When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at 4:00 am and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for 10km or swim for 1500m (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at 9:00 pm. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind. But to hold to such repetition for so long — six months to a year — requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity. - Haruki Murakami
Rhythm and repetition in daily life while in the act of creation allows for the input that our mind has taken to find a quiet room to be analyzed, processed and consolidated. Rhythm and repetition, shunts out novelty. Novelty threatens to overpopulate and overstimulate the brain, disallowing the mind to digest what it has swallowed. Discipline is like fasting that allows the brain to empty itself out and form nutrients. As in fasting, where a few healthy ingredients are carefully chosen to be ingested, its important that we choose healthy habits while processing our minds of its food.