How Am I Using Walking and Audio Recordings to Push the Writing of My Next Book?

Feeling Stuck

Lately, I've felt like there's no time to write my next book. The habit of working on it has slipped away. Writing about Service Design Principles felt like work without any pleasure. It seemed like sitting at my computer to write was a waste of time when there were so many other tasks to handle, from admin work to volunteering.

Let's not be so precious

Today, I tried something different. For months, I've been using audio recordings for my Q&A articles and blog posts. But for some reason, I hesitated to use this method for my book. Maybe I was too precious about keeping the writing fully manual. But after weeks of no progress on this book.

So, today, after dropping my kid off at school, I used the walk back home to record audio notes. Instead of stopping when I got home, I continued walking along the river, recording new ideas and service design principles as they came to me.

The Power of Action

This reminded me that action attracts action. I had been stuck in an inaction loop, but once I started recording, it was hard to stop. Walking made me feel like I was making progress even when just thinking. Progress attracts more progress.

The impact

In just one day of going out and walking I recorded 19 Service Design Principles drafts!

Benefits of Walking and Recording

This approach is not only great for "writing", but it has also a few other benefits:

1. Exercise: Walking is light exercise that's good for both body and mind.

2. Focus: While walking, I can't use my laptop or do chores, so the only think I can do is think and speak.

3. Joy: Writing feels less like a chore and more like a luxury when done this way.

4. Low Effort: Recording audio notes is easy with tools like AudioPen that transcribe and clean them up.

Back when I had no kid and more flexible days, I was taking the train the through beautiful Swiss mountains to write. Now, a 30-minute walk by the river in Basel does the trick.

Written with AI help
This article is based on an audio note I took while walking that was then transcribed and cleaned with Audiopen. I then reviewed and improved the text by hand.