That one hour in the morning makes the difference
“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.” — Lemony Snicket
My morning starts with me getting up between 6 and 6:30 in the morning, even on the weekends. During the week, I’m usually leaving for work at around 7:30, my wife and baby are still sleeping at that time so that leaves a whole hour just for me to use as I see fit.
I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, drink some coffee, sometimes eat breakfast because I fast on certain days, write on my journal and only then I move on with the rest of my day. It usually involves reading a book, watching a training video (about poker) or continue working on a new post, all of that before going to work.
Not all of us have the luxury of going all in with the things we hope to turn into a career. We have full-time jobs and families to dedicate time to, so those few free hours make the difference if you have a side hustle you’d like to chase or a hobby you want to explore. For me, it’s poker and more recently writing.
When it comes to writing, I’ve realized that most of my ideas come at night before sleeping but it’s the next day when I begin to explore them. Having Evernote on the phone comes in handy since all I have to do is write the idea on a new note and I have something to work with the next day.
More recently, I started getting up at 5 am to hit the gym at 6:30. That way I can arrive at home after work and have the rest of the afternoon free to spend with my family. There aren’t many people training at that hour so it makes it even better. The downside of it is that I end up wanting to sleep even earlier but, as long as I get 7 hours of sleep, I can carry on with the rest of the day just fine.
You hear all the time stories about people like Dwayne Johnson getting up at 4 am every day just to train or start the day before everybody else and it makes sense. Just read a post where Benjamin Hardy explains how the most productive time of the day is during the first 3 hours after you wake up, so why not sacrifice a few hours of sleep to take advantage of that? Obviously, we are all different, I might be fine after getting up at 5 because I work at 8. Maybe starting at 6 works out for you? It’s a matter of trying different approaches until you find the one that suits your schedule better.
Maybe working out that early is not going to work for me in the long run and I’ll have to move back to the afternoon, too early to tell really. I’m just mixing it up, trying to figure out what’s working and what’s not before making a decision. It helps me feel in control of my own life and the things around me.
Sleeping more than necessary has always been one of those things I just can’t do, even my wife complains about how I’m always up early on the weekends or my inability to sleep in the afternoon. She’s used to taking naps after lunch, especially now with the baby so while they’re doing their thing I move to my office to find something productive to do (on the weekends that is, because the rest of the days I’m working).
“The difference between rising at five and seven o’clock in the morning, for forty years, supposing a man to go to bed at the same hour at night, is nearly equivalent to the addition of ten years to a man’s life.” — Philip Doddridge
The point is that we must make what we can with as little time as it is available. If it means getting up an hour earlier than usual so be it. That hour can make the difference between falling short on your goals or being closer to achieving them.
If you’re interested in poker and want to follow my journey through the microstakes you can follow me here.
