Finding the right time to write
Unlocking the best times for you to write, both in terms of creativity and productivity, requires introspection. You need to know yourself and your patterns.
What is your best time for getting words onto the page?
For me, sometimes it’s 1:39 a.m. Or maybe when I wake up. Or when inspiration strikes.
For you, it could be something else entirely.
Unlocking the best times for you to write—both in terms of creativity and productivity—requires introspection. You need to know yourself and your patterns.
Creativity
Creativity typically doesn’t happen from staring at a blank page. Instead, it happens when you allow your brain to explore.
That process could involve mindfulness, meditation and even sleep. As Benjamin Hardy wrote in a 2017 essay published on CNBC:
Take a few moments before you go to bed to meditate on and write down the things you’re trying to accomplish.
Ask yourself loads of questions related to that thing. In Edison’s words, make some “requests.” Write those questions and thoughts down on paper. The more specific the questions, the more clear will be your answers.
Whenever I explore ideas before bed, I often awake with a project or task fully in focus—all of the pieces fit together in my mind like they hadn’t before.
It is so refreshing to view something in a new light!
When someone suggests that you sleep on big decisions, there are good reasons for it. As Russell Sanna, Ph.D., executive director of sleep medicine at Harvard University, said in a WebMD article, “Different pieces of paper are filed in different portions of the brain, and the pathways to access those different files are consolidated [during] sleep.”
I often take a similar approach before a walk or other activities. If I know I’m going to be stepping away from my computer, I initiate the creativity process by doing some research or exploring project elements ahead of doing that task. Then by the time I’m ready to return to the keyboard, the ideas are already flowing.
Productivity
Book writing also requires the ability to get words down onto the page.
Again, mornings and nights often win out. Morning is usually our most productive time of day. And it’s also our most alert. If you’re trying to get something done, do it early in the morning.
Nighttime offers a chance to embrace the quiet and wind down.
Your most productive moments and processes are unique to you.
Maybe you like to go for a jog or go to the gym early and write after that. Or maybe you like to schedule pockets of time into your day for writing.
Whatever the case, understanding yourself is the best way to unlock your story’s message and get words onto the page.
The hidden element
When writing, focus is everything.
Book writing requires the deepest focus—and push notifications and email alerts and text messages are meant to pull you away.
When you are writing, block out every possible distraction. Disconnect the internet if you must. Close your internet browsers.
Research shows that it usually takes us about 23 minutes to get back on track after a notification has forced us to switch between tasks.
Twenty. Three. Minutes.
If you aren’t careful, your entire window for writing could be derailed by one pop-up, one text message, one email.
Let’s discuss finding the right time to write, along with other topics, on our next book meetup.
Mark your calendars! The next book meetup is scheduled for Thursday, July 2.
Who: Book authors, prospective authors, industry professionals and writing enthusiasts
When: Thursday, July 2
What time: 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT
How to attend: Zoom
How to watch: YouTube
Add to calendar: Calendar link
Let me know if there’s a topic you would like to see covered!
Upcoming meeting dates
July 16
July 30
August 13