I started waking up earlier and going to the gym in the morning.
Historically I've been very much a nightowl. I've never had a real job so my only fixed schedule was during my student years. Even then I had a hard time waking up on time each day and ever since graduating I've had a shifted wake/sleep routine waking up late in the morning or early/mid afternon. And going to bed past midnight, often around 3am and some periods even later.
I think people should follow a routine whatever works for them and I really dislike society's regard of nightowls. Wake up later than average is often seen as lazy, but then working until late is considered unhealthy too. Make up your mind! ๐
That said, the vast majority of high performers seem to wake up early. And the times I do wake up early (and have had enough sleep), my days felt longer and more productive.
So that's why I'm trying to wake up early. For me anything before 10am would be considered early, but the aim right now is to wake up around 8am everyday.
In addition to that I try to go to the gym first thing in the morning. I typically work out in the evening, but I always dread going because I'm usually still working and don't want to stop. If I wait too long I don't have the energy to give it my all and it somewhat feels like waste.
Exercising in the morning definitely requires some discipline, but in some sense it's proving to be easier. Because I tell myself "I can start work (which I really enjoy) after gym" so then I'm incentivized to head to the gym earlier rather than later.
Having read James Clear's Atomic Habits I also realize it's easier to build a habit on top of another habit (also known as "habit stacking") as one thing naturally leads to the next. That's how it works now: I wake up. Shower. Exercise.
It's all part of one morning routine. One thing leads to the next.
Once I finish at the gym the rest becomes easy. I naturually get hungry so I want to eat and I eat. I naturally feel like working so I go work. Eventually I get hungry again and kind of tired so I eat and stop working.
Having that morning routine sets me up for the rest of the day ๐
Today I woke up at 1pm and didn't go to the gym haha. So I'm definitely not there yet. But before 1pm was normal. Now it's an anomaly.
Most days the last week or two I've pretty good at waking up early. And I went to the gym in the morning about half of the time, but I also got a bunch of early appointments that made it difficult to stick to my schedule.
So all in all there's definitely some ways to go, but already a big change over all the years before.
The benefits are pretty obvious. I do find myself more productive in a day. Starting with exercise definitely is part of that. But also waking up early just feels more productive than waking up at 2pm in the afternoon.
The drawback is that there might be reasons to stay up a little later (e.g. many of friends become active online when it's late in my day), so that's a little tougher. And the main drawback is I don't get to sleep in which I really liked ๐
But overall the benefits outweight the drawbacks. Let's see how long I can keep this going ๐
Same here, just trying to wake up earlier! Got it down from 11am to 9:30am..but then it's because I don't sleep at 4am, so I'm not sure if it makes a difference.
I listened to a podcast with Charlie Sloth saying he used to get up at 5am so he was already ahead of everyone else by the time they wake up..I'll try it anyway, then I can do more pointless walking around with people during the daytime
I started waking up earlier and going to the gym in the morning.
Historically I've been very much a nightowl. I've never had a real job so my only fixed schedule was during my student years. Even then I had a hard time waking up on time each day and ever since graduating I've had a shifted wake/sleep routine waking up late in the morning or early/mid afternon. And going to bed past midnight, often around 3am and some periods even later.
I think people should follow a routine whatever works for them and I really dislike society's regard of nightowls. Wake up later than average is often seen as lazy, but then working until late is considered unhealthy too. Make up your mind! ๐
That said, the vast majority of high performers seem to wake up early. And the times I do wake up early (and have had enough sleep), my days felt longer and more productive.
So that's why I'm trying to wake up early. For me anything before 10am would be considered early, but the aim right now is to wake up around 8am everyday.
In addition to that I try to go to the gym first thing in the morning. I typically work out in the evening, but I always dread going because I'm usually still working and don't want to stop. If I wait too long I don't have the energy to give it my all and it somewhat feels like waste.
Exercising in the morning definitely requires some discipline, but in some sense it's proving to be easier. Because I tell myself "I can start work (which I really enjoy) after gym" so then I'm incentivized to head to the gym earlier rather than later.
Having read James Clear's Atomic Habits I also realize it's easier to build a habit on top of another habit (also known as "habit stacking") as one thing naturally leads to the next. That's how it works now: I wake up. Shower. Exercise.
It's all part of one morning routine. One thing leads to the next.
Once I finish at the gym the rest becomes easy. I naturually get hungry so I want to eat and I eat. I naturally feel like working so I go work. Eventually I get hungry again and kind of tired so I eat and stop working.
Having that morning routine sets me up for the rest of the day ๐
Today I woke up at 1pm and didn't go to the gym haha. So I'm definitely not there yet. But before 1pm was normal. Now it's an anomaly.
Most days the last week or two I've pretty good at waking up early. And I went to the gym in the morning about half of the time, but I also got a bunch of early appointments that made it difficult to stick to my schedule.
So all in all there's definitely some ways to go, but already a big change over all the years before.
The benefits are pretty obvious. I do find myself more productive in a day. Starting with exercise definitely is part of that. But also waking up early just feels more productive than waking up at 2pm in the afternoon.
The drawback is that there might be reasons to stay up a little later (e.g. many of friends become active online when it's late in my day), so that's a little tougher. And the main drawback is I don't get to sleep in which I really liked ๐
But overall the benefits outweight the drawbacks. Let's see how long I can keep this going ๐
Same here, just trying to wake up earlier! Got it down from 11am to 9:30am..but then it's because I don't sleep at 4am, so I'm not sure if it makes a difference.
I listened to a podcast with Charlie Sloth saying he used to get up at 5am so he was already ahead of everyone else by the time they wake up..I'll try it anyway, then I can do more pointless walking around with people during the daytime