When I am at my writing best, which -- let's face it -- hasn't been lately, it often comes at a price. During those times, not only do I sacrifice what meager social life I have (the kittens keep me on a tight leash), but I also give up sleeping.
I know, I know, I'm gorgeous enough not to worry about losing beauty sleep, but it's still tough.
It's especially harder when trimming the sleep comes early in the day rather than late at night. You know what I'm talking about -- being up on the wrong side of 5 a.m. When a story calls and you have to ride the creative wave, though, it's worth it, but it adds up.
Now that I'm back in the saddle and conditioning for NaNoWriMo by fixing my first POS manuscript, it also means I'm back to getting up insanely early every day to do a little extra writing before I got to the j-o-b.
But what can you do to make being an early bird (especially when you also are a night owl) a little less painful?
I say have fun and start your day off right. No, I'm not talking about adding chocolate to your morning coffee -- though I do buy flavored coffee to give me that extra little excitement in the morning -- but I mean making your day good the moment you wake up.
But how do you do that, Laura?
Well, friends, I'm glad you asked. Because I am a completely ridiculous person with a silly sense of humor, I find setting personal messages on my cell phone alarm works. Not only does reading something funny -- or because it's me more likely nerdy -- catch my attention, but it makes me laugh first thing in the morning.
Laughing first thing in the morning serves two purposes. One: It jolts me awake. Have you tried to fall back to sleep after having a fit of laughter? It's not easy. Two: It puts me in a good mood. Even if I don't plan to write in the morning, having that extra bit of humor gets the day started on a positive note.
I started doing this about six months ago, and I've built up my line-up. Some only make their appearance once and others are part of a carefully cultivated permanent collection. I took screen shots of my phone yesterday so you see my current wake-up message line-up.
Do any of you have personalized wake-up calls? What are they? If not, what would be the best message to get you up and going in the morning?
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What fun! I think you'd be great to sit down with and have a cuppa! Flavored for me, too!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think so! I'm sipping a nice cinnamon hazelnut right now.
DeleteI LOVED THIS POST! I am going to create alarms now, too! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it. You'll have to share some of your alarms with me. I'd love to see them!
DeleteOMG, this post is hilarious, Laura! First of all, you have cats named Jane and Bingley? That is awesome!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I love your wake-up messages. So funny! I think the Britney Spears one is my fave, but Parks & Rec and Ryan Gosling run a very close second.
Thanks for the laugh! You make me sorry that I don't use an alarm clock (I have this annoying habit of waking up on time on my own. :)
That sounds like a great habit. I'm usually awake before my later alarms (Bingley hates the fact that I have to spend even a few hours of my life asleep and not paying attention to him, which makes him a good alarm clock) but it's always good to have back ups.
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