Morning Writing Ritual: Using your right brain

The third thing I do in the morning when I get up is write on one of our blogs. (First, brew a pot of Cafe de Olla; second, feed Huey and Dewey.) So when clients ask, "How do we find time to post on all our blogs?" it's kind of a non-problem.

Here are 5 more tips for being more creatively productive with your writing tasks.

1. Write first thing before you open email or your list of things to do. Any writing task should have priority over other tasks in the morning. Why? Writing uses your right brain, needs clarity, without those little gnawing distractions.
   
   Writing is mostly a right brain activity. Beware the left brain that wants to spoil your creativity by reminding you of things "to-do." When you first wake up, you're functioning in your right brain. Use it immediately for improved creativity.

2. Before you go to bed and fall asleep, remind yourself which writing tasks you want to work on in the morning. Your right brain will think about them as you go to sleep, and probably as you wake up. As a result, you'll wake up with those writing jobs in mind and can start right in on them - as soon as the coffee's ready and the pets are fed.

3. Leave your desk relatively uncluttered when you stop working at night so that in the morning you can start writing without distractions. It helps to have a safe place to set your coffee, where the kitties won't knock it over when they come to lie in front of your computer screen. (If you have dogs, you won't understand this part, but I'm sure there's similar arrangement for those little darlings.)

4. Give yourself a set length of time to work on a writing project and then stop. Taking a break after 60 to 90 minutes will allow you to see more clearly when you go back to the task. If you're writing on your blog, you may only need 30-45 minutes or less.

5. Use your break away from writing to either get some exercise (ten minutes is all you'll need to refresh your brain), or check your 'to-do' list for the day, then check your email. Be sure to set aside a time for this, otherwise, it's easy to get caught up in email for the rest of the day and never get back to creative writing or doing research you need on the Web or in books. I recommend chunking tasks into 30-45 minute segments.

Now I know some of you aren't "morning people." But as a former psychologist who reads a lot about the brain, I suggest you may be misunderstanding yourself. You may have named yourself "not a morning person," because you were trying to accomplish left brain tasks.

Why not try writing in the morning and see how that goes? If it doesn't go well, then try setting aside time to write at night. What ever works, it will solve the problem of "finding enough time to write." You don't find time - it's already there. You just have to use it well.

(It's not too late to join The Blog Squad's teleseminar Better Business Blog Writing, Monday, May 19 & 21, 2008 at 5 p.m. ET: www.betterbizblogging.com/BBBWC.)

Comments

[Shannon]

Great post. I have always checked email first and tend to push off writing so this is a great approach I will try. Thanks for the great suggestions.

[Meryl]

I believe in the whole right brain / left brain thing. That's why I do Sudoku every morning (I may not finish it -- just depends on my schedule and how long it takes me). For a while, I would do Sudoku with my right hand (I'm a lefty) -- stopped because it was just too time consuming.

I almost always write in a blog first thing in the morning or close to it. I guess that was a good move after all!

[Connie Ragen Green]

I must first let my four, yes, 4, little dogs out and then I post to my blog and write an article. This has been my schedule for over a year now, and I credit much of my success to this routine. I actually learned this from you when I was just getting started and it has been valuable advice.

[John Fentress]

Hi Patsi,

I support your comments, and should follow them! My own back ground is as a university research and teaching professor in behavioral AND brain science (neuroscience), so I have no excuse....:-).

One of my joys has been working with timber wolves both in the US and Canada. Indeed I am in the early stages of writing a book about my first wolf: LUPEY - LESSONS FROM THE HEART OF A WOLF. But I can easily get distracted, and there goes another day of writing!

I need to think more carefully about scheduling. I have recently started an ETHOLIFE HEALTH COACHING program (etholife.com), which is exciting. However, I am new to the business world, and thus can leave the wolves behind as I try to catch up on business pragmatics.

The blog advice you and Denise have organized and offered is the best deal out there. I am impressed by you care, your enthusiasm, and - yes - your humor. You combine these things beautifully.

Thanks....this note is getting too long.

John Fentress, Ph.D.
Eugene, Oregon

[Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad]

Meryl, Connie, John - thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your experiences. It means a lot to me just to reinforce that what I write gets read! Of course I know it does, but it really helps when people respond, if you know what I mean!

I wasn't clear what all the fuss over left vs right brain function was about - after all, we all use both sides and it's not like we can say "okay, now I'm going to use my right brain..."

...until I saw the great and amazing video of Dr. Jill, the neuroscientist who recorded her own experiences with a stroke. Please look it up on YouTube, I'll get the link later and include it here. It's one of those videos that makes you think in new ways.

[Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad]

Shannon, I meant to include you too in my thanks!

[Leesa Barnes]

Interesting. When I was writing my book, I found that my best writing hours were between 1am and 7am. It meant that I went through a few months of irregular sleep patterns, but writing tends to be best in the early AM.

Which means I'm going to put off writing my Thursday ezine until the morning. What a great excuse to procrastinate ;)

[David]

I am the "not-a-morning-person" you refer to. That said, I have experimented with writing in the morning vs. writing in the evening and I do seem to write more clearly in the morning. So I agree. On the subject of exercising in the morning on the other hand...been there, done that...no way!

[Lynn Jordan--Author's Tools Blog]

Patsi, I know the importance of writing with the "right" side of the brain. Writing first thing in the morning is a wonderful practice. You make it your first priority (after the furred and feathered family members) before all the distractions gain momentum.

However, it seems that I do most of my blog posts at night. That's finally when I get some "me" time. I'm inspired by the events of the day and make notes about what I want to write.

I think the bottom line is do whatever works! Just write!!!