Clockwork Creativity: What's Your Optimal Writing Time?

Several years ago, I trained for my first marathon. I wasn’t a runner when I signed up for my first race, so I spent months following a training plan to literally get me up to speed.

I hated that plan. I hated the daily runs. I would curse under my breath at the start of every training run. But then something mysterious happened. Like an internal alarm, my body started to signal to me each day when it was time to run. It’s like the daily regimen built an internal clock that my body started to count on.

To this day, even though I’m no longer running marathons, my body remembers that it should be running. Like clockwork, it still sends strong signals that it wants to get moving. It was the daily habit of exercise that developed this in me, not my love of running.

3 Questions to Identify Your Optimal Writing Time

Cultivating a regular time for daily writing will create the same effect in your mind and body. For me, morning is the time my mind and body are ready to write. It’s the only time of day that I can count on quiet. I like to write before anyone else is moving around in the house.

Morning writing isn't ideal for everyone. For some, it’s mid-day when their brain is fully activated. For others, it’s late at night after the family’s tucked in bed and you finally have a moment of solitude.

To identify your ideal writing time, consider the following:

• What time of day do you experience peak mental clarity and focus?
• When are you least likely to be interrupted or distracted by external obligations?
• Do you notice any natural rhythms or patterns in your energy levels throughout the day?

Whatever your preference for writing time, the key is making a date with yourself and keeping it. Over time, your mind and body will come to expect and anticipate your writing time, the same way it does when you stay faithful to a workout routine.