Morning Pages
My sister introduced me the concept of Morning Pages late last year but I did not really catch on, until one day in April this year (checked messages, not based on memory) I woke up feeling flustered and searched on YouTube about morning pages. I decided to give it a go and I have been practising this (on and off) since.
So what are Morning Pages?
It is a concept created by Julia Cameron and it is basically writing out whatever that is in your mind in the morning on paper. It is recommended to spend 30mins or write out 3 pages worth of words in long form. It does not even need to make sense. Even if there is nothing you want to write about, just write “I cannot think of anything.” Sometimes, you will find yourself writing on from there onwards.
The YouTube which I watched that gave a good idea of what Morning Pages are,
What happened yesterday
Just yesterday, I woke up feeling flustered and irritated. I didn’t sleep well the night before as well. Before I start working (from home of course), I took out my A4 size notebook and just started writing. Literally I am just penning down whatever I am thinking of. It is not an essay, nobody is supposed to read it, so it didn’t make sense. An excerpt of yesterday’s entry was “Stretch before bed time. On the bed yoga. Set alarm for stuffs. What else is on my mind?”
I only wrote 1 full page in about 20+mins. However this helped. I managed to start the day properly feeling less frustrated (after some time) and had a rather productive day. It helped me manage my emotions better and prioritised what I need to do.
How it helped me
There are times when I am flustered or not sure what do. There are also days when I woke up just irritated (could be the time of the month). In fact, this is quite common for me. Morning Pages helped me clear my mind, my thoughts, rationalise and manage my own expectations. It was supposed to help clear the mind so that creative juices can flow. I am not a naturally creative person but I think it helps a bit for me. Maybe my creative juices are rather limited to begin with. Basically it was a mini me-time.
Since Primary School, I had the habit of writing a diary. It was those kind of “Dear Diary” posts. I have evolved quite a bit since. LOL. As I grew up, I do not journal everyday. I realised that I journal only when I need an outlet, when it was stressed at work or at school, or I am frustrated with the system or even someone. Eventually, when I re-read my journals, it was mostly bad entries and I didn’t feel too good about it. Subsequently I evolved to remind myself to pen down good thoughts or happenings so that I have something nice to read after some time. Especially when traveling was still a thing and I can jot down what happened during the trip. “Dear Diary” usually only takes place at night to document events.
Morning Pages are a bit different. It is still journaling of some sort. Some YouTubers mentioned not to re-read them as they are not meant to be a journal. I still flip through, sometimes, especially if I have done some major planning on that page. Morning pages are meant to be written in the morning. I have written in the morning, afternoon and at night. I realised that writing at different times of the day has different outcomes for me. In the morning, it is a brain dump. In the afternoon, it helps in my planning. At night, it is more journaling/ planning for the next day.
All in all, I do encourage people to try it out as it helped me cope on different levels. I will also get around reading Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way”. (But currently many books to read. Slowly will get there. )
How to start Morning Pages
- Pen: Choose a nice-to-write pen please. If you are using a crappy pen, chances are you are not going to write much or brain dump as much. I prefer to use thicker nibs for brainstorming and thinner nibs to finalise stuffs or for more serious stuffs.
- Paper: anything works. My sister used notebook a size smaller than A5, from Daiso. I am using A4 because I enjoy the space. Can draw or sketch.
- Space: anywhere you are comfortable that is quiet without interruption. When you are trying to brain dump and your husband shouts from the room to ask where is his lucky sock is not a conducive environment to write morning pages. (Not saying it happened to me before, just saying quiet is better.)
- Time spend: I usually set a timer for 30mins as I find that if it is just 10mins, my thoughts are not as clear and some will still be lingering thoughts in my mind. Sometimes I take around 20+mins and only filled up 1 page. But that is ok. There are no rules.
- Time to journal: Recommend to try morning before you start anything. That has the best experience for me. Some recommended waking up earlier to do morning pages. I am too nua/ lazy. #sleepisveryimportant #maybecozIsleeplatetoo #excuses Truthfully, it is called Morning Pages for a reason. Quiet mornings are really conducive for morning pages.
- Handwriting: not important to be neat, but you can. When I am not feeling too good, my handwriting usually goes out the window. So, when I flip through, if it is a good day, usually the handwriting not bad. LOL..
- Spelling: Try to write in long form because the brain is faster than the hand, and I think that helps to tame the brain a bit as well, if that makes sense. So, instead of BRB, it is be right back.
My personal best experience: A stretch of mornings doing morning pages alone in my room or on the dining table with a cup of coffee. I felt calm and in control.
Top tip: TRY IT!
My SOP will be write morning pages, highlight whatever I need to take note (because that day’s to-do list will be spilled over on the pages too), transfer the to-dos onto my bullet journal, and maybe block out time on Outlook calendar if I need to (for time consuming items). So far, this worked for me and I am glad. 🙂
