Challenge your creativity and boost productivity by writing

‘Morning Pages’ daily helps improve focus and can reduce anxiety

Emmanuella Shokare
Staff Writer

Most of us, if not all of us, tend to have random thoughts throughout the day, like “I forgot to call my parents yesterday” or “I forgot to do my homework last night,” that could make us stressed or anxious.

With these thoughts, it may be hard to stay focused, which could lead to being unproductive for the rest of the day.

Morning Pages was an idea brought about by Julia Cameron, an American teacher, author, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer, and journalist, in her book “The Artist Way.” Morning Pages is basically a plan to wake up and write three pages longhand—not typed. It does not have to be specific or super creative; you just write whatever comes into your mind with the intention of not reading it for a long time or never and not letting other people read it.

According to Cameron, Morning Pages help you get rid of those silly thoughts that could end up making you less creative during your day by putting all of them on paper. This makes your mind free and able to focus on the activities you have planned to do for that day or do more productive work. What you write isn’t as important as just the action of writing. You do not have to save the writings or even read them if you do not want to. Sometimes, you may have less than three pages to write a day but you can just keep writing something like “I do not know what to write today” or you could plan your to-do list for the day.

“There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages,” says Cameron. “They are not high art. They are not even writing. They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind–and they are for your eyes only.”

This may sound absurd, but some research studies have shown that writing out how you feel on paper helps to reduce anxiety. For example, writing down what school work needs to be done this week reduces the tension or writing down your to-do list and preparing all you need to do for the next day will help you sleep better at night. Likewise, Morning Pages can help get rid of anxieties and make you feel more relaxed. Although it is not highly artistic, it helps boost your creativity. By writing three pages every morning, you could discover a hidden strength.

“Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not overthink Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page…and then do three more pages tomorrow,” said Cameron.