When my alarm goes off at 6:35 AM, I roll over, grab my phone, and…

I consume.

I frantically check Medium, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and email.

After 6 hours of slumber, I crave stimuli. How does it make me feel?

Eh, it depends. If I had a few retweets on Twitter or a couple recommendations on Medium, then the dopamine hit is enough to get me out of bed.

But if there was nothing waiting for me, I keep searching, all day for the hit. And it drives me crazy.

However, after years of being too afraid to take up a daily writing habit, I started this month and I try to start as early as I can in the day.

Now when I wake up, my first thought isn’t What can I quickly consume it’s What am I going to create today?

Some days I struggle to create, other days it comes easy. Either way, when I create, I’m happy. However small this creative practice may be, it’s restored balance.

Listen to Isaac. Create first, then consume.