When you do the hardest work first, it gets easier
The heat of the forge shapes and trains metals that are otherwise unyielding. (Image by StockSnap)
It can be sort of arbitrary what feels like work, right?
Sometimes, the same activity that was enjoyable on one day feels like a grind the next.
It can be almost physically painful to muster the concentration and emotional energy to get through certain tasks.
To deal with this, I start the day with intense creative work. Getting to the most difficult project first thing in the morning creates a momentum that I enjoy for the rest of the day. Even if everything else goes to hell afterward, I can say, “At least I did that.”
For a long time, my early morning time was spent writing. I had (and still have) a goal of publishing an article by 9 AM each weekday. Since I didn’t have a backlog of articles already written, that meant that I was going to have to come up with an article on the spot each morning. As much as I love to write, this was often stressful and uncomfortable. It was a huge challenge to maintain the level of consistency I sought, and it was a painful struggle on some days. It was worth it, though. I felt great about myself for hitting “publish” again and again, no matter what.
Over a year later, I’ve noticed that the writing process is easier. I have more confidence in my ability to sit down and bang out an article on command. I don’t have to wait for inspiration to strike — I can just start typing. In about two hours, I’ll have something ready to publish.
Pushing this newly developed skill to its limit, I have begun to experiment with writing two articles in one day. That has allowed me to get about a week ahead, meaning that I’m writing an article for sometime next week instead of today.
Thus, an activity that used to be so intense and demanding that it had to get done before I did anything else has now become fairly manageable.
I never thought it would happen, but writing articles is now part of my routine, just like sending emails and developing curriculum. Like a meeting, I can schedule time to do it, and I will do it. It doesn’t matter when.
Reflecting on this, I had a thought that surprised me: What if I were to replace my morning writing time with a fresh challenge?
I could move another, even scarier task to my morning block. What could I accomplish if I did?
That feeling of wanting to stuff the genie back into the bottle I’m experiencing as I consider this possibility — to me, that’s a clue that it this an idea worthy of consideration. There is an opportunity for growth here that I’m a little resistant to. What have I been putting off, just like I put off starting a blog for so long? What is an ungainly, underdeveloped project that could change my life if I gave it a little love?
I’m not sure yet. Today, during my morning work time, I organized my tax stuff and sent it off to my accountant, a two-hour project that I’ve been putting off for five months. That felt amazing — but not very life-changing. I’ve got to dig deeper than that. I do have some ideas.
No one will care if I just sleep in and forget about adding a new project to my life — and that’s exactly why this kind of effort can make such a difference. I can put the very best energy and focus of the day into the hardest, most painful work on my list and create something new. It’s something that won’t exist unless I set aside this time. No matter how the rest of the day goes, I can point to that new thing and say, “I did that.”
And maybe there will come a day when that, too, goes from magical to mundane. I won’t mind — I’m sure I’ll find something else to break my brain and change the status quo of my life .
What about you? What is your best time of day? Do you use it for doing your most challenging creative work? What can you bring into being by working on it every day until it’s done?
And then what will you do?
