Tag Archives: habits

Building in the habit

I start work again this week after a wonderful summer. This was a summer where I really ‘let go’, I even deleted the mail app from my phone and only checked in weekly. I felt I needed a full break.

Today that changes. I’m ready. I’m looking forward to the new year.

So now I find out if this #dailyink can work? I have a few drafts started for the slow days, I have a few more titles in my notes. But can I maintain this like I have other goals? This has been an amazing year for creating good habits, can I keep that going?

I don’t watch TV, I don’t watch sports, I don’t read newspapers. News highlights on my phone and Twitter keep me connected to the world, but I don’t dwell on all the negative things pushed through my feeds.

Meeting my minimal commitments for fitness, reading (mostly audio books actually, writing, and meditation have taken me between an hour and an hour and a half daily. Most people spend more time than that watching television. But I need to figure out a a schedule that works for me. My guess is that this blog will be an early morning part of my routine, but I haven’t locked in a schedule that I know I can commit to. I have 2 weeks to figure that out before my real schedule starts.

Writing is a pastime that I enjoy. It isn’t work, it is my television… except that I’m the script writer. Reading is a pastime that I love, but my eyes fatigue easily and audio books provide a great opportunity to continue to learn from books. Meditation is new for me this year, and I haven’t missed a day since I started in early January. The journey has been slow, but I’m learning to settle in faster, and I’m sure other benefits are forthcoming.

Just recently I missed my workout target for the first time this year, having only 3 workouts in a week rather than at least 4… but the next week was the start of my new (positive) streak!

It has been a year of building new, healthy habits, and I managed to do this during the busiest school year I’ve ever had. For the coming school year, I hope that I can keep the good habits going!

Why blog daily?

“For years, I’ve been explaining to people that daily blogging is an extraordinarily useful habit. Even if no one reads your blog, the act of writing it is clarifying, motivating and (eventually) fun.“ ~Seth Godin

I enjoy writing, but I’m slow at it. So, when I get busy, I don’t write. This has really hampered my sharing on my Pair-a-Dimes for Your Thoughts blog. At one point, I was constantly thinking in blog posts. I enjoyed this. I would think of a concept or idea, expand it in my thoughts, then wrap it up on my blog. But I’ve written less and less and so that ability to create a full narrative around an idea has faded. I miss doing that.

So, what can I do to get that back? I need to practice writing; to practice thinking in story; to make writing a routine and expectation – not just something I wish I did.

When I started Daily Ink years ago, I was going to hand write a journal and then take a photo of the writing (images are gone from moving this blog around before finally getting DavidTruss.com)… This digital sharing of analog writing was to be a blending of two worlds. It didn’t stick. Then I shared links and videos with a small commentary (I might still do that occasionally), but now this is about (re)finding my joy in writing.

It might go to an audience of just one, but I’ll share it publicly, and hopefully anyone reading this, besides me, will enjoy the writing journey I’m on.

What’s a habit that you want to develop? And what can you do right now to get it going?