How to Get More Creativity From Your Morning Pages Practice

An Ode to the Greatest Podcast Episode of All Time

The most powerful productivity hack I’ve ever used came from episode #2 of Tim Ferriss’ podcast.

Tim is up to episode episode #181 now, but for my money, episode #2 is still the gold standard.

His guest, Josh Waitzkin, is the author of The Art of Learning. He’s also the subject of the chess prodigy story, Searching for Bobby Fischer.

Mid way through the podcast, Josh gives a recipe for the practice of morning journaling that involves priming your brain the night before.

Lots of people are already huge fans of writing first thing in the morning.

The most popular version of this habit comes from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way. Every morning you write a stream of consciousness set of “Morning Pages” and that writing leads to:

Clarity — the jumble of thoughts in your head get articulated and captured. That leaves your mind calm and clear.

Reduced anxiety — again, any fears and anxieties get named and captured so that you can deal with them rationally. No more tension sitting just below the surface of your conscious mind.

Ideas and epiphanies — your mind has been working all night. Sometimes you’ll discover new connections or brilliant ideas.

My friend Buster Benson knows a thing or two about free writing. He’s the founder of a free-writing tool and community, 750words.

Buster makes the case that free form journaling like the Morning Pages practice is even better than meditation. The practice has all of the calming and awareness practice that meditation has, plus a concreteness that many people find satisfying.

So, all of that is to say that the Morning Pages practice is great.