Writing with Alarms.

tl;dr? Read the underlined parts.

I am naturally, a very difficult person to motivate. It isn't because I don't want to do things, like write, play Warhammer, or play video games: my problem has always been, and will likely always be, a lack of energy.

When I wake up in the morning, I completely lack motivation because, if left to my own devices, I've just climbed out of bed, already desultory, at around 2 in the afternoon. Well, a while back I decided this would never do, and having just bought my first cell-phone (I know! Buying your first cell-phone at 19? Get with the times!) it dawned on me that I could set alarms for essentially everything I want to accomplish on a regular basis, for an entire week.

I have three types of alarm:

Do it now. My 'do it now' alarms are the least important to me, they tell me to take out the trash at midnight every Sunday, and tell me to leave for class every night at 6:40. These are the alarms for things that I would normally be motivated to do, but find I require a pavlovian reminder for. These things are unimportant, and usually I have already accomplished the task by the time one of these alarms goes off.

Wake up! For me, this is a big one. I am a marathon sleeper and impossible to wake without a bucket of ice, a small water-pistol, an air horn and some rad-scorpions. I have two alarms set for waking me up: one at 10 o'clock which tells me I should start thinking about getting up, and one at 11:45 which harshly berates me for sleeping in.

Have you done it yet? These are the alarms which run my life. My 11:50 alarm reminds me to tweet something, if I haven't yet at that point. My 2pm alarm reminds me to write something if I haven't at that point, and I set specific times for assignments. On top of all this I have a recurring alarm at 3pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday that is meant to kick me into blogging mode and put up one of these handy-dandy updates.

Now, alarms aren't for everyone, but I find they work for me because, unlike setting a goal time to write, or a word-limit to reach each day, the alarm system forces me to do something, and it causes real guilt if I don't get it done. Don't get me wrong, I still set word-count goals, but I find them more achievable with my alarms in place.

On top of my alarm rant today, I'd like to mention two things I do that force me to start writing when these alarms come up. 1)  Leave the last sentence you write each day unfinished. Give yourself a sentence at the beginning of the next day, something to the effect of, "Darren  lay down his...." You may know that the next word is sword, or gun, or lance, but in the grogginess of starting back in on your work, this prompt will jumpstart your brain and get you into 'writing mode' faster. 2) Write a word, any word. When you open that word file, don't hesitate. The simple motion of typing a single word will snap you into writing mode, and often typing that one word will lead to a real desire to type half a dozen more. My tip for the day: get the ball rolling, and then keep it rolling.