Exercise habits of mind to become a writer

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Today started off sluggish despite the extra hour of sleep thanks to the end of daylight saving time. I wasn't sure why I felt so lethargic, except that I've been taking melatonin perhaps more than I should. (At least it seems to be working better against my insomnia than the trazodone had been... and it beats taking an antihistamine nightly.)

In any case, as someone who's been dealing with wicked insomnia for months now, I've gotten accustomed to feeling a little brain dead during the day. Fortunately, my sleep has been much better the past two months or so.

One thing I thought I'd learned in dealing with insomnia is that if the day is shot -- just accept it. Don't fight against it too much or else it will be sheer misery and you won't really be productive anyway. Do whatever tasks you can do without the use of your greater faculties of mind. Like responding to pesky emails and other figurative and literal housekeeping chores.

Today I rejected that idea.

Like I said, I was feeling a bit lethargic -- and now it was already after lunch -- but I wasn't suffering from brain fog. In fact, I wondered what would happen if I just sat down and gave it a go at writing. Like they say: just write for 30 minutes and see what happens.

I wrote 500 words. Good words too. I got up, stretched, walked around the house -- giddily told my partner what I'd accomplished. Then -- and here's where it gets amazing -- rather than calling it a "success" and being done for the day, I sat back down at the computer. And cranked out another 500 words. Also good ones.

Then I got to revising and identifying some research links to track down. Basically, in just a few hours I had achieved something I hadn't been able to get myself to do in a very long time.

It was a good day. I even exercised later in the evening. Unbelievable. I plan to floss too before bed. And here I am now writing this little blog post... really altogether a highly productive day in light of my recent record.

So what gives? What allowed me to write despite feeling rather "off" today? I think three things.

First, I've recently stopped taking a pain medication. I think my recurring brain fog over the past several months was the result of a combination of pain meds, sleep meds, insomnia, and pandemic lock-down syndrome. Without so many meds, I'm sleeping and feeling better.

Second, what I thought was tiredness in the morning was probably just boredom. I was feeling like I might as well stay curled up in bed since there was no place to go and no one new to see. Putting my mind to use in a creative endeavor snapped me about of this mental lassitude.

The third thing that I think has made a difference is THIS little blog. Even having spent only one week of regular writing (not quite daily, I'll admit) has made a difference in my professional writing.

So I'm hooked. I'm gonna keep at it. If this "impulse blogging" is truly having an impact on my more refined formal writing, then this blog is serving an important purpose regardless of whether anyone reads it. That's actually beautifully liberating and empowering: writing to create your own habits of mind!

Yes, today was a good day. Here's hoping tomorrow is too. Regardless, I'll be back to further ponder things both serious and silly here at On The Verge of Meaning.