How to Publish 5x Faster

Without Burning Out

Burk

Aug 03, 2025

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My Medium friends can read this story over there as well.

If you want to be a prolific writer in 2025, you need to move faster than your inner perfectionist.

But going faster doesn’t mean buying another productivity app, working until 2AM, or let the robots do the writing.

For me, it means writing smarter. Publishing faster. Thinking in a system that works.

I publish multiple times per week (sometimes daily) on both Medium and Substack.

And I only work a few hours a week.

Here’s how!

1. Choose a Format

The fastest writers aren’t the most talented.

They’re the ones who don’t reinvent the wheel every time they open a blank page.

Do you like listicles? Essays? Stories? Frameworks? Hot takes? I write what I like in the format I like.

Pick 1–2 formats that match your voice and niche, and make them your defaults.

Examples:

✍️ “5 Things I Learned About Writing This Week” → Weekly listicle
📣 “The Truth About xyz” → Opinion essay format
🔁 “Substack vs Medium” → Recurring series

Each format becomes a container. Containers are calming. Containers are fast.

I love this stuff. I read those types of articles. And I write them.

2. Batch Ideas

In the early days, I used to make the mistake of writing one article at a time, from idea to final draft.

That’s like cooking dinner from scratch every night.

Instead, practice batch-cooking... and writing:

Batch idea generation (20 headlines in one sitting)
Batch outlines (write 3 skeletons in one go)
Batch editing (go through 3 drafts)

That way, I’m never starting from zero.

And yes, AI can help a lot with that. Because you can quickly and easily write up initial drafts in ChatGPT and they’ll stay there in your chat history to come back to, refine, rewrite, remix, and more.

I never let AI write everything, because that shows. But I do let it handle a lot of the workflow.

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3. Stop “Originality”

I’d love to write a new thing every time. Something ground-breaking. But I never do. And that hasn’t stopped me.

Some of my most-read articles are built on old questions:

“Should I use Medium or Substack?”
“How can I grow without social media?”
“Is writing on xyz still worth it in 2025?”

I didn’t invent those topics. I just added my tips. That’s what seems to work.

Recycle your best ideas. Update old posts. Reframe common problems.

4. Outsource Your Inner Editor

Your inner editor is probably a jerk. Mine is.

So I don’t let that guy do the writing. I write first. It looks horrible. Then I edit later, when the creative part is done. And again, yes, AI can help a lot with that.

I am not an English native. My editing skills aren’t perfect. AI helps a lot.

5. Steal From Yourself

Publishing faster gets easier when you realize you already wrote the thing you’re about to write.

I constantly steal:

Paragraphs from old drafts
Tweets I forgot about
Substack Notes that did better than expected
Comments that brought up something new

I’m not creating from scratch. I’m remixing.

6. Create a Checklist

Perfectionism is the #1 killer of speed.

So I created a list to check off:

✅ Clear point of view
✅ Useful or entertaining
✅ A strong headline
✅ Clean intro + clear ending
✅ 80% good enough

That’s it. If it checks those boxes, I hit publish.

7. Be Boring in Your Workflow

You don’t need a new app.

I write in Apple Notes and paste into Substack or Medium. That’s it. I used to use Notion for everything, but it was overkill.

Simpler is often better.

Your workflow should be boring. It’ll work better that way.

8. Repurpose

We all know it. Every blog post can become:

A social media thread
A newsletter section
A mini-guide
A paid product seed
Even a YouTube video or a podcast episode if that’s your jam

Most of the time, you don’t need more content. You need smarter reuse.

TL;DR

If you want to publish 5x faster:

Use repeatable formats
Batch your work
Stop chasing “original”
Steal from yourself
Build a checklist
Keep it boring
Reuse everything

Write. Edit. Publish it. Repeat.

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