Writing Naked: My Creative Routine for Deep Work

Writing is the hardest thing I do.

Harder than running 50 kilometres. Harder than pitching a startup to a boardroom full of investors. Harder — dare I say — than raising three daughters under 13 while endeavouring to build a billion-dollar brand.

Okay… maybe not that last one.

But when writing is done right, it doesn’t just ask for my time — it asks for my presence. My resilience. My edge.

It demands discipline, stillness, and rhythm. It doesn’t care if I’m tired, busy, distracted, or uninspired. It just waits — blinking cursor, blank page — for me to show up. Every. Single. Day.

When I was writing Getting Naked — and launching my very first startup, Naked Underwear — I quickly realized that my usual routines, though structured and full, were too reactive to support good writing.

Just waking up at 5:00 AM to squeeze in a session before launching into calls and meetings left me disconnected from the deeper creative current.

Writing doesn’t fit into the day. It takes the day. It spills over, consumes your thoughts, and your dreams, too.

So, I surrendered.

I built a new rhythm — a seasonal block focused entirely on writing. A creative container where writing wasn’t something I "fit in," but something I built life around.

This post is a reflection of that rhythm — one refined during the completion of  Good Boy Bad Boy still guides me now as I finish Blood & Tears .

My Writing Routine

I treat writing like I used to treat marathon training — seasonally and intentionally. During my running years, Winter was always base training — cold, dark, rainy mornings made for longer, quieter miles. Similarly, Every three years, when I embark on a new book, January through March has become my base writing season. The mood fits. The business calendar calms. And the brooding creative in me comes alive.

During this window, everything else — emails, meetings, workouts takes a back seat. During one block I even did away with posting or scrolling on social media entirely — something that has become a year round practice.

When it’s time to write, it’s time to write. All-in.

Sunrise journaling while abroad — writing meets rhythm wherever I am.  

Mornings: Front-Loading the Flow

6:00–6:30 AM

• Spirit Callback — I start each day returning from the dream world with prayer or silence. God before algorithm.
• Hydration Protocol — Warm lemon water → AG1 → Creatine → Hydrogen Water.
• Detox Ritual — Oil pulling, tongue scraping, facial steaming (for nasal clearing as well(. A reset for the body and breath.
• Screen Protection — Blue light glasses + mist spray before any screen exposure.

6:30–9:00 AM

• Deep Work Block — No distractions. No phone. No inbox.
• Toggle between binaural beats and Solfeggio frequencies.
• Espresso (sometimes dosed with L-Tyrosine) or Nutria Brain Fuel coffee blend.
• Brain stack: Lion’s Mane, Aronia Berry, Bacopa Monnieri, Astaxanthin, Rhodiola Rosea.
  

This is “Naked Time” — just me, the keys, and the page.

Some mornings, it’s all bad writing. But that’s part of the work. Good writing only comes after the bad. Sometimes the whole session is bad. But it still moves the needle.

Morning Capture Ritual

In the evening, I don’t touch my phone after 7:00 PM, so if ideas come in the evening or at night, I scribble them down in a journal or on scraps of paper.

I’m currently testing the hardbound Naked Revival journal, but I’ve also used Field Notes and Traveller’s Collective Journals.

Before I begin writing each morning, I review those scraps and transfer anything useful into Google Docs or Apple Notes. Keep it simple.

Midday: Food &  Inbox

11:00 AM — Break Fast + Emails & Messages

• 4 farm eggs (from our farm), bitter greens (also ours), avocado (not ours), and bone broth.
• Second round of supplements: Omega-3, Nutrafol (yes, for hair — but also a solid multi).
• Superbolt Tea around 2:00 PM if I need a second wind.
• Check my messages while I eat
• Spend 1 hour cruising my inbox

1:00 PM — Lunch

• Usually sardines and spinach — dense, simple, effective.
• Optional editing block if I’m still in flow; otherwise, movement or rest.

Focus Hacks

• Nicotine lozenge (occasionally) for precision.
• If I’m stuck, I move — walk, journal, or nap.
• No content binges. No YouTube. No rabbit holes.
• I don’t run with a phone — so when ideas hit mid-stride, I rush home to jot them down.

Environment matters. My home office is sacred. But sometimes cafés, parks, or airplanes unlock new layers. When the context shifts, so do the ideas.

Evenings: Move, Decompress & Refill the Well

Before I sign off I spend another hour in my inbox  and ensure my calendar is set for the next day. Then..

• Lift (ideally 90 mins, but more often 60 — life being what it is)
• Cold plunge — now part of my evening reset; washes off the day and re-centers me
• Family dinner + presence
• Skincare protocol (American Boxer) + magnesium and Nutria Sleep
• 20-minute meditation
• Final journal reflection — Spirit Send-Off (never typed, always analog)
• Light reading. No screens before bed.

The Philosophy Behind It

Writing isn’t a hustle. It’s a hunt.

You don’t track something meaningful by sprinting. You do it by moving slowly. Listening. Observing. This goes against my nature. It’s a daily battle. But by reducing inputs and stacking conditions for presence, I give myself a better shot at real clarity and better writing.

That means:

• Less content consumption
• Fewer distractions
• More time in the body, in the breath
• More time with the page.

Clarity doesn’t come from chaos — it comes from rhythm, stillness, and structure. None of which I’ve ever found while doom-scrolling.

Creative Process: 

1. Discover — Notice what stirs your soul. Be curious about it
2. Collect — Write it down on paper. Voice note. Photograph. Whatever works!
3. Generate — Let it spill. Don’t edit. Just write in the flow.
4. Combine — Cross-pollinate ideas. See what works and can be woven together.
5. Refine — Trim until only the truth remains. Easier said than done.

Read more: How to Locate Creative Clues

Boundaries: Keeping the Channel Clean

I use filters to stay aligned to my writing process and remain in deep work, which means saying no to lots of other things:

• Would I do this even if no one was watching?
• Would I still say yes if it were happening tonight?
• Does it pull me from deeper commitments?
• Can I decline respectfully?

My Go-To Polite Decline:

“Thank you for thinking of me. I’m at capacity with my current creative and business commitments and must respectfully decline.”

Looking Ahead: Blood & Tears, Good Boy Bad Boy, and Beyond

Following the re-release of Getting Naked and the upcoming launch of Good Boy Bad Boy, I completed Blood & Tears this past winter — in just three months (not two years). But it’s on the shelf until 2026.

Right now, my rhythm is shifting into business launch mode as we ramp up Naked Revival.

Next month, I’ll share that routine — and how it differs from deep creative work.

Because that’s what Naked Revival is really about:Creating a container for your best self to show up.Whether you’re writing, building, parenting, healing, or leading — stack the conditions. Honor the rhythm.

Then — show up. And write.