5 Secrets Behind My “Strange” Productivity Ritual

Every day, I wake up before dawn and go to the gym by 5:30 am for CrossFit. After CrossFit and my meditation practice, I set myself up at a plyo box to write. I do this on my iPad, and I sit either on the floor or another box.

Usually there’s more movement or training involved somewhere in that process.

Many people I know who have expressed their opinion on the matter think it’s “not normal.” The appearance of it certainly looks strange.

By all rational criteria, it doesn’t seem to make sense. When I try to work in the library or in a quiet space, even the most hushed whispers distract me.

In the gym, the conversations are loud, the music is louder, and weights clang all around me.

Yet the couple of hours I spend working in the gym after my workout are the most productive hours of my day.

Strange, But Effective

I am closing in on 6 years of publishing a daily blog. The consistency speaks for itself.

From the beginning of my writing journey, I harnessed the momentum from my workouts to write. But it’s only in the past year that I started the practice of writing in the gym.

Switching up this one small piece of my morning routine has been a game changer. In general, I write faster and with more ease when I write in the gym after my workout.

You may think it’s “not normal” or “weird” or “strange,” but you can’t argue with what works.

5 Reasons Why My “Strange” Productivity Ritual Works

Here are 5 reasons why my ritual of writing in the gym works:

(1) Flow Creates Flow

When I get into a good flow in a workout, my ideas flow more easily.

When I feel confident in my body after a workout, I’m less likely to second-guess my choices and self-edit as I write.

There’s nothing like a surge in confidence to turn off the inner critic. It doesn’t matter where that confidence comes from — whether it’s an unrelated physical task or a related task.

Energy is contagious. We can use the energy we generate in one area to fuel us in a completely unrelated area.

I aim to seize my momentum and ride the wave of flow before some outside force disrupts it.

Why would I kill my momentum by leaving the site of the energy just to find a “more acceptable” place to work?

(2) Environment Facilitates Flow

Writing is hard. Even when you have ideas and an outline, words often don’t flow.

When I write in the gym and I feel stuck in my writing, I’m in an environment that facilitates movement.

Sometimes a workout doesn’t give me an ideal flow state, or the flow dissipates on its own. To get it back, and to maintain my focus, I need to move more.

I can get up and do a quick run on the treadmill, or short yoga flow sequence to get back into flow.

You can’t do that in the library or a coffee shop.

(3) The Energy of Other People

I noticed I do my best writing when there’s another CrossFit class happening. When the gym is too quiet, it’s harder to sustain my flow.

There are two factors at play here.

First, the energy of other people striving for and attaining new goals is infectious.

When you’re doing hard things, it helps to be in an environment with other people who are doing hard things — even if it’s not the same hard things.

It creates a new thought pattern in my head:

If they can do that, I can do this.

Second, watching others do the same workout I’ve already done is a trigger that brings me back to the energy I had during my class. It reignites the spark that may have faded out.

(4) It’s Good For My Health

Exercise is essential for health. And exercising just once a day isn’t enough if you’re sitting for the rest of the day. It’s been well-established that sitting too much is bad for our health.

I’ve noticed that on days when I move more frequently throughout the day, whether through formal exercise or other movement, I am able to sustain my energy over a longer period of time.

The environment of the gym reminds me to get up and move periodically so I don’t get stagnant.

(5) Productive Procrastination

Writing is hard, and it’s an activity that can only be done alone — even if you’re with other people. Some writers reveal how they “procrastinate” their way into writing.

If you’re going to “procrastinate,” you might as well do it through a vehicle that is useful to you, and also one that primes you to write. For me, that’s exercise and movement.

• The best way to get flow in your work is to get flow in your body.
• The best way to tame the inner critic is to do something that boosts your confidence.
• The best way to stay focused is to do a physically challenging activity that takes you out of your head.

The gym is best place I’ve discovered to do all of these things and write.

In fact, I think it’s strange that more people don’t work from the gym.