Summary

The author describes their personal transformation and the development of a morning routine during a 100-day writing streak, emphasizing the importance of organization, exercise, family connection, and nature in enhancing productivity and well-being.

Abstract

The article details the author's journey over 30 days of a 100-day writing challenge, highlighting the shift to a morning writing routine that has become seamlessly integrated into their daily life. The author reflects on the volatility of ideas and the importance of nurturing them, sharing specific morning activities that contribute to a successful writing schedule and overall lifestyle improvement. These activities include making the bed, morning walks, conversations with the author's father, and working on the terrace amidst nature. The author emphasizes the significance of these practices in fostering a sense of organization, energy, motivation, and happiness, leading to increased productivity and personal growth.

Opinions

The author values the act of making the bed as a simple yet effective way to start the day with a sense of accomplishment and order.
Regular exercise, particularly a morning walk, is considered essential for physical and mental energy, with the author following a structured pre-workout routine.
Engaging in meaningful conversations with family, specifically the author's father, is seen as a powerful motivator that enhances mood and purpose.
The author believes in the restorative power of nature and its ability to inspire creativity, improve vocabulary, and contribute to daily growth and satisfaction.
There is a recognition that ideas need space and time to develop and that the morning provides an ideal environment for this process.
The author expresses gratitude for the opportunity to increase productivity within the same 24-hour timeframe through these morning habits.

Coming Out as a Different Person after Quarantine

Today is day 30 ( of 100 ) of my writing streak. Since day 22 onwards, I have shifted my writing routine to morning time, and now I have learned to fit this schedule without overwhelming the rest of the day finally.

Different kinds of ideas come in the morning. Earlier, whenever I thought of a topic for future posts, I would immediately note it down to remember it when I finally write it down. And when I start working on it, I only remember the heading. That’s it. All the thoughts that splashed while I noted the headline the first time, they all were gone. Yes, ideas are that volatile if you bail on them.

I realised this headline drafting was not working. I still do it though as insurance because some of the headlines are great and I would love experimenting with them in words at a later date. But for now, in the morning, from the time I wake up to the time I start writing, I have almost 2.5 hours to think.

As the morning time is stress-free from the previous day, I invest it in coming up with ideas that are worth noting and flow with the words right away when sitting on the chair. Here are some activities that have helped me rock my morning writing schedule, and I think they will help me whenever I incorporate a new habit for a lifestyle change:

1. Setting the Bed

I have read about it. Didn’t know how efficient it was in action. Independent of how much authentic the source is, I like to experiment with any ideology that promises on improving my life standards.

The same way I wanted to try it for seven days straight without thinking and see the change after seven days. Since this is minimal activity and doesn’t require much concentration, I did not maintain a streak with it. It came naturally after seven days. I don’t even remember when I started. My brain automatically wants this rewarding sense of organisation after setting the bed every day. So I do it. It comes without effort, I do it, and it is the first thing that energises me in the morning. It is the first activity in the list, and I some times shuffle it with the third one mentioned below that is even an interesting one that I never heard as advice, but I am doing for myself.

2. Morning Walk

Although I workout every morning. I don’t just wake up and start lunges on the bed. Nope. Just cobra stretch for a minute and then I leave the bed. I have to freshen up, put on activewear, have a pre-workout snack and wait for another one hour before I train those muscles. Because pre-workout snacks need some time to digest before they can provide the right energy to fuel the workout.

I have a lot of options to experiment every day. And the order isn’t necessary because there is a set of tasks I finish every day before the workout. I complete some of my crucial freelance work that couldn’t wait ( hardly takes 30 minutes ), I write a Medium blog (from one hour per article on day 1 to 20 minutes per article today, day 30), edit it, have a pre-workout snack and plan my tasks for the day.

As I mentioned, I have 2.5 hours between leaving the bed and starting the workout. I finish all the early morning task based on my interest, attention span and urgency.

3. Talking to Dad

It is the most exciting thing I do after opening my eyes. And I shuffle this with the first activity I mentioned above. Gravity in the morning is so strong between the bed and me that if I sleep late at night, it is difficult to wake up even when my body’s natural clock tells me to.

I hack this lazy behaviour for good. In my previous post, I mentioned I did not talk to my dad frequently because I dedicated my time to prepare for exams in Kota (6 years ago) and I still couldn’t block time to speak with him. He prioritised his time for my career, so this came as a duty to me too. I talked to him rarely and wanted to increase this habit to at least wish him “good morning” every day.

That’s what I do now. That is how I seize the day. It is affecting my mood, my morning energy, and also the purpose of waking up every day and hear him while knowing that he will too rock the day in the same way as I am. We energise each other, we push each other, and the most satisfying thing: we check on each other despite our busy schedule. I am lucky to manage this now.

4. Working on the Terrace

Spending time with nature in an open area. Everyone wants their life to be like this. I am living this now, and this memory is becoming stronger day-by-day. It helps me with brainstorming for blog ideas, pushes me to learn more straightforward. It is also helping me find useful words to improve my vocabulary, appreciate the morning opportunity we have to grow 1% in the pursuit of life every day. I am more satisfied, more happy day-by-day and the thing that I fret would not happen at this time is in action now: increasing productivity day-by-day in that same 24 hour time.

This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing in this 100-days streak. Navigate to the end of article 22 for the references from day 23 onwards. If you would like to read the ones before day 22, here is the first one that documents them in the end.

~ Sanjeev