Morning Pages

You slowly open your eyes in the morning, become aware that you're awake, and the monkey mind starts up. It immediately seems to generate thoughts, feedback loops, ideas, a sort of conversation in your mind. As part of the morning routine, take just 5 minutes at the start of the day to capture those thoughts in a tangible form. 

I like to use an app called Flowstate. If you stop typing for more than 5 seconds, everything you've written will disappear. The point is to be writing almost without thinking, working to observe those thoughts floating around. To capture the monkey mind on the page, see it there in front of you and begin the day with a clearer mind. Once you've sustained this for a period of time, you'll notice how much of your mental resources were previously wasted with these aimless thoughts. Themes begin to emerge over time. It's almost like training your mind to be accountable for the thoughts its producing, giving expression to things that have developed over night. 

I find that with this writing, more questions come up than answers. Recognize when questions come up consistently, and work to answer them. Define things clearly before thinking about them too much. It's not really meant to be a "journal", documenting things you've done, but a deeper observation of the why behind your thinking. 

After the 5 minutes of continuous writing, I'll read the day's Daily Stoic. These daily observations help put things in perspective, and give a reference point for handling things you may encounter throughout the day. It really helps to remember that even the best struggle with this. I know that on some level, but the "gremlins" of the monkey mind as my wife calls them still come up. Usually when I've let this habit slide for more than few days in a row. The skull pictured sits on my shelf as a memento mori, a reminder of the shortness of life and the wonder of being alive.