Yesterday, I did not post, breaking my 15 day streak and missing a day on my 28 day challenge.

Today, I am writing early.

There’s no one reason why I didn’t post yesterday. Awake for 17 hours, I had 85 possible 12 minute segments in which I could have written a blog post, but didn’t.

Instead, I answered email, read blog posts, made pancakes, washed dishes, went to Costco, went to Target, went to the library, ate lunch at Chipotle,  read books with my daughter, watched a movie, cried during the movie, tried to revive a crashed computer, cooked dinner for my family, cleaned the kitchen, watched Shark Tank, tweeted, Facebooked, talked to my mom on the phone.

I didn’t run yesterday either.

What happens for me is that if I don’t do something earlier, it doesn’t get done.

When I set out my running shoes and clothes the night before and plan to run as one of the first activities of my day, I run.

If I tell myself I’ll do it later, I found a thousand reasons not to.

Writing, running — two things I love. Two things that energize and fuel me.

And yet if I don’t do them early, I (often) don’t do them.

The same applies to laundry (I have to start early to get the momentum to finish) and planning home-cooked dinners (if I have a plan early in the day, I am more likely to execute it), and finding quiet time for prayer and reflection.

Tell me something! What works for you? Is earlier better? What do you have to do early in order to get it done?