Hemingway famously got up early in the morning to write his books. I get up early to write my blog. If Hemingway and I get up early for writing, it’s probably a good indication that you should get up early too for your writing.
Just so it’s not taken out of context, yes, my opening paragraph is tongue-in-cheek and I am not comparing myself to Hemingway, besides the fact that we both get up early to do our writing, which is still a valid point! There are good reasons for getting up early for writing.
Nobody Can Interrupt Your Writing Because They Are Still Sleeping
The #1 reason to get up early in the morning to write is so you can do so without interruptions. It is hard to write well with constant distraction. For writing, two hours alone and undistracted in the morning are worth about five hours when the whole family is awake and bouncing around. It’s almost impossible to write well with constant distraction.
I absolutely adore my family, but they are not conducive to writing well when they are all awake. My children want my attention, they want to play, my wife wants to talk to me, the TV goes on at some point. It’s not an easy writing environment. Sometimes I’m balancing a child and a computer on my lap at the same time. The rate of writing drops considerably!
The Brain Is Most Creative And Sharp In The Morning
In the sweet, sweet morning words tend to pour out quickly. It feels like I’m operating with 20 extra IQ points in the morning, however, as the day proceeds, those points start to rapidly drop off and by dinner time I’m an utter imbecile. That’s why I never make decisions at night anymore. It’s during the night time I tend to sign up for marathons I don’t want to run and such.
The morning is meant for creative work and sharp thinking. I’m not saying don’t do work or thinking at other points of the day, you will have to in order to reach your goals. I’m just saying the best time for creative work like writing is in the morning and that’s where you will make the most progress.
The Brain Consciously and Subconsciously Works On Your Blog Throughout The Day
After I finish my writing session and go to my 9 – 5 day job it feels like my brain is low-key, like a computer, running a program titled “blog” in the background of my mind, solving problems within that program, coming up with solutions, and presenting my conscious mind with a plan for my next morning blogging section. It’s kind of amazing, really.
I don’t pretend to know the intricacies of the mind, but I do believe things that are very important to us are worked on in the backgrounds of our mind–the other program that is always low-key running in the back of my mind is titled “family.” I think we can program our minds to use our mighty human computers, known as brains, to solve important problems on subjects that are important to us while we are not consciously thinking of them. Somehow I’ve gotten my mind to run the “blog” program 24/7 and it’s been helpful in moving my blogs forward.
I don’t think any of this would happen without starting my day with writing and working on the blog. I can’t prove it, but I think that the first thing we do in the morning sends a very strong signal to our brains that says: “Hey! This is important.”
Blog Maintenance Is For Later In The Day
Like I said above, working and thinking about the blog can still happen later in the day, it’s just the physical act of writing won’t be as a sharp. So, yes, I still work on my blog at other points in the day.
But I don’t do the deep writing tasks. Instead, I make corrections, work on SEO, complete administrative tasks, read relevant books on the blog world, and essentially do the tasks that keeps the blog humming along, the type of tasks that need to be done but don’t require as many IQ points.
So, my advice is: don’t give up a morning session of writing for maintenance and administrative tasks. Those things can be done later in the day.
How To Start Being An Early Riser In Order To Win The Blogging Game
I won’t insult you and tell you to “just do it!” It can be tough to get out of the warm bed especially when you are tired and you worked really hard the day before.
Here’s what I do: two alarms.
Alarm 1 is my phone and is set for 5:00 AM, which is on the nightstand right next to me, within easy reach. It I only had that one alarm I would never get out of bed. Alarm 2 is where the magic happens. I set it to go off one minute after Alarm 1. It’s one of the old-school BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! alarms that can wake up the whole neighborhood.
I don’t know what psychological trick gets me out of bed every single time, but basically I feel terrible if that alarm goes off and wakes up my wife. So when Alarm 1 goes off I jump out of bed to turn off the terrible Alarm 2 before it can go off. Then once I am out of bed it’s easy to move forward with my morning writing routine.
That’s it, that’s the trick.
Oh, I also have coffee ready. I pre-program the coffee maker to start brewing at 4:45 AM. So after turning off Alarm 2 I can smell the wonderful smell of coffee and that’s enough to get me out of the comfy bedroom, into the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee, and then I take that cup of coffee to my writing area and I get to work. I’m usually writing my first words just five minutes after Alarm 1 goes off.
Getting Up Early Will Help You Greatly In Being A Successful Blogger
Broke bloggers sleep in. The best bloggers start early. If you are serious about your journey in being a full-time writer / blogger, you have to get an early start like so many successful writers have throughout the centuries. Magic happens in the morning, it’s a real thing! And now, dear blogger, I raise my coffee cup to you!
Blog on, friend. Blog on.