(NOTE: I consider myself a good writer, but good only gets better by practice. So I’ve signed up for the WordPress Everyday Inspiration schedule to prompt me to write something different every day. This is the result of today’s nudge.)

I woke up around 4AM, having only fallen asleep about four or five hours earlier, in a hotel room in San Diego, there to cover Comic-Con for my client, DC Entertainment, something I’d done for a few years now. I knew I wasn’t falling back asleep anytime soon and had about four hours before I needed to be on the show floor to begin the day’s social publishing. My mind was already twisting and turning on what needed to be done that day just a minute after waking up and so there would be no settling down.

I reached for the remote, turning the TV on and searching through the channels for something mindless or mildly enjoyable to watch as I slowly came back to full consciousness. Finding something, I put the remote down and settled in to zone out, hopefully falling back asleep for at least a little while.

Sleep didn’t come, though. I watched whatever movie it was that caught my attention on HBO or TNT or whatever other station and decided yep, I’m up, may as well start getting stuff done.

So I opened my computer and began the morning ritual of scanning both Twitter and my RSS feeds, catching up on the day’s news and conversations. I saved the stories that needed saving, did a little of my own personal writing and then switched over to work activities, checking the editorial calendars for my other clients to make sure things were progressing and being managed effectively in my absence.

It was 6:00 by now and I knew that’s when the Starbucks in the hotel lobby opened. With little sleep and having already been up for two hours, I threw on some Crocs, grabbed my wallet and headed downstairs for coffee and food, both for breakfast and for snacks throughout the day. The Comic-Con coverage schedule rarely allowed for anything approximating “lunch” so I made do with fruit, bagels, almonds and other food I could eat quickly anytime I had 10 minutes before the next panel or event started.

Having procured caffeine and done my grocery shopping, I returned to my room and got back to work. There was always plenty to be done on a normal publishing program and this was an extraordinary time, meaning even more was necessary. I switched the TV to something even more generic – “Law & Order” reruns are always good background noise – and kept plugging away.

Finally I looked at the clock and saw it was 7:30, meaning my presence would be needed in just about a half hour to start the day’s activities on the show floor. I finished what I was doing, closed my computer and took a shower. One of my Comic-Con traditions was to not shave over the course of the event, so by day four I was looking pretty nasty, but it worked for me. Getting dressed, I made sure I had my convention pass and everything else I would need for the day. One final look around the room and a check to make sure I had my phone and wallet with me and I closed the door behind me, ready to start another day clocking around four miles worth of walking around the San Diego Convention Center.