Getting addicted to Medium could be a slippery slope. Because Medium involves getting paid for writing, it's easy to fool yourself into believing that any time spent on Medium counts as work. But it doesn't really.

My current approach is to write Medium articles during any gaps during my working day when I don't have any freelance articles to write. But I do my writing away from the Medium website. These days, I write and organise all my content within Notion.

I try to stay away from the Medium website during work hours. That includes publishing. In Notion, I have a section labelled "Ready for Publishing" for anything that's finished. Articles wait there until the evening, after I have finished work, and then I can come on Medium and submit them.

During work time, I also stay way from notifications and reading anyone else's articles. I don't consider that to be work at all. It's worthwhile, perhaps, but it's a slippery slope to view it as work. You could spend all day reading and responding to other people's content, and responding to comments, getting dopamine hits every time you see new notifications and think you've made a new connection. But it probably wouldn't do much for your earnings. Tim Denning is one of the most successful writers on Medium and never responds to comments. I don't think he even looks at them.

The psychological effect of Medium could be like that of a slot machine. If you get the occasional viral article that earns lots of money, that's the same effect psychologically as winning the jackpot in a casino. It gives you a buzz and makes you want to keep playing, even though the odds are stacked against you. I wouldn't be surprised if the algorithm is deliberately programmed to do that. It gives us occasional bursts of popularity as a carrot on a stick, to keep us coming back.

I think we have to face the fact that for the vast majority of us, Medium is not a sensible career plan. Sure, some people earn big here. But some people earn big on slot machines too.