The Essentials: Mindy Kaling spills on running to Beyoncé, her favorite Sharpie and success

In a new series, USA TODAY’s The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives.

Never have I ever been able to spill Mindy Kaling's secrets for creating and staying sane while doing it — until now.

The actor/screenwriter/author/director/producer is celebrating her 20th year in the biz after launching her career at 24 as the only female writer on "The Office" writing staff in 2004. Since, Kaling has written three books and created/co-created TV comedies like "The Mindy Project," "Never Have I Ever" and "The Sex Lives of College Girls." Kaling is also mom to daughter Katherine, 6, and son Spencer, 3.

Here's what the good Dr. Mindy Lahiri has ordered to keep Kaling firing on all cylinders.

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Kaling's precise tools required for writing

Being creative each and every day is absolutely crucial for Kaling. "That to me as a comedy writer is so vital," she says.

"Not only does it replenish me creatively, but also it pays the bills," she says with a laugh.

Kaling is particular about the tools she uses to get her job done. She outlines her stories with the help of index cards and Sharpies, which she's used since her days on "The Office," in which she played the witty as she was self-involved Kelly Kapoor. "I'm more of a visual learner than I thought I was because I really need to see a story's beginning, middle and end," says Kaling, a fan of Sharpie's Creative Markers and Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel Bright! Pens.

Why she mastered all aspects of her craft

Kaling acknowledges the challenges of being a writer. "It's hard to make a good living doing it, and I've only had success by creating my own stories, which I know everyone has said," she says.

Kaling benefited from "learning things that I didn't want to learn," like filming and editing. "I didn't want to do that. I just wanted to be a writer, and then I found out that wow, those are other tools for storytelling."

"So I had to edit, direct, act. These were not the things I wanted to do, and I found so much joy from being forced to do them."

Mindy Kaling's workout routine includes 'therapy' of running, jogging

Movement is a must for Kaling, who loves jogging and running.

"I think that really takes the place of — honestly, even therapy," she says with a laugh. "I find it incredibly joyous to do that."

Her jaunts last more than an hour, and she's jamming to tunes to pull her through.

"If I cannot listen to music, I think it's so tedious," she says. "I'm that insane person that will listen to one song nine times in a row 'til it goes from something where I'm like, 'Oh, this is interesting. Do I like it? Do I not?,' to then it's a jam that I have memorized."

She's constantly looking for new music to jazz up her workouts and is currently spinning Beyoncé’s "Texas Hold ‘Em" and English bands like Depeche Mode. She needs tracks that are upbeat "because when it's slow, I become slow. And when it's fast, it makes me want to run or jog faster."

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The beach is her form of meditation

Kaling and her kids frequent Malibu's stunning oceanfront.

"We have a little place on the beach," she says. "I was never someone growing up that was a beach person, but I do think when I go for a walk on the beach it's the closest I get to meditating."

Kaling relishes the sweet sound of silence

With all that Kaling has going on, she finds herself craving moments of quiet.

"I like silence more than I used to as a kid, or even as someone in my 20s," she says. "It used to make me nervous, and now I look forward to it."

At work she collaborates with eight people in her writers' room and 150 on set, she says. And at home she gets to enjoy her kids whom she describes as "wonderful, loud creatures." So retreating to a place where she can find stillness is key. "It helps me with my work," Kaling says.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.