Why in God’s green planet should anybody wake up as early as 4 am?
Truth is changing your routine could improve your productivity, even if you are not an early riser.
I often sleep late(and sleep less at night), and used to wake up before dawn, it has been a culture I had to discipline myself to cultivate over the years. At a point I could boldly say I put the sun to sleep and wake it up in the morning.
It all really came together when I left the hostel in the main campus of my university to rent a house in town around the original campus. Well once I made that choice of moving to the other campus to live while attending lectures on the main campus which is about a 25 minutes drive, waking up early was no longer a choice but a compulsory routine.
Even worse is the long queues every day at the school bus park, also as a fitness person I had to wake up early so I can do my morning jog, push-up and abdominal routine. So I will wake up 4 am, pray and study my Bible, read and review my notes till 5am.When I prepare what to eat, then go for a quick jog for 15 to 20 minutes and make it to the bus park by 6am. I will get to the other campus before those living in it. Have the opportunity to read and review my notes more and pick a better sitting position.
I did this for a whole school year, and I realised I have a lot done before its dawn. So I let the sun rise on my productivity.
Then I moved down to the main Campus, living off campus with my supportive room mate. By now I was an alarm clock, my eyes will pop open once it is 4am(except if I slept 3 am or more and really exhausted and decide to sleep back)
Then I will go waking neighbours up for early morning jog, we hit the road by 5:30 am and get back by latest 6:30 am. It was a beautiful sight to see nature taking her beauty sleep, running on the empty roads without the buzzes, to watch the sun rise(I took pictures of the sun rise almost every time)
Then we will lift weight and weight-squat for about 15 minutes and do room chores to make it early to our 8 am classes.
Sounds really magical, huh?
I can never forget just how empowering it felt to be awake before the rest of the world had even wiped the sleep from their eyes. I realise I was becoming more and more active and productive, and I resolved to keep it that way because it changed my productivity in ways I never expected.
You Feel Like You’re Winning Just by Waking Up
It is no news that sleep is sweetest when the morning draws closer, and who wouldn’t want that extra time of serenity before the buzz??
There are days I don’t feel like standing from the bed, even when I am fully awake, I will lie to my self, sleep for just 5 minutes(and you know what that means)
But you know what? I’m glad for those failures. If anything, it makes every morning I do wake up right on schedule feel like a big win. And when you win the morning, you win the day. This is one truth that my Billionaire mentor Richard Branson operates.
Now, I can say I wake up even before notorious early risers like Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Mark Zuckerberg. It’s a wonderful feeling to kick off the morning: Some people drink coffee but just by waking up, I know I’m taking control of my day. Just by waking up, I know I’ve done something right.
You Get to Set Your Own Priorities
The average Nigerian individual wakes up between 6:00 and 7:30 a.m., which means when I’m up at 4 a.m., I have a good two to three hours before my phone starts buzzing from most especially chats and emails. The only question I have to ask myself is, “What do I feel like doing this morning?”
Usually, that means praying and studying my Bible, putting on my favorite playlist, (Pompi does it for me, Pompi is a Zambian sensational contemporary gospel music artist) maybe spending a few minutes journaling or reading a book, and then heading out for morning jogs
This is the good life, it is the definition of luxury: With a three-hour head start on the rest of the country, I get to decide what’s important to me-instead of rolling out of bed, straight into a hailstorm of to-dos. Because my mornings are, well, mine, I’m able to devote them to the quiet, meditative and full of activities I love.
And better yet, by the time I arrive at class, I’m calmer, happier, and in a better headspace for the day ahead.
You’re Building Discipline for Everything Else
I don’t know about you but when sleeping, waking up seems to be the hardest thing in the world. That sleepy little voice in my head will be saying ‘but I am tired’. What difference would five more minutes make?(and I fall for its trick some days only to wake up 30 minutes later)
Building discipline is like building muscle: For example, every time I work on my plank, despite the burn, I strengthen my abs(by the way I have planked for 30 minutes, 10 seconds at a stretch, watch full video here) . Similarly, every time I force myself out of bed, I strengthen my discipline–not just for the next morning, but for life. These days, for instance, I’m better able to focus on a single task, I’m keeping habits I never could before. Most importantly, I’m building confidence in my own willpower: Once I get out of bed, I know I can tackle everything else that comes my way.
I’ll be the first to admit that some of us are just hardwired, night owls. If you’re one of them, keep on rocking into the wee hours. Alternatively, you can sleep late and wake early.
I am one who sleeps late and wakes up early and I often explain to myself before my body get the wrong message that ‘I don’t have sleepless nights, I just sleep less at night and this isn’t about just being nocturnal, it’s about converting time to tangible value.
But if part of you knows you haven’t found your stride yet, waking up early might just be the change you need to hit peak productivity.
And early doesn’t have to mean 4 a.m, it just means earlier than you do now. Of course, you can’t make that change overnight. Instead, you have to build in a few habits to help you get there.
Start intentionally winding down earlier than you usually do, that means avoiding all tech two hours before you want to fall asleep. (TV, Tab, Phones)
Create a bedtime routine
Find a way to fall asleep faster, it can include deep breathing, visualization (such as running through the first three things you’ll do in the morning), or try reading a book you don’t like much(chuckles)
Get an alarm clock that forces you out of bed, we all need that extra push.
Yes, getting up early is hard. But I promise when you develop the habit, knowing you’ve won, taken back your morning, and built discipline for life, it’ll feel like a high-five from the universe.
This is where I live at the moment, and no, I don’t own it all yet. I am on rent and must keep renewing my discipline.
Hope this is helpful to my fellow steemains.
