Thread: Getting up early and working.

Hey there,

I have a question. For a while, I have been trying to wake up early and get to work immediately (I work from home), but I've never actually managed to do it for more than a day. I know that I should just "go and do it" for a week or so and turn it into a habit, but for some reason, I can't. And if I do wake up relatively early, I sometimes get distracted and start doing other stuff, and fail to get anything done. Has anyone had similar problems before and managed to overcome them? If so, how?

Best regards,

Primoz

Play to your strengths. If this isn't one of them, design your day around it. I don't care if you are working at 11PM if you need to.

I am an early morning person. I think some people are wired like that, and some are not. If you are not, and are in a business that requires you to be, than switch businesses.

Play to your strengths. You will be happier, and your work will be more significant. Working from home, you can get more done in 6 hours than the average cube dweller can in 10 hours.

I get up at 5:00am every morning. I leave a todo list the day before of what needs to be worked on. I think this helps me in a couple of ways, when I get in I have a definite map of what needs doing, and I believe that in the evening while relaxing and sleeping my mind starts working on that list and most everyday I walk into my office with an idea on how to solve a couple of the things on my todo list.

Just like Vigilante said, play to your strengths. Does your job have to be done during the morning?? I hate the mornings, and I can't tell you how many times I hear shit about sleeping in.The truth is I'm usually up till 2 or 3 a.m. because thats when I'm most productive. My dad has been, and always will be a morning person, I guess I'm just a night owl. I've learned to stop fighting it and just accept it....even if it does make those mornings where I HAVE to get up at 7 or 8 hell.

Originally Posted by healthstatus

I leave a todo list the day before of what needs to be worked on.

I second that. Decide the night before what your #1 task is.
Then get up and do that, without checking email first, or checking your feeds/blogs, or reading the newspaper.
Just do it, on auto-pilot, do not engage brain (it will kick in once you start the task).

If you find that even that fails, I'd go with Vigilante's suggestion - figure out when your most productive/energetic time is, and block that out for working. No meetings in that time, no reading, no long walks. That's your prime time, and you need to recognise it and use it. It's about "energy management" more than "time management".

Keep us posted on how it goes...

This is one of my guilts too -- sleeping in and getting up late. Today I awoke at 9am. My productive hours are from 1pm - 1am so while I sleep in, I work late into night into the morning.

Like the others have mentioned, play to your strengths. I noticed the only time I'm productive in the morning is if I leave to go somewhere, like the gym first. In fact, my most productive days are when I work out immediately in the morning ... problem is, getting up at the early hour!

If you're business allows you to work at home where you don't have to interact with people during regular business hours just make your business hours what you feel comfortable with.

The problem you're having is you're feeling guilty about not getting up early and you let that affect the rest of your day.

Tell yourself it's ok to to wake up late so forget about waking up early. And make it a point to get work done. Right now your mind is in two places.

1. Thinking and feeling guilty about not getting up early.
2. Thinking and feeling that because you didn't get up early you have the right to get distracted because work should have been done earlier.

When you get up or the day before make a list of the items you need to get done and when you start working do one item take a break then do the next until done...WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY about when you got started!

For some reason I like getting up early even though I don't have to. I usually get up around 5:30am and 7am on the weekends. I think I got this from my grandmother.

Originally Posted by Vigilante

Play to your strengths. If this isn't one of them, design your day around it. I don't care if you are working at 11PM if you need to.

I am an early morning person. I think some people are wired like that, and some are not. If you are not, and are in a business that requires you to be, than switch businesses.

Play to your strengths. You will be happier, and your work will be more significant. Working from home, you can get more done in 6 hours than the average cube dweller can in 10 hours.

^^^^This. I think peoples sleeping habits are wired regardless of how much they try to change their sleeping habits. I personally can get up early if I have to but it won't sit well with me. I'm far more productive on days that I sleep in and I find it best to schedule the day around it like you said. Plus my productive hours are similar to MJ's anyway lol.

This used to stress me out hard. My father is one of those guys that is up at 5:30am and at work at 6:00. He is always giving me a hard time, "what time were you at work" kind of thing.

The amount of work that I get done from 10 pm to 1:00am is ridiculous. The phone isn't ringing, the emails aren't coming in... and the office is quiet. On that note 10pm to 1:00am is not set in stone... If I get into a flow, I won't stop until my eyes hurt and my ideas and creativity suck. I find I have a magic work zone, if my brain gets there I can get what the average person would do in a week. Maybe your crunching a problem in your brain, and you have solution, I will ride that wave until my eye's are bleeding...

Where does creativity come from? Who knows... When it strikes I don't care what time it is or what I'm doing. There is a bubbles car wash near my office, I was watching them clean my car, suddenly I had a really good idea so I ran back to my office. I left my car there for 2 days. We pitched the idea to the client and I got 6 figure contract. Creativity is special, you can't just turn it on and off, so you have to take advantage when it happens.

Society has taught us to "work" from 9-5... I don't believe our brains are designed that way.

Originally Posted by Rickson9

I rarely wake up earlier than 10a. I don't think it's important for me to wake up early.

lol this describes me perfectly.

Working from home is the dream, but I simply cannot do it.

My room is the only place I can work, and I have parentals, siblings, visitors, just pissing me off with constant interruptions. Also, if I work on my laptop on my bed, I find i'm too comfortable.

my bed is where I eat, it's where I watch TV, sleep, have sex. It's a recreational space, so work just doesn't happen as well as it should when I am sitting here. You need a designated work space.

I get up and go to the local library and work there. Sure there are screaming kid and loud people, but they aren't my concern and I can just stick earphones in and ignore them.

I am a night person as well.

For about 6 months I got up at 6am every morning. It didn't help. I could not even think straight until 9am. I always had enough sleep though.

Now I get up at around 9-10am, depending on when I went to bed, usually between 1am and 2am.

I still take about an hour to fully wake up but I am much more productive. I really like the hours when everyone else is in bed, perfect for coding.

Another good reason to not get up early for me is partying. I don't do it often at the moment, but if I do it doesn't affect my sleep as much.

Originally Posted by theBiz

Would you all agree that when you are pushing to get somewhere in life you need to wake up early? Maybe not because its mandatory but it keeps you inline in startup/learning phase. Your energy is spent working and building and your shot by the time you would go out be unproductive. But if your up until late its easy to get dragged out. Did all of you wake up early before you had money or achieved the long term goal?Ive got the same classic dad story and im up early otherwise i feel guilty. My business will eventually force me to be at office by 9am unless i am not managing employees so getting up at 6-6:30 only seems fair? Need to plan outthe day and get things ready. Although i am not in that current stage i like to operate around the mail goal.

If you have your own business no need to get into the 9-5 rhythm. Who decided anyway that everyone is most productive between 9 and 5?

I believe getting up early comes from times when most people were farmers. They have to get up early to get everything done and they can't do much after dark. Things like that can form habits and be passed from generation to generation.

Of course if your business has to interact with the 9-5 world, then you will have to get into that as well. If not, play to your strengths.

I am a morning person, raised on a cattle ranch with chores to do before the bus came around for the hour long ride to school so I have been this way for a loooong time.

My productivity is really high from 6am to 10am, before the phone calls and crap start happening and diverting my attention from what is important to what is urgent. That is also the slow time on my website and the easiest time to make changes and updates. Finding that sweet spot is unique to each person and probably not only an effect of your sleep schedule, but diet, and alcohol consumption. If you think a certain time of day is probably your most efficient and it fits your life, go for it. One isn't above the other.

I agree with everyone above me and those tactics do work, but if they don't work for you, try going somewhere outside of the house when you get up, it'll refresh your mind and habit style. For me, getting up early was tough because I always stay up till 4am and wake up after 12, and usually with a hangover so I would roll around for a few extra minutes, reaching for a glass of water and a aspirin to calm my head. Because I knew I needed to get up early to re-arrange my business lifestyle, I had to find a way to make it stick.

When we are at home, it's easy to relax and get distracted because our minds are wired to think that home should be a place to relax and take time to relieve stress. Introducing a home-based business into that mix, it's hard not to get distracted! Like me, in my home, I have the internet, online porn, video games, cable, you tube, and family. One of those things can easily take time away from my business or my study. If by chance, you live in a stressful environment, that energy will leak through into your mind state, circumventing your thought process, and ultimately your success. I found that waking up, throwing on some clothes, forget the shower and shave, jump in the car, and go to a Starbucks or coffee shop with my laptop, totally changed how I perceived the morning. It woke me up mentality. My mind was now like, okay, I'm here so what do I need to do?

Any change of place can work, even taking a walk outside your home if you can't venture too far because of certain arrangements. The crisp, morning air with the scent of fresh cut grass, and friendly landscapers working the leaf blowers, will open your senses and there you can plan out your day. So by the time you get home, you will feel refreshed and able to jump into what needs to be done.

But like the posters before me, does your success depend on waking up early? If so, then try this. If not, then use the night time to your advantage. I think the goal of everyone here is not to having the need to wake up early or stay up late, but having the "choice" to. Stay fly.

I am also a morning person, but also sometimes when I start at late night, I can work until early morning and forget about time...guess peace and quietness help concentrating.