I used to be an early riser. While training for a 颅marathon, I woke up at 5:30 to run, eat a wholesome breakfast, then walk to the office while listening to a podcast. But these days, as a freelance writer with frequent deadlines and no set schedule, I鈥檓 simply too tired. Optimize my mornings? In this economy? I roll out of bed at eight at the earliest, stumble to my laptop, and an hour later force myself to walk my sleepy dog, Henry.
Successful people, we鈥檙e told, take advantage of those early hours, when there are no meetings or work emergencies to hijack the day. In the book , and explain that this is the only time of the day guaranteed to be free of distractions. It sounds like the evil nemesis of my own personal finding鈥攖hat it鈥檚 the last window of opportunity to linger in blissful unconsciousness. Still, rising late makes me feel sluggish and irritable. So I tried getting back to early rising through the imposed discipline of a morning routine.
Spall and Xander asked hundreds of enterprising people about their morning habits, and I decided to go all out with a regimen based on their best practices. On my first day, at 6:23 a.m.鈥攖he average wake time of those profiled in the book鈥擨 stumbled across my freezing bedroom to turn off the alarm on my phone. The night before, I鈥檇 banished the device from my bedside to avoid snooze-button abuse. Most interviewees reported checking their phones right away on rising; squinting at the screen seemed unhealthy, but it did wake me up a little. Then I drank some lukewarm lemon water (the collective morning beverage of choice) while shivering under a quilt in the living room.
I dozed off during guided meditation, one of the most popular activities on a list that participants in the book chose from for boosting productivity, creativity, fitness, mindfulness, and self-care鈥攖he five pillars of a good routine. Most people try to address one or two of these pillars, according to Spall, but I figured I鈥檇 go for them all. As I practiced yoga, I began to feel鈥� alert? I doodled a still life, started a draft I鈥檇 been avoiding, and, in an attempt at self-care, patted Henry, who snored at my side through the whole sequence.
I stuck to this super-routine for only two days. The parade of tasks felt infuriating in its roteness. I write for a living and have plenty of hobbies; I don鈥檛 need to wake up earlier to cram in more creative self-optimization. And it didn鈥檛 take long for me to accept that my brain simply refuses to perform difficult work early in the morning.
So I ditched the creativity and productivity elements, but kept the lemon water, an hour of movement, and meditation. I鈥檓 sorry to say I鈥檝e stuck with it ever since. I rarely hit snooze鈥攖he extra time energizes me more than sleeping does. It feels like I鈥檝e stolen a secret hour for myself. By the time my boyfriend wakes up, I鈥檓 infuriatingly chipper.