52 Writing Tasks To Tackle During Mercury Retrograde

Scrabble letters scattered on a wood desk spelling out "Retrograde"

I was leery when people around me used to panic around mercury retrograde

The first time I heard someone mention mercury retrograde to me, it left me scratching my head. 

It’s when Mercury appears to travel backward for about three weeks. Planets don’t actually move backward in their orbit around the Sun. It only looks that way from Earth. 

For our eyes, it looks as if it's slowing down. It’s an illusion since the Earth circles the Sun at a different speed than other planets.

Mercury is the planet that rules communication, and its retrograde can make some people feel like they’re in a haze, making writing feel like a slog.

Mercury governs how we see and decode information we get from our environments and how we communicate that to others. It influences things like speaking, negotiating, decision-making, buying and selling, listening, contracts, and travel. So when Mercury appears to be stalled, astrology tells us that all of these areas can also be sluggish.

Some astrologers recommend avoiding signing contracts, making big decisions, or launching a new business since uncertainties and changes are more likely if Mercury is retrograde. Sometimes that’s unavoidable, though. If I’m booking travel, signing something big, or starting things around this time, I’m just sure to review it with an extra close eye. 

And when it comes to starting new businesses or ideas, if you start something during mercury retrograde, just know it might change. Which as we know, everything changes, so as long as we’re going with the flow, trust that any transformation it undergoes is necessary and is to serve your highest purpose.

People often complain about things like laptops not working properly, travel plans going sideways, and needing to rework contracts. 

I heard so many people around me freak out about this time. Often angry, they blamed mercury for literally anything that went even slightly different from their expectations. 

Do we really think we can blame a planet for things going wrong in our businesses?

How about taking some accountability for your actions?

Maybe your laptop isn’t working properly because you haven’t updated it in three months, your travel plans are sidetracked because you were half paying attention when you booked your flights, and that contract needs a second look — well, maybe you were rushing through, reading it while you were on a zoom call

I noticed immediately when an astrologer client of mine wouldn't make a big deal out of mercury retrograde as much as others. 

It happens three, sometimes four times every year, and it's absolutely not something to fear.

I look forward to Mercury retrograde season. 

I know it will deepen my writing. 

I use Mercury retrograde to revisit all kinds of things in my life and business. Specifically, when it comes to writing, I revisit old blog posts and book chapters, and anything I’ve published in the past. It might be calling for some fresh inspiration, some tweaks, or even a complete overhaul. 

mercury spinning in retrograde with stars circling in space

For creatives and business owners, look at Mercury Retrograde as an opportunity to REview, REvise, and REpurpose. 

If you’re going with the flow in your writing, there’s a good chance you’ll find these revisiting-type tasks easy during retro season.

All the “REs” are my favorite tasks. Especially with writing, because we’re taking and tweaking what’s already there, which can spark fresh ideas, but there’s generally less tension at the page to create something new.

While I might not want to start something fresh, when I review something old, though, I might have ideas for something new I want to create. I’ll grab that inspiration and play with it later.

Here are 52 ideas to help you have a wildly successful mercury retrograde as you REview, REvise, and REpurpose the words you use in your business:

REview…

  1. Your business

  2. Your business back end

  3. Your launch plan

  4. Your annual plan

  5. Your annual, quarterly, and life goals

  6. Your wellness plan

  7. Your boundaries

  8. Your social media strategy

  9. Your content strategy

  10. Your book chapters

  11. Your old blogs

  12. Your email sequences

  13. Your sales pages

  14. Your proposals and sales process

  15. Writing habits that no longer serve you

  16. Your mindset and where it might be keeping you stuck — can you take an out-of-the-box approach? 

  17. Client agreements

  18. Where you like to network

  19. Your approach to visibility

  20. Your daily and quarterly priorities

  21. Your top clients and how you could serve them on a deeper level

  22. Your biggest referral sources

  23. Your Google Analytics

  24. Your business KPIs (key performance indicators)

  25. REOrganize your digital files, inbox, desk, and all your content

  26. A course you took a while back, listen to old podcast episodes for new nuggets of wisdom.

  27. Your notes from a book you’ve read — or read the book again

REvise

  1. Any of those above aspects or strategies in your business

  2. Your email nurture sequence

  3. Your social media bios

  4. Your book

  5. Any old blogs and make them feel new again

  6. Spiff up your copy and content with some of your keywords

  7. Your website copy

  8. Your schedule

REpurpose

  1. Take anything you’ve revised and share it again — in a newsletter, a series of new social posts, on a podcast

  2. An old email sequence and freshen it up

  3. Your last launch plan for your next launch

  4. Share something in a new format — take a podcast interview and repurpose the nuggets into social captions

  5. Pitch a new podcast or an old blog post as an outline you can walk through 

  6. Turn a popular newsletter into a course

  7. Turn your course into a book

  8. Transform your book into a course or 30-day challenge

  9. Do a round-up blog post of several of your favorite blogs — and email it to your newsletter list 

  10. Record an audio version of your blog post using it as a guide for talking points

  11. Turn the highlights into social media posts

  12. Turn your outline into a workshop and teach it to your audience, inside other communities, or in your town

  13. Turn your blog into a newsletter, and don’t forget about all your older content — revisit your older content and turn it into newsletters

  14. Find more repurposing ideas here.

  15. After reviewing your most popular articles, newsletters, and social posts – share them again. You might not even need to tweak them. 

  16. Resend emails to those who didn’t open the original email

  17. Old course, book, or blog? Reshare with a testimonial

I know a big list like this can feel overwhelming. When you look at these potential writing and editing tasks, I want you to feel accomplished, not tired.

Here’s how I flow with writing and Mercury Retrograde: 

  • Plan what I want to review, revise, and repurpose. 

  • Revisit how I structure my time and how I approach my business

  • Add each one as a specific task on my 12-week plan (grab the free template and workshop).

  • Then, each week, I decide which task will happen for the week on which day.

Mercury retrograde is also a magical time to become more aware of our inner world. You might want to make sure there’s space in your day for journaling, meditating, and walking (without your earbuds). You never know what kind of wisdom you’ll tap into.

If you’re reading this and we’re NOT in mercury retrograde, keep a running list of all the things you’ll do when Mercury is retrograding again. I keep these in a parking lot section on my 12-week plan. Then, when a Mercury Retrograde pops up, I know exactly what I’m going to work on. 

So you don’t have to go exploring — here are the upcoming Mercury Retrograde dates:

Remaining 2024 mercury retrograde dates

  • November 25 to December 15, 2024

2025 mercury retrograde dates

  • March 14 to April 6

  • July 17 to August 10

  • November 9 to 29

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Jacqueline Fisch

Jacqueline Fisch is an author, ghostwriter, writing coach, and the founder of The Intuitive Writing School. She helps creative business owners create their authentic voice so they can make an impact on the world.

Before launching her writing and coaching business, Jacq spent 13 years working in corporate communications and management-consulting for clients including Fortune 500 companies and the US government. As a ghostwriter and coach, she’s helped thousands of clients — tech startups, life and business coaches, creatives, and more — learn how to communicate more authentically and stand out in a busy online world.

After moving 14 times in 20 years, she’s decided that home is where the people are. She finds home with her husband, two kids, a dog, a cat, and a few houseplants hanging on by a thread.

https://theintuitivewritingschool.com/
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