A smart-as-hell writer I know spent today in a very productive state, and I admire and want to emulate her. To that end, I am dashing this off from the office, as I am going to TRY TRY TRY to stay off the internet when I get home. No library after work tonight: I'm to go straight home where I will cook up some shrimp and black beans, write for thirty minutes straight on my birding essay, and then pack and crochet for whatever time is left.
I wrote up a writer's to-do list for the rest of my time here in Phoenix. It is infinitely do-able. I just have to get back to morning writing, somehow. I did this for a little bit earlier this year, and got my (not at all successful but well-loved) Utah mini-essay out of it. I'm less distracted in the mornings, groggily focused, I'd say.
The problem is that the thought of getting into business casual clothes and coming here to listen to mind-numbing phrases like definitivization and return on investment makes me want more than anything to stay in bed. How can I motivate myself to start a day that is going to be so largely frustrating? I wake up slowly in the best scenarios, and I just can't seem to find the right ritual/alarm/cue to let my 5am ass know what my 5pm ass does: that I will be much happier at the end of the day if I get up early at the beginning.
Anyone have any ideas?
1 comment:
I aim to be a morning writer and I am 50% successful. Things that help: right before bed, I figure out what I'm going to work on when I get up and open that document on my laptop. I also set up my coffee maker to start brewing at 5am. The smell of fresh coffee is highly motivating. I also have a fancy bathrobe that I only wear when I am writing in the morning - it's a reward for getting up, though I wish it also possessed creative powers.
Again, this works about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time I hit snooze and sleep until all I have time to do is walk the dogs and get to work ten minutes later. Only two more months of that, though - then it's off to MFA land! :)
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