How I’ve Found Time To Write 3 Books in Medical School

The title should be how I’ve found time to write almost 4 books in medical school because this post was inspired as I’m writing and finishing my newest book. 

I know this is not a post you’ve searched for but were in fact intrigued about.

I want to give you a little behind the scene of what it takes to create the books that I have written thus far and what’s going into my current one.

Spoiler Alert – there’s nothing special about me. There’s nothing that I’m doing which you can’t duplicate. Even if you have no desire to write a book (I’m sure that’s many of you), you can still use some of the principles to your own side hobby.

Now as an added challenge to myself – I’m trying to write this post in 25 minutes.

I want to test what I’m teaching in this post and so thought putting a timer on the final product would be fun. (Plus the Starbucks Barista seems to want me to leave if I’m not going to buy anything else. And I have to use the restroom after all the coffee I’ve had while here.)

So book writing and how I do it – let’s get into it. No time to waste. (My bladder can’t take it much longer anyway).

Why I Write Books in Medical School:

Simple answer – I love teaching. I love being creative.

But full truth – I don’t consider myself to be a great writer. I’ve improved over the years, sure. But I still have a long way to go.

And that’s what I enjoy the most about it. There’s no finish line.

There’s no “I made it” feeling which comes with writing. Every day is just another opportunity to be better and reach/teach another individual who has never heard of you.

Now why do I write about medical school? Well, as weird as it sounds – I enjoy teaching how to hack the medical school experience.

I just got off of coaching call yesterday and the student said: “Man you just look like you have med school figured out”. I assured him it hasn’t always been like that, but I have worked on overcoming what most med students take as just being part of the process.

The stress, amount of time studying, sacrificing your other hobbies – I didn’t want to accept that all of those had to be true.

And over time I discovered that they didn’t have to be. It required active strategies to overcome them, but med school can be fun and enjoyable.

And once you have multiple of this “Hallaleuh” like experience, you bet your stethoscope that you’d want to share them with any stressed out med student (which is 99% of them.)

So that’s why. If you’re reading this post then you’ve likely looked for help to make your medical journey easier. I hope I’ve been able to do that in some form.

And this is what motivates me to continue to write and help. Books are just another way of putting that information in a well-structured format.

(Note: I’m now 500 words in and it’s been about 6 minutes. My bladder is also 15 minutes away from exploding. Must keep writing.)

How Do I Find The Time To Write Books in Med School?

How do you find time to sleep, eat, shower, talk on the fan, or read this post? You make the time right?

That’s simply what I’m doing with TheMDJourney, the youtube channel, and my books.

Now book writing takes a lot of planning ahead of time. This includes making a detailed outline of what I want to write. But it also requires me to make a detailed timeline of when everything needs to be done.

Now here’s my trick to always reaching my deadlines – I promise that I will procastinate.

That’s right. I freaking plan for procatination. I don’t sugar coat it. I’m a procastinator. The only difference is that my schedule plans for it.

So here’s my calendar for the book writing rigth now.

The book realistically would only take me 1.5 weeks of focused wriitng to do. But you know what – I’m a procastinator so I need 4-5 weeks to write this darn thing. And that’s how I plan out my writing schedule.

Each chapter in the book is given a 3x multiple on how quickly I think I can write it. If I think it takes 2 days then I’m going to plan for 6.

It’s this overestimating which has helped me effortlesly put words to paper (digital paper that is) and not feel down about not writing on certain days or getting behind.

Because let’s face it – if i’m 3X behind my schedule something is seriously wrong with me. (Get it together Lakshya!)

(Update: Currenlty 800 words through this and just 11 minutes until I make a mess. Must finish this post!)

How Do I Oragnize My Writing:

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a big project? Maybe you were told to write a 20,000 word essay. That’s a lot of freaking words. (Do you even know that many??)

Finishing a book can create a similar feeling. But you can break it down to small visual tasks.

Here’s how I do it.

The book I’m currenlty working on is The Clincial Guide – a all-in-one playbook on how to crush you rotations without the stress.

There’s a lot I want to include in the book. In fact, here’s a sneak peak.

(Keep in mind – this is just the first idea outline. I’ve since added more than those 57 topics!)

But here’s the thing. I don’t focus on all of that at once. Instead, I break each chapter into an individual Google Docs.

My task thus when I sit down to write is to finish writing what ever that Google Doc goes over.

Here’s an example:

As you can see, I have different docs for each rotation the book will provide tips for. But every time I sit down to write – I’m just focused on writing one!

One thing at a time on how I’ve been able to put out 400-500 pages of book content in the last year as a medical student.

You can do something similar when your overwhelming project.

(Note: Just got to 1,000 words. I’m currently doing that rocking motion you do when sitting still is too uncomfortable. Almost there.)

What I Hope You Take Away:

Like I said, I don’t intend this post to turn you all into published authors.

What I hope you take away is this.

You can find time for anything you want.

Whether that’s writing books, working on your music, reading, or simply spending time with your loved ones.

Remember – there’s nothing special about me. I just learned these strategies early enough to apply them.

But now the cats out of the bag. (Let’s face it – you knew all this already. But the real question is – will you begin to apply it).

Don’t be that med student is waiting to finally work on their side passions when you reach that finsih line. There is never going to be a finish line. There is always something else which will occupy your time.

Start now. Start today.

Write your book. Do your workouts. Play your favorite sport. Read your favorite books.

You are more than a medical student.

Make the time.

I hope this post has been helpful. My 25-minutes is coming to an end but I hope you smiled a little (at my bladder’s expense) and feel a spec of inspiration.

If you want more of this kind of post then do me a quick favor. Comment down below if you enjoyed it.

If you want to be updated next time I post + get more speciic advice, videos, and training on medical school, join the email list for free guides, video courses, and a bunch of goodies.

That’s it – I can’t keep writing. (1-minute to go)

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Talk to you soon my friend.

(Update: Made it to the restroom safely….)

Until next time…