Introducing Morning Pages

I’ve written before about the value of Morning Pages - a way of clearing your head in the mornings by writing down three pages on everything you’re thinking and feeling.

In order to write my words, I used 750words.com for a number of years, but I’ve become a little disenfranchised with having private writings stored permanently in the cloud. I also write fastest in vim, which means writing into a website slows me down. What I really wanted was to store my words privately on my laptop, and yet also include a public incentive system: this is what made 750words.com so effective at keeping me motivated.

gem install morning-pages

The result is the morning-pages gem. The gem has been available for a while, but starting today it’ll record your progress on a central website. It only ever uploads aggregate statistics: the code is open source so you can check it out for yourself to make sure.

For instructions, see the accompanying website. There aren’t any aggregate stats yet, but in future you’ll be able to see any word streaks, what times of day you are most likely to write, etc. I’ve got some nice ideas for visualisation which I’ll add as time permits: if you’re impatient you can always fork the website code and create whatever stats you want!

What do I use my words for?

Writing three pages is still something I try and do each day: I had a 170 day streak going at one point. I use my words to plan and order my day, to negotiate with myself about what I can realistically achieve, and for prayer and meditation - I’ve found I pray best at the point of a metaphorical pen.

Do you try to write each day? What do you use your words for?