My coffee machine broke on the weekend and it's completely disrupted my writing routine.
You see every morning I have exactly the same ritual. Wake up. Make Coffee. Sit down and write. It's my favourite time of the day. But now it just feels like something is off.
I'm sitting here writing words, but nothing is coming together. I've bounced between 3 different articles and I can't seem to get a clear thread running through any of them.
And I don't think it's because I'm less caffeinated (A month ago I switched to decaf coffee and that didn't affect my routine at all).
Rituals are an anchor. Just like a boat in an open sea, my brain can be swayed pretty easily by the currents and what's happening on that day. By creating my wake up, coffee, and write ritual I anchor my brain to that action at that time each day.
Rituals reduce our cognitive load. I don't think before I sit down to write because the ritual is always the same. I don't decide whether I'll have coffee or tea, I don't decide if I sit down at my desk or on the lounge. I reduce all the cognitive load on my brain so I can focus on writing.
Rituals are a signal to your brain. Perform a sequence of habits long enough and your brain learns to associate each of those habits together. When I wake up and make coffee my brain knows it's time to write. Without it, it's wondering what is going on.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is, create powerful rituals around your writing (& also I better get my coffee machine fixed stat).
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