On early mornings, discipline and routines
I used to be a night owl. I used to do my best work between 9 pm and 4 am. That was probably the biggest problem I had when I was working full time. But since I did research in an R&D centre, I never had that problem. Or at least I didn’t, so much. But I’ve been reflecting on early mornings, discipline and routines for a while.
It was over a year and a few months ago that I decided to just wake up early in the morning, like any usual person who has a 9am-5pm job. I decided there would be no more late nights for me. I have been extremely disciplined with this, and only once this year I broke the rule.
My routine every morning, without going into much detail is usually as follows: I wake up around 4:45am to 5:00am, I check Twitter, my email for anything urgent, prepare my gym bag, head to the gym, workout for a solid 30-45 minutes or more, walk home, check Twitter again while I have breakfast and my coffee, read the news, then head to the university (or my office downtown), and start working on projects.
I usually devote my evenings to social events, arts performances, or seeing my friends. And then I do a bit more work when I get home. I try to be in bed by 10pm, but sometimes I have so much work I stay up, and I don’t get enough sleep. But what I have realized is that having these routines and staying disciplined has actually had a very, very positive impact on my life.
And I like that.
Are you a morning person? Do you follow routines? Do you stay disciplined? Have at it on the comments section!
Routines are key to a peaceful life in my opinion, especially when you have children. I start to feel unsettled when I am out of my daily routine.
I used to be a morning person – I think working at Starbucks has that effect on you. It just seems that as I’ve gotten older (and maybe something to do with being quite a bit more sedentary), I’ve become less and less of an AM guy.
Now that’s not to say that I don’t get up relatively early, but nowhere near the hours that you wake up. And about the only routine I’ve got going is the timing I’ve figured out I need to get up, shower, get dressed and get on my way to work.
I wish I was more disciplined and I also wish I could figure out how to motivate myself to actually join and gym and GO to it. Suggestions?
I have never been a morning person and I don’t think I’ll ever be, but I do find myself working on-and-off from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed, which can’t possibly be healthy.
@ Michelle – me too! I feel unsettled
@ Chris – I think in my case, the motivation has been knowing that I’ll have more energy. As I noted in a recent post I wake up at 4:45 am so that I can make enough time for my social media and general work, so I do need energy and I find that I get that *extra* energy from exercising.
@ Michael – I was a night owl for 15 years. And then this happened. Go figure. Working too much is indeed unhealthy đŸ™‚