Listen, I’m not here to tell you what to do. But you gotta at least try the mornings for creativity. I’m talking that still dark, no one around, nothing else to do kind of mornings. The kind of mornings where you beat the early bird to the worm.
Now, I get it, the mornings can be a struggle for people. But for creatives, we’re often forced to use the times we’re given. And those times aren’t always ideal. If you have a day job and need to write on the fringes of your day, the morning might be the most productive time and can allow you to reclaim extra hours of your day when you’re most alert.
But how can you pull it off?
If you want to do the mornings right, I’ll share my routine. It’s got me hopping out of bed ready to take on my day. Well, fine. I roll out of bed. And I don’t always love it. But it’s by far the most productive time I have all day.
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“Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of The Kite Runner and a doctor, has said he woke up at 4:45 am to write his novel before heading to work at the hospital.”
When I was growing up, my dad was an early riser. He was the kind of guy who would be up well before the sun. By the time my sister and I, bleary-eyed and still in pajamas, would appear, he’d have a full list of chores for us. Oh joy! But I never understood why or how he was able to do it.
However, when I decided I wanted to write, I was forced to find more time in my day. So I would try staying up late. This worked when I was an unemployed post-grad. Why not stay up all night, wake up late into the morning, lounge and read all day, only to go back to my late-night writing habits as the sun crept down. But then I got a job. Cue the evil music (dun…dun…dun…).
For most of us, working a full day at a job means being zombies by the end of the day. Even if I committed to sitting down in front of my computer at night, whatever I was able to churn out was barely a step above garbage. Thus, I developed this morning routine, perfected over the last 8 years!
Picture This…
If I could tell you that you can find two extra hours in your day to write, would you be interested? Of course you would. If I told you those hours started before dawn and that stopped you, then I’d have to ask how badly you really want to be a writer.
Imagine if this technique could help you achieve your writing goals faster? What if you could shave weeks or months off of your goals for your writing career? Want to write that book? Do it in 3 months instead of a year. And honestly, it’s not that hard, once you have your routine down.
I remember my first few morning wake ups. They certainly left something to be desired. But once I got into a routine of doing it, I began to look forward to the mornings. Imagine waking up in the morning as soon as your alarm goes off. And, instead of begrudgingly climbing out from under the sheets while cursing your alarm clock (and me if you end up trying this), you actually look forward to the quiet time.
The most important part of the morning is your routine. If you don’t have an efficient morning routine, you might be leaving work undone, wasting your time, and setting yourself back weeks or even months on your writing goals. That’s why I decided to share my 3-step morning routine process.
3 Steps to Morning Writing Success
I’m going to run down my productive morning routine. From my night before to the last thing I do before heading off to my day job. It’s all designed to ensure I stay productive.
Step 1: The Night Before
Every night, before I go to bed I set myself up to be ready for the morning. I like to imagine I’m two versions of the each person. There’s Night Time You and Morning You. Night Time You doesn’t care about Morning You. Night Time You will stay up late, drink too much alcohol or not enough water. Night Time You will sabotage your work schedule. So make sure you know that this character is inherently evil. Set safe guards.
Some of the safeguards I use are alarms. I have a nightly alarm that goes off at 8:30 pm. That alarm is to remind me that the morning is coming, whether I like it or not.
I should note, I’m a firm believer in getting the right amount of sleep. I’m not suggesting getting 4 hours of sleep each night. I honestly try to get between 7 and 8 hours. If you’re not consistently getting the right amount of hours, this is doomed to fail. Just get used to going to bed some nights while the sun’s still up. I promise, it only feels weird a few times. Oh, and get some heavy-duty blinds and curtains.
The Work
Before I go up to bed, I decide on what I’m going to work on in the next morning. I list it out in plain view of wherever I plan to work. If you’re interested in the planner I use, check out this article. I’ve been using it for a year now and I don’t see myself going back.
I personally like a physical planner. I find that when 4 am rolls around, I even need my planner opened to the right page with my to-do list staring at me. Any barrier between me and my to-do list will slow me down when I’m already moving slowly.
The Space
The last thing I do before going up at night is organize my space. I know that if I wake up and the space is disorganized, I won’t even realize it until I’m thirty minutes into scrolling social media. So I lay my planner open, put out my coffee and a mug. Leave my computer and anything else I need within reach. Everything I need so that even a braindead zombie would know what to do.
I do my best to keep my space decluttered. I fail miserably. But I swear I try.
Step 2: The Morning Of
Set Up
As I said earlier, Night Time You is an absolute terror. And the worst/best thing that Night Time Me does to Morning Me is he puts his phone (alarm set) across the room. That’s right, true evil knows no bounds.
So when that alarm finally goes off, I’m forced to rise and turn it off. And, once I’m up, it’s a shorter set of steps to the bathroom than it is back to bed.
BONUS: I’ve pretty much eliminated all social media from my phone. If you find you’re a social media junkie (like I was), either take them off your phone or use a different alarm system so you don’t find yourself simply scrolling and scrolling as you’re likely to do in the wee hours of the morning.
The Work
Do you know how many people call you before dawn? How many texts do you get? Do your kids bother you? Do you get work emails before 5 am? No, at least I hope you don’t. That’s why I love this time. There’s something magical about feeling like the only person awake.
Luckily, you’re all set up because Night Time You did at least one thing right. There’s a trick to this, though. No matter what, never question the list. Just start. There will be times you feel like you’re doing the wrong work or wasting time or you should be sleeping. Don’t question yourself. Just look at the list and complete the list. If you need to course-correct, do it later. You’ll be surprised how infrequently you’ve been doing something wrong. It’s just Resistance (see Steven Pressfield’s work with Resistance). If you give in, you’ll regret it.
For the best productivity, I suggest using the Pomodoro Technique. I mix in something physical every 25 minutes. The timer gives me urgency. The physicality gives me clarity.
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“I do pushups and sit-ups all the time, and feel as though I am getting lean and sinewy, but maybe not.”
Step 3: Closing Down
To close down from work, I make a note about what I’m working on. And I try to stop in the middle of something. This will allow my brain to continue to ruminate on what I was working on even while I’m going about my day.
I also take some time to reflect, using my journals. These help me appreciate the morning, look forward to the next one, and know that I’m on a journey and getting better every day.
It will also reduce the barrier next time you start working. So instead of having to figure out what’s going on next at 4 am. You’re in the middle of a sentence or paragraph and can dive right into it.
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“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day you will never be stuck. Always stop while you are going good and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.”
Conclusion
This won’t be easy at first. It will be a challenge to wake up earlier. However, the most important thing is the work. If the work is good at 4 am, then go do the work at 4 am. It’s unleashed a world of efficient writing for me. I hope it does the same for you.
What’s your morning routine? Share it in the comments so we can all get better together!
