This list contains my favorite links on the Internet on writing, creativity, productivity, and other self-help topics.

Enjoy!

Writing

A place to write: Most stress comes from not carrying out what you say you'll do. Say you want to write and publish a blog post but don’t it, you'll feel irritated for the rest of the day. Seth Godin writes one post every day on his website. In this recent blog, he expains why he does it: “When we remove the pre (finding the pen, the paper, the notebook, the software) and the post (finding a way to publish it), it turns out that we write more often, and writing more often leads to writing better.” By writing and publishing daily, you can remove the procrastination and excuses to do you work.

How to Arouse the Magic of Sensory Words (Even in Business Writing!)

Become a master of metaphor and multiply your marketing

Here's how Jon Morrow writes

The ultimate guide to writing a blog post

Why do we make things?

The ultimate guide to writing online

How to cure writer's block forever?: There is much advice on writer’s block but David Perell’s is my favorite: “Don’t write with a blank page”. He argues, most of the writer’s writing happens outside the computer, in conversation, books, and life experiences. So always stock your supplies in advance. Keep a note-taking system. By the time you sit down to write, you’ll have so much information you can’t help but write. If you suffer from a constant creative block, I recommend heading over here to get a permanent cure.

Note-taking and information consumption

How To Take Good Notes

Linking your thinking with Obsidian

How to take smart note

Zettelkasten — How One German Scholar Was So Freakishly Productive: Most note-taking systems fall short because they allow you to keep but not to see how ideas are connected together. That's exactly what Zettelkasten note-taking system is for: “Zettelkasten” is a German word made up of 2 components: “Zettel” which means note or slip of paper. "Kasten" which means a box. A “Zettelkasten” is simply a box of notes in English. It is a method of organizing your notes in a system to "learn better, think better, publish more and be more creative". In many ways, it resembles wikipedia where each page doesn’t just show a single concept but provides access to multiple related concepts via hyperlinks. Learn more in this post by David B. Clear on how you can apply Zettelkasten method to capture, organize and ramp up your content creation.

The Top 3 Most Effective Ways to Take Notes While Reading

The T-Shaped Information Diet: If you want better outputs, you need better inputs. If you want better inputs, you need to consume from better sources. How to identify the high-quality sources from the sub-standard? The answer is to adopt T-shape information diet. The T-shape information diet not only makes you a smarter consumer but also saves time for your creation process. Learn how to cultivate a high-quality information diet in this essay by Nick deWilde.

How to go on an information diet: It’s not easy to cut down on consumption. Information makes us feel safe — how excited it is to learn something new or be the first only person in the group to know about the latest news. The key is not to consume less but rather to be mindful of what you consume. As Clay Johnson puts it: “Eat low on the sort of information food chain, and stick close to sources.” This article by Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a quick guide to help you adopt a better content diet and get more out of your consumption.

Audience Growth

Create 100 content in the next 100 days to grow your audience.

Consistent generosity, reliable delight.

1000 fans, try 100

How can I promote my content: When I stumbled upon this article by Harry at Marketing Example, I'm blown away by the simplicity of his method. The method can be summed up in just 3 sentences:Create value on other platforms; Transfer this value to your own platform; Store value with your email list. I can't recommend this enough if you want to push your content around the internet in a structured way.

True fans fundamentals: Success lies in the fundamentals. You don’t need fancy tools nor special knowledge to amass super fans. You only need to master the basics. In this short read, Rob Hardy discloses 6 fundamental ideas to help you connect more deeply with your audience and earn true fans. Here’s my favorite: “True fandom is all about emotional connection.” To make your audience root for you, you need to make them feel something. And you need to create a meaningful impact on their life.

10 strategies to keep writing

Creativity

Everything is a remix remastered:

Copywriting

Productivity

How I Became a More Productive Writer by Doing This One, Simple Thing: The problem with these methods is they shift your mind between different projects. Although your mind is good at shifting, it comes at a high cost of your focus. Let’s try something else — Instead of dividing your attention to many tasks, focus on ONE thing for a day. Check out this blog post where Carol Tice, creator of Make A Living Writing, shares how working on one assignment a day makes her a more productive writer.

TRJ #14. Nir Eyal: How To Become Indistractable & Control Your Attention:

What to Do When You Have Too Many Ideas and Not Enough Time: Your ideas are like rosebuds. There are plenty. As part of growth, you keep getting exposed to new ideas and wanna carry them out. But working on too many ideas at once will burn you out. To live a productive and optimal life, you need to ‘prune’ your ideas regularly too. Take this advice: “Cut out ideas and tasks that are good, but not great.” Focus on doing the ‘great’ that produce maximum result. Then you’ll get focused, have less stress, and have more time to do what you love.

For contemplation

What If You Could Do It All Over?: I was reminded of the theory of the parallel universe as reading this article by Joshua Rothman. There are many possibilities where my life could end up to be. Then I imagined a deity give me the wish to exchange life with another version of mine in a parallel universe. My heart’s racing. “But on one condition”, she said, “You must give up everything you have now, including your friends and family”. I halted. Sometimes in life, it’s wise to admit: “Much must be left unsaid, unseen, unlived.”

The mistake smart people make: Being in motion vs taking action: Motion means preparing, learning, or strategizing. Action means making it happen. Only the latter brings you the result. Then why do most people prefer motion to action? Because taking action is risky. Staying in motion is safer. It makes us feel like we're making progress without the risk of failures. How to stop preparing and start doing?