Morning Routines, Writing Consistently and Maintaining the Magic

I’ve reinstated a morning routine to further my own writing pursuits and make sure that I’m in the right headspace to get on with the rest of my day. And now I’m coming at this from a completely different perspective to what I used to do before heading out the door to commute to a traditional workplace. 

Morning Routines to Maintain Sanity

First, let me be clear: there is a massive difference between my morning routine now and those that I held on to previously in order to survive my workday. 

Someone recently told me that if we need to work out in order to avoid killing our colleagues, perhaps we need to reevaluate our need for daily exercise. I’ll be the first one to put my hand up and admit that if I didn’t get to sweat before entering a toxic workplace, my emotional wellbeing was at risk that day.

I used to get up at 3:30 am so that I could do ALL THE THINGS that would keep me as calm as possible:

• Meditate

• Journal

• Read

• Workout

• Stretch

I chose the morning to claim my time for two reasons. First, as above, I needed to centre and take care of myself before I went to work for someone else. Second, if I didn’t do all these things in the morning, I was so worn out by the time I got home that none of it would happen. 

The goal of this morning routine was to minimize damage to my mental state and ensure I was moving at least a little bit each day.

Morning Routines to Maintain Creative Magic

These days, my mornings are my time. I say that with a huge caveat, because I’m not perfect and things don’t always go to plan, but 80% of the time I can keep my mornings to myself. Client work slots in after I’ve attended to my own creativity for the day. 

I needed to reclaim my mornings because I was starting to feel overwhelmed with the volume of client work I’d taken on. It was my amazing nutritionist that helped me figure out the best morning routine for my brain and my gut. She also had this killer advice for me:

“Output before input.”

Meaning, no email, Instagram, texting or news feeds prior to my own writing. Not only does this delay the inevitable drinking from a firehose of information, but it allows my own creativity to flow unimpeded by any external input.

So, here’s what my morning’s look like now, in order:

• Meditate using Headspace for 10 mins

• Make a glass of warm lemon water

• Sit down at my laptop and write creatively until my water is gone

• Workout for 30 mins tops

Then it’s all the normal human stuff, like shower, smoothie for breakfast, make tea and sit back down at my laptop. This past week I was really good at keeping all morning for my own work. I committed to a program to create my own signature services in my business, and I am going to get those out into the world, with a new website by the end of the year. And guess what, I need just about every morning to work through branding, sales copy and website redesign.

Consistency is the Key to Creative Output

While having the whole morning to myself may seem out of reach to you right now, it’s that first hour that is most important. What is that one thing you need to do to feel more like you? Give yourself just one hour a day of that and you’ll be surprised at how grounded you will feel. 

When I sit down to write with my lemon water and I do it every day, that is where the magic is allowed to poor out, and it knows that it can come out to play again the next day. John Grisham (famed novelist) was interviewed in the Globe and Mail a few weeks back and his advice to all aspiring writers was simple:

“Find your one spot and find your one hour.” - John Grisham

No matter what you call it, your muse, the magic, that creative spark of an idea, you have to nurture it, every day. To carry on the thread of a novel, it’s essential. But on the whole, our bodies and brains love routine. They thrive on consistency. 

So find something that gives you life, makes you fulfilled, allows you to be creative and in flow, and set aside one hour to make it happen each day. If you can get it done first in the morning, all the better. You deserve to put yourself at the top of the to-do list, consistently.