This is one for my writers and freedom seekers.
Routines run the world, or so it seems. I wasn’t supposed to start writing this piece today, it had not even occurred to me until I realised I was so out of whack with my routines, that writing the piece I had originally intended was proving to be a monumental effort.
Not meant to be
My mind retraced back to a tweet by Ryan Holiday (author of Stillness is the Key, Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle Is The Way):
In my limited experience (which is about 1/100th of his) I can so far tell you, I vouch for all five.
Having been at my optimum when I follow my 8:15am morning routine, (wake, freshen, breakfast, coffee, sit down, Word, start typing), I suddenly hit a wall.
This leads nicely into Ryan’s second point. Write what you can’t not write. I don’t overthink these posts anymore. I start writing a piece. I have my target of 500 words a day, and allot 2-3 hours to this. I’ve rather enjoyed having sacred mornings that are purely dedicated to my writing. I hit save and re-join the world by noon. Noon is the portal.
Unknowingly, I’ve settled into Ryan’s frame of mind. It always takes longer than you think. It does. My reason for this is because I constantly explore the new tangents that come to mind as I write. In turn, this makes it really easy to hit my word count each day, confirming the third point: There’s no such thing as writer’s block, just insufficient research. Hence the 2-3 hours.
500 words aren’t hard to write. If you have an idea and are inspired, 500 words will take you 15-30 minutes, add on a little extra for revisions, which I always do. What takes longer is finding the content, and allowing your brain to formulate an angle to write from. I may be wrong and this may be unique to me, but this step tends to happen naturally the more I read and quite simply, live.
But like all things, too much of anything can make you sick. Information overload means I sometimes find myself steering way off my initial course, but that’s okay. I’m learning to manage this.
It’s no different than having a real life conversation. The more ideas presented to you, the more avenues you can take. I’d make a strong case for a good conversationalist doubling up as a good writer.
Live an interesting life– it improves your writing.
This one is self-explanatory. What I will say, is that an interesting life doesn’t always mean you travel the world and feed hungry kids in Africa (or the UK, we have lots of hungry kids there too). An interesting life is what’s interesting to you.
As I’m writing this, I have hit my word count for today, and it’s 11:49am.
I started writing at 11. I woke up late today (10:30am), with an acute awareness that I was falling victim to Resistance* and not being intentional enough with my routines.
The reason I implemented these changes and routines in my life, were because I wanted to become a better writer, better content creator, and more importantly, I want to cultivate freedom. Freedom of time, space and choice.
In a way, it works. I get my work done, I send it off. I have my mornings (and most evenings if I choose to) to myself. But now I’m a slave to my own routine. Without it, everything crumbles.
Freedom, I think, is exactly that. Routines run the world. The real freedom is getting to choose yours.
In my current frame of mind, I strongly advocate for maximising mornings. I’m going to leave you all with a little Forbes article on the seven morning habits used by highly successful individuals.
I myself haven’t managed to incorporate all of these yet, but it is a process. It’s also very much trial and error. You need to find what works for you. Adjustments are fine, but pay close attention and fine tune as needed.
Wishing you all productivity and peace,
All the love always,
S.
*Resistance– referencing The War of Art.
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