Habits 3

It's been a little over a month since I've started trying to make blog writing a productive habit. So far, it's been quite successful, as I've published an article on every weekday since then.

I must say that it is now much easier to write each morning than was the case when I first started. I'm not sure if my writing itself has become more fluid on the first try, or whether I simply don't mind the inefficiencies as much, but my speed to production seems to have improved as well. It's always encouraging when I set out to accomplish something, and you are able to find success in it. Along the way, I've found out a few things about daily routines.

These days, the routine goes something like this. I wake up, mope around online while still in bed, eventually get up and take a shower, brush my teeth, then sit down at my desk to write (while fostering my inefficiency by reading various things online). Things are very much inefficient; I could probably cut down the wasted time by another hour if I so choose. But should I?

I want to contend that at the current phase in my habit formation, trying to weed out my inefficiencies may be a mistake. My habit has still not taken full root inside of me; I still consider it to be quite frail. At the moment, solidifying the routine of waking up, showering, then writing is a higher priority than shaving off the fat. I already wake up early enough to fool around online and get a blog out before going to work. I am afraid that by becoming more spartan, I will simultaneously lose the joy of this routine. I feel that this enjoyment in the routine is critical in my long term ability to write in the morning.

Changing subjects, I've also noticed that there is a domino effect that helps or hurt the routine. Most significant is how early or late I go to sleep, which directly impacts my rest. This in turn will affect how I feel in the morning, as well as how easy it is to wake up. Common sense stuff, I know. But I think we easily forget how our actions lead to reactions, which lead then to consequences. While my steadfast mental commitment to waking up and writing each day may be important in this routine, it may be the case that getting ample sleep and leading an overall healthy lifestyle is even more important. Anything to lighten the load of the human will. While this has manifested itself most recently in my sleep and blog writing for me, I can easily imagine that this idea of interrelationships between or actions and decisions is something that we can extrapolate to many other facets of our lives. At least for me, thinking about the future consequences of a possible choice is one of the key ingredients in making a decision (ex: going out at night, going on a ski trip, etc).

So it's been a successful month with respect to this new habit of mine. Hopefully I can keep this up (the next reasonable milestone would be three months), and perhaps have another realization or two about habit formation along the way.