I have a “carpe diem” mug and, truthfully, at six in the morning the words do not make me want to seize the day. They make me want to slap a dead poet. ~Joanne Sherman
I have come to the end of the 6AM Writing Challenge, in which I decided to wake up at 6AM to write every day for a month.
Firstly, let’s get one thing straight – I only managed to get up at 6AM on eighteen out of the thirty days in the month. Not only did fatigue catch up with me towards the last week, but the dark skies and the very cold, morning house took away the comfort, the fun and the pleasure from writing. Towards the last week, I was no longer looking forward to waking up so early in the morning to write.
Yet this discomfort taught me a great lesson – I realised that writing isn’t always fun or enjoyable. Writing is made up of hard work, persistence and dedication.
Despite the discomforts, waking up at 6AM to write created some very positive effects in my life. Firstly, seeing as I wrote first-thing in the morning, I didn’t have to try to make time for 
it later. This meant that I wasn’t worrying about trying to find half an hour here or fifteen minutes there to write during the day. I had a clear conscience and got on with my day without thinking about writing. In addition, writing in the mornings allowed me to spend time on ‘home and family’ in the evenings.
Secondly, I gained several extra hours in my day. On most days, I did more things in the morning than I usually do in a day. This extra time also gave me the opportunity to start my day slowly, without any rush to get ready.
However, my greatest discovery during the Challenge was the positivity and energy with which I lived out my days. Whether it was biological or psychological, waking up earlier gave me a great sense of satisfaction and fulfilment. On days when I decided to have a lie-in and woke up at 9 or 10, I felt great disappointment at seeing that the morning was already over.
All in all, the 6AM Writing Challenge made me realise that having a daily writing practice requires some sacrifice (in my case – sleep) and some discomforts (the dark and the cold). It also showed me the beauty of greeting the sunrise and of dedicating the first hours of my day to an activity I enjoy. In the end, I think I quite enjoy being a lark…
Your blog is so pretty and you write so well, I’m glad that I found you. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for your kind words! I am very happy you found me, too! 🙂
Oh, I agree – I love mornings!
Yes, morning is possibly the most magical time of the day.
I really enjoy your real life messages . This sort of value can be acquired into so many things in life & living. The sacrifice, the honesty, the beauty through all the highs and lows.
It’s wonderful.
This is an amazing lesson to learn. It’s something I also struggle with. There’s nothing like having an igniting idea and wanting to write until your hand falls off, than there’s the times in between-the dark, cold, miserable days in which the look of a pen makes your brain hurt. Just have to find time each day to sit with oneself and learn to overcome!
Yes, I know those times when a pen just feels so heavy 😉 Thank you for reading
I’m not a morning person, so I admire this greatly!
I don’t think there are any natural morning people – I think the one’s who get up early have had years of training! 😉
🙂