Daily writing
Write something every day, published or not
A newsletter, a book manuscript, notes, a blog: a daily session treated as non-negotiable regardless of how it goes. The consistent claim is that writing is how you find out whether you actually understand something. Several people in this directory built entire careers out of this one habit.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Ali AbdaalDoes it
Doctor turned YouTuber · author of Feel-Good Productivity
Protects the first four hours of his mornings for writing.
Source: aliabdaal.com: 10 time management tips - Austin KleonDoes it
Writer and artist · Steal Like an Artist
Blogging and writing in his diary are the two things he tries to do every day, whatever else is going on. First on his own list of writing rules: do something small every day and let it add up.
Source: AustinKleon.com: 10 things about writing - Cal NewportDoes it
Computer science professor · author of Deep Work
First thing on arriving at his office he writes; two books came out of the 9 to 10:30am slot.
Source: calnewport.com: my focus-centric work day - Morgan HouselDoes it
Writer · The Psychology of Money
Opens a piece by throwing things on the page without knowing where it ends up, walks, then comes back and picks at what is there. Probably the worst writing advice anyone could take from him, he warned Tim Ferriss. Movement is what forms the new thought and moves the piece along, he reckons.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: Morgan Housel on Contrarian Money and Writing Advice (#702) - Ryan HolidayDoes it
Writer · The Daily Stoic
Twenty years of writing almost every day, by his own count, plus a Stoic meditation emailed out every morning for close to nine years. He calls the daily email a forcing function: it gives him reps he would never get from publishing books alone.
Source: RyanHoliday.net: 34 Lessons From Writing Every Day for Two Decades“I have been writing almost every day for twenty years. How many millions of words is that? I don’t know.”
RyanHoliday.net: 34 Lessons From Writing Every Day for Two Decades (opens in a new tab) · 2 Jul 2025 - Seth GodinDoes it
Author · Seth's Blog, published daily
Has written every word of the blog himself, and says he does not understand outsourcing something that personal. By his own count in late 2017 the total sat past 7,000 posts and 2.7 million words, with no day missed in many years. The secret he gives for a daily blog is to write every day, queue it up and publish.
Source: seths.blog: This is post 7,000“Writer’s block isn’t hard to cure. Just write poorly. Continue to write poorly, in public, until you can write better. I believe that everyone should write in public.”
seths.blog: Talker's block (opens in a new tab) · 23 Sep 2011 - Stephen HackettDoes it
Technology writer · 512 Pixels and Relay
A friend posting his own post count set him counting in June 2025. The tally: 11,337 posts on 512 Pixels across nearly seventeen years, adding up to roughly 1.66 million words.
Source: 512 Pixels: Some Random Blog Numbers - Steven BartlettDoes it
Entrepreneur · The Diary of a CEO
Newsletters and books both get written regularly; writing is how he processes what the interviews taught him.
Source: The Diary of a CEO podcast - Adam GrantRecommends
Organizational psychologist · Think Again
Outsourcing most writing to AI is a mistake, he wrote in his newsletter, because something valuable goes missing even when the output reads well. Writing hunches down is how ideas sharpen, on his argument. He counts the drafting as the thinking.
Source: Granted: How to Pick a Job, Say No and Sorry, and Avoid AI Pitfalls“Jotting down intuitions and spelling out hunches is how we develop and refine our ideas. Writing is where we do our best thinking.”
Granted: How to Pick a Job, Say No and Sorry, and Avoid AI Pitfalls (opens in a new tab) · 29 Jun 2025 - Shane ParrishRecommends
Writer · Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project
Told his teenage son that writing your thoughts out is one of the ways you learn to think for yourself, after the boy asked to hand the essay to AI instead. Writing, he argues, is the process by which you discover you do not understand something.
Source: fs.blog: writing to think
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity or focus.
- HabitFREE, no cost
Daily reading
A fixed daily reading block, usually books rather than feeds
On record from 25 of 62 tracked people: 23 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Early rising
A fixed, early wake time, often before anyone else is awake
On record from 11 of 62 tracked people: 10 do it, 1 has discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Phone-free first hour
No email, news or social media until you have done something of your own
On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Margin notes
Writing in the margins while reading, especially where you disagree with the author
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Thinking retreats
Blocks of time cleared of the schedule to sit with one hard problem
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 has discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Written goal sheet
Goals written down, in numbers, and kept where you see them every morning
On record from 3 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.