Never write on an empty stomach, a #LinkedIn truism

I was scheduled to undergo a colonoscopy a few weeks ago. The morning of the procedure, there I was: hungry, the timing and effects of the prep meds heavy on my mind, anxiously anticipating my noon appointment, all of which had me quite distracted.

My mind was constricted. Other things were too.

I have already told you that I write blog posts weeks in advance. Well that morning, I reasoned, was a good time to whip off a few installments, to keep my mind on my work and off my growling stomach.

Wrong.

Every post I wrote that morning was dense narrative that should have been put forth more clearly, all a gastrointesti-mental mess.

I decided to save them all, thinking I could rework them later. I just trashed them. They were awful.

The moral of the story?

When you rewrite a section of your LinkedIn profile, do it with a clear viewpoint and fresh mind, from the gut (preferably a full one).

Not when you have too much on your plate. Or you have an ax to grind. It just won’t be your best effort.

Here’s a tested and workable way to write when a rough draft’s just not coming easily to you in one sitting:

1. Start with a blank Word screen and start writing.
2. Save it.
3. The next day do it again without referring to the previous day’s product.
4. Save it.
5. Repeat a few more times.
6. Then print them all on separate pieces of paper and use a highlighter marker to identify the best of each page.
7. Take these dayglo phrases and knit them together into sentences.
8. Into paragraphs.
9. Into a refined LinkedIn section.
10. The next day look at it again and make any changes to improve it.

You’d be amazed how well this works, and my clients with writers’ block comment how simple and clarifying this has been for them.

I use it too. Yep, I get writer’s block once in a while.

Don’t write when distracted. You’ll come across that way forever. Not a good impression to make, right?

copyright Marc W. Halpert 2021 | All rights reserved marchalpert@connect2collaborate.com | linkedin.com/in/marchalpert