I wrote a book while working full-time. These 3 productivity habits helped me do it without sacrificing sleep.

"When I got my book deal with HarperCollins UK, I was thrilled that a childhood dream of becoming an author was coming true. Then, reality hit. I had less than a year to research and write an 80,000-word book. I had never taken on anything this big before, and certainly not alongside a full-time job. The prospect of juggling a 9-to-5 as a journalist with such a time-consuming passion project felt terrifying."

"One said he wrote in the twilight hours; the other woke up at the crack of dawn. I also looked for clues from people I interviewed at work, like 21-year-old Nathaneo Johnson, who ran a startup while studying at Yale and told me he often put in 18-hour days. It became clear they found time for their passion projects by eating into their sleep. But sacrificing precious shut-eye was not something I was prepared to do."

A book of 80,000 words was researched and written in fewer than twelve months while the researcher maintained a full-time journalism job. Time pressure required intentional scheduling and productivity habits. Sleep remained non-negotiable, so leisure time was reclaimed rather than cutting sleep. Productivity tools such as Google Sheets and ChatGPT streamlined research, organization, and repetitive tasks, freeing hours for writing. Consistent daily progress and celebrating small wins sustained momentum. The process produced a completed manuscript within the deadline without sacrificing sleep or overall well-being.

Read at Business Insider