If you want to lead, if you want to change things or make an impact in your market, you’re going to need Influence.

To have Influence in this highly digital, highly connected world. You are going to need to create content that matters. Emails, blog posts, videos, podcasts, content that moves people and improves their lives.

I’ve discovered a poorly kept secret. It’s a key to creating more meaningful content, more rapidly.

Don’t do anything!

I know that sounds contradictory or even ridiculous.

However more and more I’m finding, it works a charm. If you can outline the content you want to create, and leave it. When you return to finish the creation process, the content will just flow onto the page, camera, mindmap, canvas, whatever.

When I just leave it, sleep on it (preferably). I come back to creating, back to the page (so to speak), the meat of what I’m creating flows out.

Use A Staged Process

With so much opportunity in the our lives it’s easy to feel harried. You might feel you need to get something out fast, or you’ll miss the boat. However if you use a staged approach to content creation, you will create better content and more of it.

Try this 6 step approach.

Outline It > Sleep On It > Chunk It Out > Leave It > Polish It > Publish It

This is very much inline with the technique Ed Dale has taught in The Challenge for the last few years. It sounded so simple that I ignored it. Now with my hand on my heart I’m telling you, it works.

Outline It

Use a mindmap, back of an envelope, Evernote, Simple Note to get down the main points. There should only be 2 or 3.

Don’t force things, just work quickly and dump what’s in your brain, then leave it.

Sleep On It

As I’m sure you know there are many parts to our mind. The mind is often explained as having two parts; the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.

When we force ourselves to pump out content on the spot, we don’t give our subconscious mind it’s opportunity to shine. To work on our content in the background, and provide us with the sparks of inspiration, that make OK content into Compelling Content.

When you outline your content and then leave it or sleep on it, your subconscious works away in the background. If you don’t believe me try it.

Try it half a dozen times and you’ll be amazed how much easier it is to complete the blog post, video script, podcast interview, etc once you’ve let it breathe.

Chunk It Out

Now you’ve given your content time to breath, now it’s time to fill in the gaps. I find it valuable to do this rapidly. I use a version of the Pomodoro Technique to keep me focussed and creating with mild urgency.

Not the clenched teeth, slam-this-thing-out panic, that I have done in the past, but with creating with focus and intent.

Leave It

If I can, I then like to leave the content again, even if for an hour. Preferably not a week or a month, just stop and do something else for a little while. Then you can come back to your work with fresh eyes.

Polish It

Without labouring come back to your content, check spelling and grammar (if it’s text), check the details, make sure nothing is missing.

You might be able to write a better headline at this point. If fact I recommend writing a “sacrificial” headline or title early, knowing that a better one will come to you in the Polish stage.

Publish It

You’re done. Publish that sucker.

Support The Process

After you have been doing this for a while you will have a repository of outlines, a workbench on the content you’re working on, and a growing mountain of published work.

You might find it helpful to create a Kanban Wall 1 to track content through the creation process and spot gaps and opportunities.

I’d love to hear about your content creation process. What works for you?

I use this process every day. This process, in combination with writing in Markdown, has massively increased my output. But writing in Markdown 2, that’s another story.

One that’s already outlined and ready to write.