Jeffrey Archer has written over forty books over the last forty years, selling nearly 500 million copies worldwide. From beginnings as a politician in the UK to winding up in prison in the early 2000s for perjury, no one could claim Archer has lived an unremarkable life. Today, he keeps himself out of trouble doing what he is best at; writing books.

This is the first in a series of articles I will write on the productivity habits of successful people.

The writing process.

Jeffrey Archer has a unique writing process which involves six hours of writing each day and two hours reviewing what he has written. He begins his writing day at 6:00 AM, where he will write for two hours. At 8:00 AM, he takes a break for two hours and returns to writing at 10:00 AM. He will then do a further two-hour writing session and, at 12:00 PM, take another two-hour break.

It’s during his 12 until 2 PM break; he will go for a walk and exercise before returning to his desk to write again from 2 until 4 PM. There follows another two-hour break before finishing the day with a two-hour review of what he wrote that day between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM.

What’s remarkable about this routine is its length. Authors such as John Grisham will write for four hours a day and then stop. Archer writes for six hours, with an additional two hours for review. It’s a long day.

However, there are some interesting productivity lessons here:

Know your core work.

Authors, in general, and Archer, in particular, know their core work. That is, to write. Each day is focused on writing, and while they are writing, nothing is allowed to interrupt or distract them.

Jeffrey Archer still has obligations to his publisher, publicist and readers, yet he knows he would not get any writing done if he spent all day answering their questions and queries.

What is your core work? What are you employed to do? How much time do you spend on your core work each day? No matter what you are hired to do, something is at the core of your work. Whether you are a truck driver, a teacher, or a doctor, you have a set of core work activities that you should prioritise over everything else. Your day needs to be built around doing your core work activities.

Allow time for other things.

If you look at Archer’s day, he has six hours of non-writing time. During that time, he will eat and exercise, but also he has time for dealing with communications, administrative tasks and any other business he may need to take care of.

Ask yourself if you had four to six hours each day to deal with other people’s questions and requests, would that be enough time? For most of you, I would guess the answer would be yes. If that is the case, would it be possible to block two hours each day for complete focused work on your core work?

Jeffrey Archer has a very active social life; it’s entirely possible in his daily schedule to have lunch with a friend and do his daily walk in his 12 until 2 PM break. His 4 PM to 6 PM break could be dedicated to dealing with his communications for the day. In his schedule, there is more than enough time to complete his non-core work and still spend six hours each day doing core work.

Be disciplined.

Years spent studying people who are successful at what they do has shown me the key ingredient to their success is self-discipline.

In a recent talk, Archer gave to the Oxford University Union, he spoke of some mornings waking up and thinking, ‘do I have to go through this again?’, yet he will still pull himself out of bed and head to his office. He knows once he writes the first sentence, the hardest part of the day is done.

In the same talk, Archer said he has not had to work since publishing his third book, Kane And Abel, in 1979. The success of that book made him a multi-millionaire, yet he still gets out of bed at 5:30 AM every morning.

Do you ever not do something because you don’t feel like doing it? Even though you know it needs to be done or there will be consequences? What’s stopping you is not the work; it’s taking the first step. This is why if you want to begin an exercise programme, the best thing you can do is to get dressed into your workout clothes and head out the door. Once you’ve done that, you’re committed.

The hardest part is the first step or sentence. Focus on doing that one thing, and the rest will follow.

Love the process.

All authors I have learned about fall in love with the process of writing. Almost all of them follow the same or similar routine daily. That predictability makes it easy for them to overcome distractions, feelings of not being in the mood and get the work done consistently.

When Archer sits down to write the first sentence of a new book, he is twelve drafts and nine months away from a finished book. If he were focused on the result, it would be demoralising and painful. Instead, he knows if he follows a process each day for the next nine months, the book will, in effect, write itself.

It’s the process that will get you through difficult days and give you the results you want. If you wish to lose weight, write a book or do your PhD, you will not get there on the first day. You won’t get there in the first week or month. It takes time and a process. Find your process and fall in love with it.

No matter what you do, there’s something you can learn from the writing success of Jeffrey Archer. He’s 83 years old now, no longer needs to earn money, and has a happy family life, yet he still gets up in the morning and writes. Like all of us, he has days when he doesn’t feel in the mood, yet he will still go to the office and write. He knows his core work and makes sure he spends time on that core work each day. It’s that focus on the core work that delivers a book each year.

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