Brace yourselves. Holidays are ending

I am determined to become a writer. That does not mean forgoing my day job. Once back to work, I will be away from Medium for about 13 hours straights (8 AM to 9 PM). Writings only resume at night or during weekends.

I experienced some of that reality these past 2 weeks. I had cleared my annual leaves in early December to “avoid the crowd”, so I worked the last week of December while most colleagues were away. The work was not that heavy, but integrity forbade me from using company equipment and hours for my own side gig.

At night, when working on a story, I did not want to stop. I ended up staying up late, sometimes beyond 1 AM. Being a night owl, staying up late is not uncommon for me. But it was tiring the next day. And even till the next night.

It was not sustainable. I felt my writing output dipped. I felt my writing was less creative. I felt tempted to copy others rather than create original content.

Do you relate to any of the above? Please share your experience in the comment.

Go to sleep early

Having enough sleep brings multiple benefits. According to the US Department of Health, having enough sleep lowers our risks of getting sick and other health problems, reduces stress, and improves our mood and other cognitive functions such as thinking and making decisions.

Applying to writing, having enough sleep should help us in the following ways:

• Be more creative: imagine eating the same dish over and over again. Write something new and be different.
• Be more logical: at least for writers like me who write technical stories
• Be more seasoned: Good things take time, just ask any chefs. Good stories take time and multiple rounds of writing-reviewing-editing which cannot complete in a few hours between midnight and, says, 3 AM if you want to go to work the next day.

Later last week, I decided to heed the advice and go to sleep earlier between 12 AM and 12:30 AM. Not a big improvement I admit, but I felt more creative and satisfied with my writing.

Some of them still in draft — do follow me to read them fresh from the oven and judge their quality for yourselves

Having trouble sleeping?

The following advice from the Department of Health is excellent:

• Change what you do during the day — for example, get your physical activity in the morning instead of at night
• Create a comfortable sleep environment — for example, make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet
• Set a bedtime routine — for example, go to bed at the same time every night

In addition, the following helps me get better sleep lately:

• If you encounter writer’s block or having difficulty churning out words, let your brain rest. An overworked brain’s creativity diminishes the same way the law of diminishing return applies. Do not overwork it past midnight.
• Cool down before bedtime. For writers, that means reading something light or watching a short movie or even doing some light exercise. Anything that slows down your brain’s activities and prepares it for auto-pilot sleep mode.
• Do not worry about getting more followers and views. The Medium platform operates 24/7 to distribute your existing stories to readers around the world. Rest now and reserve your energy and creativity for the next great idea.

Good night and good sleep!