Morning Pages

In the last week of 2020, I bought a notebook and decided I was going to write morning pages, starting from January 1st, 2021.

If you don’t know what morning pages are, Julia Cameron, the author of “The Artist’s Way”, says it this way:

the morning pages are three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness

You can read a longer explanation on Julia’s website.

A lot of people recommend doing morning pages: Tim Ferriss talks about it sometimes, Austin Kleon wrote about it too:

You might think you know what you’re thinking, but seeing your thoughts down on the page tells you what’s really going on inside your head.

I have tried to make it a habit a few times already, but I never stuck with it for longer than two weeks. This time I bought a notebook specifically for writing them. I wrote morning pages on January 5th, 2021, and then the notebook got buried under all my other notes, and I forgot about it. I unearthed it yesterday and wrote in it again. This time I am determined to stick to it.

There’s one thing that makes building habits easier — public commitment. I’ve decided to write morning pages every day, and I am announcing it here publicly. So you, Dear Reader, have now become my accountability partner.

Another thing that Julia says:

Morning pages are nonnegotiable. Never skip or skimp on morning pages.

I like this attitude. Developing a habit is easier when you convince yourself that there’s no possible way to get around it.