Get it done early
Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay
One of the most important lessons I have learned is that you should always do the important stuff as early as possible in the day. Take this blog post for example. I have been publishing my blog posts every Saturday morning for the last year and it has become a natural part of my week. At the time of this writing, the clock is closing in on midnight and every minute I spend writing is one minute less of sleep. I do not like to write as the concluding activity of the day. My mind is filled with thoughts and honestly, I feel a bit stressed when writing this. But on the other hand, if I do not write this post now, I will break a year-long habit and I will have to worry about it tomorrow instead. So, to sacrifice a little sleep is still the lesser of two evils.
The greatest advantage of writing the first thing in the morning is that your mind is like a blank slate. No thoughts have entered it yet. I think the crucial factor is that no external thoughts have entered your mind yet. Writing is an activity best performed from within. I want to get my thoughts and my ideas out in words. And that is much easier for me in the morning. Perhaps sleep resets the mind canvas? If I would take a long three hour walk in the morning through the forest, that might work just as fine, if I would not perceive any external mind stimuli. Which is probably a lot more difficult if you live in the city. But anyway, even if you manage to keep your mind “clean” and in a good condition to write, the probability that something external will come up will increase, the further you wait. My wife got sick today for example, so I had to take full responsibility for our son from the morning hours. In theory, I could have gotten out of bed extremely early before he wakes up and finished the blog. But I chose not to.
It is important to point out that it was a choice. I chose to stay in bed and sleep on together with my son, because he will not be two years old forever. That is a magical time which can be considered a peak life experience. And this morning was exceptional. You won’t get many mornings like this in a lifetime, so choose wisely. I hope that next Saturday my wife is back to normal so that I can continue my writing habit the way I usually do. Even if that means sacrificing some time with my family there is always an alternative cost. These blog posts are important in their own way too. It is a way for a 38-year-old father to communicate with his son a couple of decades from now. I am convinced that he might find them very valuable, should he decide to read them. At least he will have the option. And the only way I know of to provide him with that option, is to get out of bed early and write every week. Maybe that makes the sacrifice worth it?
That’s enough for today. See you next Saturday.