make your writing time your favorite time of day and stick to it

at some point last year i decided that I would write for 3 hours a day first thing in the morning every day. the first month or so was challenging: suddenly, i had less time for other things, like answering texts or emails, doing freelance work, doing life admin, or exercising, and that was genuinely very stressful – but it also made me realize that because I was taking writing seriously, I was letting it take up time and space in my life. and even if there were new complications, I never wanted to give it up: my writing time quickly became sacred. i don't make rules about what i can or can't do during writing time – sometimes I work on longform projects; sometimes I work on my substack; sometimes I do research; sometimes I write in my diary; sometimes I read – but the key is that it's something specifically to nurture and nourish my writing self. that can even include things like yoga, meditation, or a brisk morning walk. i quickly found that i didn't want to sacrifice those hours for anything, even if it made some other parts of my life tricky in the transition period.