Habits Don’t Take Weekends Off

I almost never post anything on weekends but today is an exception, and I’ll tell you why.

When the alarm (i.e. my dog Winnie) went off at 6 this morning, my wife woke up long enough to urge me to go back to sleep after I had let her out. I told her I had stuff to do, and she said, “But it’s a Saturday”.

Of course it’s a Saturday, and a perfect excuse to sleep in. But the reason I didn’t go back to sleep is that I’m nursing an infant habit. I’ve decided to write for at least a half hour every morning—before I do anything else. I let the dog out, I make coffee, and then I sit down with my notebook, start the timer on my watch, and write steadily for at least a half hour.

That habit is only six days old, and like any newborn it requires constant and consistent care. You wouldn’t bring a new baby home and then take the weekend off, would you?

There are a lot of opinions out there about how long it takes to establish a habit, so I don’t know how many consecutive days I need to keep up this routine until it develops the ability to walk on its own and care for itself. But I know myself: I get these bright ideas, pursue them avidly for a bit, and then quietly let them lapse, so this time I’m not taking any chances. That’s why today is just like any other day, and this is one baby I will gladly wake up for!