how to deal with negative comments online
Career, Productivity Riley Smith Career, Productivity Riley Smith

how to deal with negative comments online

The unfortunate fact is that if you are going to make stuff and share it online, some people are going to be jerks about it.

Given this truth, I spoke to content creators to find out what they do to roll on and keep making stuff. I’ve also included some of my own ideas.

Take a look at these suggestions and try them out. Experiment to find the right fit so you have a game-plan when the haters hate!

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top 5 free apps for creators
Productivity, Career Riley Smith Productivity, Career Riley Smith

top 5 free apps for creators

These are my favorite free apps that I use nearly every day! All of these are extremely helpful, dare I say, necessary, for running my creative small business and making stuff.

Some of these do have paid versions, but I only use the free versions and find them very helpful.

Also, none of these apps have paid me anything. I just like them and think you’ll like them too!

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5 Focus Tips for ADHD
Productivity Riley Smith Productivity Riley Smith

5 Focus Tips for ADHD

I have ADHD! I only figured it out late in life. Before that, I felt like such a lazy failure because I couldn’t sit down like other people and just DO the thing.

Now I have a much better understanding of my brain and how to accomplish my goals. Here are five tips, some from my therapist, some from my experimentation, that have helped me immensely.

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How to get good feedback on creative projects
Productivity Riley Smith Productivity Riley Smith

How to get good feedback on creative projects

You’ve finished a draft! Congratulations! Time to break out the chocolate and maybe a glass of sparkly apple cider (or is that just me).

Once you’re done celebrating, the dreadful part is next: editing.

There’s a way to get good feedback, and there’s a way to get totally unhelpful feedback that leaves you feeling defensive and frustrated.

Let’s learn how to do the first one.

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How to write more, struggle less
Writing, Productivity Riley Smith Writing, Productivity Riley Smith

How to write more, struggle less

I’ve always been fairly prolific… compared to people who never wrote anything at all. Getting through a couple of pages each month felt like a huge win.

Now I write 50,000-80,000 words a month. I write a couple of pages every workday, usually more. Even on a bad day, I write about one thousand words.

What changed for me? How do you go from cranking out a few hundred words at the cost of your sanity and physical health, to getting into a writer flow that finishes novels on a regular basis?

Those questions are rhetorical. I’ll tell you how: with the five tips below, I learned to write more and struggle less.

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3 ways to make more time to write
Productivity, Writing Riley Smith Productivity, Writing Riley Smith

3 ways to make more time to write

“I’d finish my book idea, but I just don’t have time.”

We’ve all said it. Whether it’s about a novel, a blog, or really any creative endeavor, we’ve all made the claim that we just don’t have time.

Maybe it’s true. I can certainly imagine circumstances where you genuinely wouldn’t have time to sit down and write a novel. Life gets in the way.

But if you’re tired of life getting in the way, and you want to make more time for yourself, here are three ways that worked for me, even when I was still on that 9-5 corporate grind. (cue Dolly Parton’s smash hit “9 to 5”)

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Types of Burnout… and how to beat them
Productivity Riley Smith Productivity Riley Smith

Types of Burnout… and how to beat them

I’m a full-time writer, but that only works if you write a lot, and consistently. Normally, I average 4000-6000 words a day. But my career was at risk earlier this year.

I couldn’t write a damn thing. I could barely get out of bed.

I’ve had depression my whole life, but this felt a bit different. I kept asking myself, “What’s the point?” I felt so exhausted, I couldn’t bring myself to care about even the most important things in my life.

This is called burnout.

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7 ways you are sabotaging your own creativity
Productivity Riley Smith Productivity Riley Smith

7 ways you are sabotaging your own creativity

You, my friend, are a volcano that is waiting to BLOW!

All that creative energy bubbling under the surface…

But… you feel like you could be making more. Or, even worse, you’re not making anything at all!

HARD TRUTH ALERT...

If you’re feeling blocked up, chances are, you’re doing it to yourself *gasp*.

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