4 A.M. Write Club

Most mornings, I wake up at four to write. The reasons not to are endless—teaching, coaching football, caring for my son, managing a household, maintaining a personal life, wrestling with doubt and fatigue. Excuses are easy to find. For a long stretch each fall, especially from September through November, they pile up fast. Football intensifies. School responsibilities multiply. Life demands attention. It’s easy to let those excuses win, but I always return to the work.

I used to imagine myself as a late-night writer with a glass of scotch or an early-afternoon writer with hours of daylight ahead. Once I became a full-time teacher, it became obvious that if I wanted to keep writing, something had to change. Most people can wake at five and start work at nine. My day begins at 7:20. Four in the morning is the only time that truly belongs to me.

When I first committed to that schedule, I constantly overslept. I’d wake up just long enough to silence my alarm, then fall back asleep. To counter this, I decided to put my phone on the opposite side of the room, which led to mixed results. So, I took it a step further by placing my Keurig next to the phone and setting it to light up at four, with a cup underneath it the night before. When I rose from bed to turn off the alarm, the coffee was my reward—press a button, wait for the brew, and walk a few steps to my office next to the bedroom. Eventually, after enough repetition, the habit stuck.

I don’t need tricks anymore. I don’t even have an office now. It was replaced with a crib and a changing station, yet it doesn’t matter. From December to August, I wake at four and write. For two solid hours, I pursue the work that matters to me.

Time can be an enemy, but with discipline and patience, it becomes an ally. Those 4 a.m. hours, stacked day after day for nearly two years, delivered a four-hundred-page book. Whenever I criticize myself for writing too slowly, I remember that at this pace, I could publish over a dozen books by the time I retire. Progress adds up faster than we realize.

Carve out time for yourself and show up for it. It doesn’t matter what you write or whether you write anything at all. The fact that you woke up and allowed yourself to be present is enough.

The writing will follow.