This year, I've been trying a variation of "morning pages" where I'll take a 15-30m walk and speak with myself. I use a pair of old Beats around my neck, which have surprisingly good noise cancellation, and Otter for transcription (moving to a local Whisper workflow soon).

I've A/B tested this against using a text editor, with the control as doing nothing in the morning, and at least for me personally, I find I'm practically itching to sit down and write more or edit my spoken thoughts before I'm even finished with my walk.

I'm generally more motivated and productive on days I begin with this routine. I think it's all about getting momentum for your brain; once there's a flow of output, it tends be much easier to direct or filter that flow in whichever directions you choose.

I still work to reduce friction and lower the activation energy when sparking output, but there is very much a discipline component here. I know plenty of executives that use daily standups or assistants in lieu of a mental morning routine... I wonder if future personalized language models may help?