"I recently had the realization that nothing productive happened for me after 9 p.m. Why was I staying up scrolling Twitter or watching anime? My infant son goes to bed around 8 p.m. and doesn’t wake up until 8 a.m. the next day. It struck me that I was missing out on the opportunity afforded by the early morning when he was still asleep.

Since the start of the year, I’ve been getting up at 5:30 a.m. every day to walk to a coffee shop and put in the work. It’s been transformative for me. Depending on when I have to start work, I can get a solid two to three hours of focused work done writing posts and composing Twitter threads.

I’ve also benefited from joining a creator course where all the students in the course get on a call together every morning for two hours to silently work together. The community and accountability provides a massive boost. Don’t underestimate how lonely intellectual work can be. Once that creator course is over, I’m planning on trying out Focusmate to replicate that experience as much as possible.

More than anything, getting up early to start the day with focused work and a mental win has made me feel more confident about myself and my abilities and has helped me envision what my creator business could become as it grows."