5 Ways to Make Your Writing Mornings More Awesome

How are your writing mornings going right now?

My parents loved to quote Benjamin Franklin when I was growing up: “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

Personally, I’ve always hated this saying. I was born a night owl, and despised being awakened in the mornings, particularly when my Marine father bellowed up the stairs, “Breakfast is ready! Chop-chop!”

What bliss when I established my freelance writing business and was able to go to bed and get up when I wanted to!

For a long time I focused on my fiction writing at night, convinced that was my most creative time, but over the years I’ve realized something—even night owls are often most productive first thing in the morning.

You don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn. It’s just that no matter what your natural circadian rhythm, whenever you do wake up, that’s usually when your brain is most refreshed and ready to go.

Studies have found this to be true for a number of reasons. That means if you want to be sure to get your writing done on a regular basis, you’d be wise to take a second look at your mornings to be sure you’re doing everything you can to make them even more awesome.

Why Writing Mornings are So Important—Even for Night-Owls

Your first few hours of the day are golden because of a few key truths.

First, that’s when your willpower is at its strongest.

Scientists have found that willpower is like a muscle. It can get tired throughout the day, taking a hit whenever you have to make a decision, no matter how small (like “what should I have for lunch?”) Therefore, you’ll likely find it easier to follow through with your commitments early on in the day.

Second, in the first 30 minutes after waking, your analytical brain is not as active as your creative brain, which tends to get a boost overnight while you’re dreaming.

In the first little while after waking, when you’re still a feeling groggy, this part of your brain remains active. The judgmental, editing part hasn’t come to the fore yet.

If you’ve ever figured out a writing problem or created the plot for an entire novel while in that half-asleep, half-awake stage, you know what I’m talking about.

You can take advantage of this stage at night when you’re sleepy too, but by then you’ll have to deal with fatigue and a less robust willpower, which could work against you.

Third, your brain is usually at its best right after sleep, particularly if you got a good night’s sleep.

Even if you’re slow to wake up like I am (I usually ask people to give me at least 30 minutes before expecting me to interact), you’re still going to have more mental energy within the first few hours of waking then you will after even a half-day’s work.

Considering these truths, you can make your writing mornings even better by adopting the following five habits.

5 Writing Morning Habits that Increase Productivity for Writers

Whether you are a morning person or a night owl, take a look at how you spend the first three hours after waking up. It’s likely you can make some improvements that will help you reach your writing goals.

Writing Mornings Tip 1. Start as Early as Comfortably Possible

There are no set times here, just a recommendation to work with your own energy levels and get going as early as you can.

The goal is to take advantage of that early-morning grogginess and freshness to get your writing done before your critical editing brain kicks in, and before you start to feel pulled toward all the other responsibilities you have.

What you want to avoid is sleeping too long. Should you lie in bed after first waking up, you’ll miss that window of opportunity when you’re most likely to be at your best, creatively (unless you’re furiously writing notes while your head is still on the pillow).

You’ll also lose any extra time you may have before you must tend to your work and other responsibilities.

Choose the hour when you can get up without sleep deprivation, but still catch the edge of that sleep-wake time.

Your ideal waking time will leave you’ll feeling a little dazed when you get up, but if you get to writing right away, you’ll also find that your creative mind flows well. If you are waking up too early, you’ll still be tired and not much will happen on the page. If you’re waking up too late, you’ll be thinking about everything else you have to do.

2. Save the Exercise for Later…but Then Be Sure You Do It

I’m the first one to recommend you get your daily exercise in whenever you can. For many people, that’s first thing in the morning.

If possible, however, write before you exercise.

Your workout will energize you in the long run, but in the short term, it will make you tired. That’s what it’s supposed to do, but if your writing is important to you—which we’re assuming it is—you want to bring all your energy to the page.

So when possible, save the exercise for after your writing time. If you can take a walk or jog after writing, so much the better—it will help you work out those kinks in your muscles you developed while working at the computer, and it will also help give you time to work out any issues you may have encountered while writing. (Exercise increases circulation to the brain and improves your chances of solving creative problems.)

Writing Mornings Tip 3. Get Some Protein

Protein fuels your brain and body and makes you more alert first thing in the morning. It delivers the amino acids the brain needs for optimal function, while increasing levels of tryptophan, which help you relax.

Getting some protein first thing in the morning also raises the brain’s tyrosine levels. Tyrosine helps produce neurotransmitters called norepinephrine and dopamine, both of which give you energy and boost brainpower and attentiveness.

Good sources of protein for morning meals include eggs, meat, fish, poultry, peanut butter and whole wheat toast, cottage cheese with toast, avocado omelet, Greek yogurt, breakfast quinoa, oatmeal with chia seeds, and protein-packed smoothies.

4. Meditate for at Least 5 Minutes

The benefits of meditation include improving focus and concentration. In a 2018 study, researchers reported that intensive and continued meditation practice was associated with enduring improvements in sustained attention. It also had the potential to prevent age-related mental decline.

That means a regular meditation practice can not only help you focus on your writing first thing in the morning, it may also help you keep your brain healthy as you get older.

Meditation doesn’t have to be complicated. You can use a YouTube video to guide you through a 5-minute session, or simply find a comfortable place to sit, set the timer for five minutes, and focus on your breath.

Then go write!

Writing Mornings Tip 5. Write Within the First Three Hours of Waking

All this brings us to the final tip: if at all possible, write within three hours of waking, the sooner the better.

I’ve found that my easiest writing sessions occur when I get out of bed, plop in my chair with my laptop, and write, with no other steps in between (except perhaps the 5 minutes of focused meditation).

I’m still tired, I haven’t checked my cell phone, I haven’t listened to the news, and I’ve paused only long enough to throw on some sweats. My brain is primed for my creative world.

Not only does this practice help you enjoy all the advantages listed here, it also gives you a great start to the day. After all, once you get your writing done, everything else is easy, right? You’ve accomplished something that’s important to you, which means that no matter what else happens, this day has to be a good day.

How do you make your writing mornings awesome?

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Sources

Blumberg, Y. (2018, June 20). Study: Meditating can help you focus and keep your brain young. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/06/study-meditating-can-help-you-focus-and-keep-your-brain-young.html

Zanesco, A., King, B., MacLean, K., & Saron, C. (2018). Cognitive Aging and Long-Term Maintenance of Attentional Improvements Following Meditation Training. doi:10.31231/osf.io/qtreh