the previous work day), I write down all of the things that still need to be done.
My girlfriend put me on making to-do lists last year, and it’s been huge for my writing productivity. Throughout my ADCC camp, where I was 6–8 hard training sessions per week, lifting weights 3 times, and going for film study, I was also writing 5 social posts per day, 4 articles per week, and tweeting up a storm.
So, here’s my routine:
Once I have my list, I wake up (hopefully fully rested), head downstairs, make a pot of coffee (or a cortado), and start up the computer.
Before I even look at my to-do list, I like to write in my journal for a few minutes. When I don’t write in the journal, I feel like my writing is not as good. It’s a small thing, but starting the day with a journal entry instead of “work” is a ritual that is sacred to me.
In the morning, after journaling, I hit the most pressing tasks.
Most days, I have my first workout at noon, so I write from about 8:30–9 until about 11:15 or 11:30. I also try to have a sense of finality over this period. Pretty much all of my articles are written in one sitting. If I’m writing something that just can’t be finished in one sitting, I try to create a detailed outline so that I can finish it later to the best of my ability.
I also don’t social media too much in the morning. I don’t read. I sometimes might open a newsletter from a creator I like, but I am not spending too much time in the morning consuming — it’s all creation.
I leave my apartment in the morning ready to train and get back to work.
Then, inevitably, I get hit by a bus.
Training is a bit brutal here in Austin.
It’s hotter than hell, half my rounds (at least) are with world-class grapplers, and I get submitted pretty much every day. I leave the training room exhausted.
When I had the agency gig, the afternoon was spent cramming more content out before I could go lift weights and get an escape from work.
Nowadays, after hard training and several hours of hard work, I take a pretty chill afternoon. Usually, I do some work around the house, read a book, tie up loose ends from my morning work session, and take the dogs out. 30 minutes outside per day in Austin in the summer is no easy task.
Occasionally, I will do an afternoon writing session, but I don’t do this often. I only put extra hours in when I need to — when there’s something important that I’m working on.
When I was finishing the content of my book, I did this a lot. When I was writing for the agency, I did this all the time. You need to know when to sprint and when to rest.
If there’s anything that I have learned over my years of writing, it’s that good content is better than just “content”. Volume is important because it’s how you get good, but don’t just post to post, post to say something.
I generally do my afternoon workout around 4 or 5, and at this point, I completely stop writing for the day.
I think most people don’t realize that several hours of deep work per day is far more valuable than writing all day long. I try to avoid writing sessions where I’m just pumping out words. This is how you burn out and it’s also how your content stagnates.
So after my last workout (or right before), I make a list of the things that I am going to work on tomorrow. The goal is to build a pace in my morning work sessions that slowly expands to fill the capacity of everything that needs to be done.
I generally write 6–7 days per week just like Jiu-Jitsu training. I get burned out of writing just like BJJ and I rest when I need to.
Then, in the evenings, I try to chill. I try not to think about work, besides just teaching my Jiu-Jitsu class.
I find that when I’m too wrapped up in work (whether it’s BJJ or writing), it interferes with my sleep, my quality of life, and my mental health.
If the reason for working late is not a good one, I know I have to re-orient my priorities.
Closing Thoughts
The reason I share these routine articles is because I don’t have a strict routine like Ben Franklin did.
I’m not Ben Franklin, I’m a regular person who lives in the 21st century where we’ve got smartphones, cat videos, social media, and distractions everywhere.
We live in a cornucopia of distraction.
I also just don’t enjoy doing the exact same things every single day. I get bored and I enjoy having variance in my life. I think most people are like this.
That’s why, instead of giving you an OCD-ish hourly routine where I tell you where I am every single moment of every single day, I wanted to just give you the gist, along with the key things that help me stay focused during my days and weeks.
Things like:
Journaling daily
Making to-do lists (and updating them)
Going to training at the same time every day
Going to bed at the same time every day
Cutting off work at a reasonable hour
These simple things help me stay on track and productive so that I can reach my goals. Hopefully, you can build your routine and find the key habits that help you get to where you want to go.
The Grappler’s Diary is sponsored by BJJ Mental Models, the world’s #1 Jiu-Jitsu podcast!
This week we're joined again by Drew Foster!
Best known as u/darce_knight on Reddit and @drewdarce on Instagram, Drew is a black belt instructor at Elevate MMA in North Carolina, the host of The Neon Belly Podcast, and the host of the State of the Meta podcast on BJJ Mental Models Premium. In this episode, Drew breaks down the mechanics behind the anaconda choke.
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Additionally, the gym offers top-class recovery tools like cryo, red light therapy, and sauna, and a wide array of classes like yoga, HIIT, and athletic training. They have everything you need to reach your potential on and off of the mat. (Hit this link to view a video tour of Gym 1801 by me!)
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