I’m fascinated by experiments. I often conduct experiments of my own (I’m in the middle of two right now), and I’m usually my own test subject, aiming to make a habit stick faster, or figure out how to gain a new skill or something of that ilk. Several years ago, for example, I needed to be able to write a lot of stuff very quickly and coherently, on-demand, to do my job well, and mostly got that done, but I also set out to try to train my brain to do it even better and the experiment worked: I figured out a way to write fast and on-demand using certain music as a trigger in one experiment (more about that in this blog post) which became a habit I still use today. Let’s try another:
Experiment with training your brain to write at a certain time every day. It might seriously suck at first, but there is a distinct possibility that after a week or two, your brain will start to accept this programming and will be ready to write at that time each day without it feeling like a chore. The writing will just suddenly start to be there at that time.
Which is not to say you can’t write at other times, or that you must avoid writing if inspiration strikes at some other hour, but by making it feel habitual, you avoid having to spend the mental energy on deciding to write, and you’ll just start. Not only that, but once you’re in the groove of it, your brain aware of its task ahead, you could also be able to get better work out of yourself since your creative muscles will be ready to go.