My 5–9 Before My 9–5 — Maximize Your Morning Productivity
Rise Early to Harness the Power of Mornings for Personal and Professional Growth
I used to stay up late and play video games until midnight. Then sleep until 8 a.m. and drink copious amounts of coffee to be able to drive to my company and get my work started.
Gone are these days. I’m a morning person now! I wake up early. Sometimes even before 5 a.m. This is my ‘me-time’.
Today I want to talk about how I spent my 5–9. Or, let’s say, how I aspire to be. I want to be real here. Around 80% of the time, this is how my morning goes.
Sometimes, that is not how it works. If I have to drive to the office, which takes me up to 3 hours, I don’t have the luxury of following my morning routine. On other days, I lack the discipline to work out or to write. I attend an early meeting and get sucked into the 9–5 much earlier.
So here is my ideal morning routine, which I aspire to do every day.
The Quiet Power of Early Mornings
5–6 am: Around five in the morning, I wake up automatically (the perks of going to bed early). My cat greets me. After a quick cuddle, I make sure I have some water and coffee by my side when I start to write my morning pages. This is when I dump what is on my mind and get the creative juices flowing.
6–7 am: This is my public writing time.
Usually I come up with a topic while I write my morning pages, but sometimes I need to look at my writing journal, where I stash my ideas.
I physically switched places. I write on my iPad on a sofa next to my hobby desk.
After I turn on a 25-minute timer, I write. I make sure to not correct any typos and just write.
Once my timer goes off, I edit and then publish what I have written.
7–8 am: This is when I workout. I’ve built a gym in my garage, a power rack, and everything. I do some cardio and lift some heavy weights. Nothing special.
8–9 am: I get ready for work.
Craft and Fine-Tune a Personal 5–9 Ritual
I always improve my morning rituals and love fine-tuning my habits.
My daily writing hour is new. I used to go directly to my garage and workout. However, at some point, I realised that I was throwing away my most productive time!
After work, I can’t be creative. All I want to do is cook and eat dinner and relax on the sofa.
And so I came to understand that I have to use and tailor my morning activities for maximum impact.
Balancing Self-Care with Side Hustles
My mornings are the times when I can do the hard stuff. There is no decision fatigue. That is the time I want to work on my writing and work out.
I will also never be done and have ‘the perfect routine’. Things always change, and I love to adjust and improve myself. Reflecting on what works and what can be improved is one of the important parts of this.
As my next goal, I want to increase my writing time. This means I need to improve my publishing process. I can do that by batching certain tasks; however, right now I’m not quite ready to do that.
At the moment, my writing is like laying bricks. one brick after the next. one article at a time.
Do you have a morning routine and work on something before your work starts?
Here are some quick steps to get you started:
Your Action Items:
- Set Specific Goals for Your 5–9: Define clear objectives, whether for fitness, learning, or side projects.
- Create a Consistent Morning Routine: Establish a regular pattern that both energises and motivates you.
- Evaluate and Adapt: Assess and fine-tune your routine to make sure it fits with your goals.
If you are a night-owl and I wasn’t able to convince you to get up early, check out this article written by Lycos!