Pushing Through Analysis Paralysis

byemerald860

2.6K followers

5 years ago

Hey guys,

I've had to take a really hard look at the way I've been working lately. I'm writing this post because I know there's a lot of you out there that suffer from the same thing--the dreaded analysis paralysis.

So What is Analysis Paralysis?

If you have ever sat in front of your computer trying desperately to figure out where to get started on a task, you could be suffering from analysis paralysis which is essentially overanalysing a situation. So if you are wondering how to get started on writing an article, installing a plugin, updating a theme or anything around your business that you consider to be hard, you may find yourself doing a lot of research. This is essentially putting off a task you consider hard.

It's Not Perfect Enough!

So I was having a conversation with someone a week or so back and trying to explain why I can't write articles because, to me, they are never good enough. That's when the bell went off in my head. I overanalyze everything when it comes to my business! Here are some of my excuses:

• I can't write an article about [topic] because someone else has already written about it
• I can't find decent keywords for that topic
• I can't BS my way to 1,000 words on this topic
• It's going to take too long
• I don't know enough about this topic
• Research on this topic will take too long
• I fall into the big black hole and then 3 hours has passed

And the list goes on.....So here's what I discovered. That maybe being a perfectionist is really just an excuse to avoid pushing through stuff that seems hard. I've written and published over 120 posts on just one site. So there's really no excuse.

How To Overcome Analysis Paralysis

So now that I know WHY I'm not churning out articles, I can now address how I plan to overcome this. The answer is really quite simple. Here's how I plan to tackle this problem:

• It's not about perfection; it's about providing information
• I'm not going to worry about how long my articles are anymore. When I feel like I've said all I can say on a topic, it's done.
• It takes as long as it takes.
• Avoid distractions--especially going down the black hole that leads me to everything else except what I'm writing about.
• Stick to my writing plan
• Use my templates when it's appropriate to do so
• Commit to at least one article a week no matter what

The most important one of all--KEEP THE END GOAL IN MIND AT ALL TIMES which is publishing an article.

What If You Think You Cannot Write An Article?

There are a lot of great websites out there that have excellent content. If you think you can't write or you are having trouble writing, check out some sites of people you admire. Examine how they write their article.

How To Be A Better Writer

Take a topic you want to write about. Let's say that you want to write an article about widgets and you found an excellent keyword to focus on. Google that keyword. Take a look at the top 10 results for that keyword. Then start reading the articles. Try to figure out what made their article so great that it landed on Page 1 of Google. Do they have a lot of headings? Images? Internal links? Follow the links and see where they take you. Is it informative? Most importantly, is it genuine? Would you buy a widget from that person after reading that particular article?

Create A Template

This should go without saying but please DO NOT copy information from someone else's site. The idea here is to get ideas on how to make your articles better. We've heard it many times here--RINSE AND REPEAT. So if you write a lot of articles that use the same basic structure, such as review articles, consider creating a template that has basic heading structure so you don't have to reinvent the wheel each time. This will help you streamline your article writing process and save you time. I've actually created a template for myself that I use often.

Don't Cop Out and Just Go Do It!

So today is Friday and I've made a commitment to myself that I am going to publish an article NO MATTER WHAT today. My goal is to publish two articles a week at a bare minimum. I started this article a few days ago and I am not going to beat myself up over the fact that I didn't get it done sooner.

Ok. Time to sign off and go publish my article! Hope this has helped anyone who is feeling a little stuck in the writing process! And if you have any additional pearls of wisdom, please leave them in the comments below.

All the best,

Alanna