Per my previous post I am trying different methods and approaches to how I can increase productivity and maintain my self. Currently I am undergoing the “wake up early” experiment. I’m getting up at 4.30 every morning for 21 days to see how that impacts on my productivity and mindset.
Day 1 – continued
The day went well, I did not feel any adverse impact from my early start, the opposite in fact – I felt good and awake and vital all day. I had a nice glow from having the time to go for a long walk in the morning and I felt great that I had the opportunity to watch a Ted Talk before I headed off for the day. The evening was also pleasant, I was weary when I went to bed and had no troubles falling asleep. I was thinking about Dr Nick Hall’s approach to sleep during the day. He recommends thinking of sleep not as the last thing that you do in a day, but the first thing of your day. I really like that attitude, it also fits well with the “eat the frog” approach of doing the hardest thing first. Sometimes getting a good sleep can be hard. Prioritising sleep is also hard. So putting it first, and thinking about it as a key part of your day is a great way to do it.
I do find it ironic that getting up early is very much about getting more and better sleep!
Day 2 begins
I do question why I chose to do this experiment during July, the middle of winter is no fun for getting up early. But I do actually like the cool mornings, and I am very much looking forward to the glorious summer mornings that I will see in the future.
I am conscious the experiment is fundamentally flawed since I am keen to see the outcomes and I am obviously looking for success, so confirmation bias is influencing my perspective. Interesting though that not everyone finds the approach beneficial in the first instance. I am keen to follow this blog and others too to see how it turns out for other participants.
I’m also really interested in how mindset influences the outcomes of activities (another great Ted Talk), so now I am thinking about programming this experiment for success versus failure. Does success in life all come back to the little Engine’s approach of “I think I can”?
enterprisingagility.com 