1 Minute to Midnight

I find myself extremely motivated in the wee hours of the night. It's a blessing and a curse, really. When the clock strikes midnight, my creative gears start turning. I don't know what it is, but something happens at this time that makes me suddenly want to do stuff.

Take this blog, for instance. Most of my posts come around midnight. I'll occasionally think of something during the day but the vast majority of these are born in the dark. Sometimes I'll be lying in bed trying to get to sleep. Upon failing that, I pull my laptop up and sit here and think until I have something to say or I pass out. Other times I'll, again, be lying in bed, just about to fall asleep, when out of nowhere an idea hits me right in the head. It's those moments when I pop up off the pillow, ruining any sleep progress I've made, and hammer out a good, long blog post. I have a love/hate relationship with that spark.

It doesn't just happen with writing. I'm a musician and there was once a time in which I would produce songs using Sony ACID.Strap in tight, we've got a shameless plug incoming.

I think about 90% of the work I put into this album occurred around 3 AM. You can probably tell which songs were forced and which came naturally. (Dear God, why did I ever release ADHD?) Unfortunately, I haven't done any sort of production since releasing Kokoro since I switched from ACID to the more powerful Ableton Live. I'm not quite adept at Ableton yet so I haven't hit any sort of creative groove with it. Perhaps that'll be a summer project. Which brings me to my next topic of random midnight inspiration. (Whoa, would you look at that paragraph transition? High school English teachers, eat your hearts out.)

During the school year I'm constantly thinking about getting back in shape. I feel like I never have ample time to devote to working out and running, though, at least until summer. That doesn't stop me from craving a run in the middle of the night, though. Really, it would be a good idea. There aren't many cars this late at night and the temperature is great. I wouldn't have to worry about a sunburn, either. That's a double-edged sword, though, since I need to work on my tan. I digress. Midnight runs would be great except for the fact that it's midnight. I've got to wake up in the morning and a run will knock a good hour out of my sleeping time. Longer, even, since I work up adrenaline which will keep me awake longer.

I wish this desire for productivity would hit me around 3 PM instead of 3 AM. I'd get so much done and still get enough sleep. If anybody knows any tricks to this, I'm all ears. But not until morning. For now, I should probably sleep.