Waking Up Early Does Not Make You More Productive

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Abstract

gs are the bane of my existence.However, because everyone always swears by waking up early and society rewards those who wake up early, I attempt to adjust.They say to place your most important thing in the day in the morning so you feel the need to get up and do that thing. Therefore, I have hundreds of times prepared myself to wake up early to work out.Guess what didn’t get done that day? Working out.Because I selected a specific time to wake up and do something, if I didn’t wake up at that time, I didn’t do that thing.When I took on this 30 articles, 30 publication, 30 days Medium challenge suggested by <a href="undefined">David Majister</a>, I knew that writing an article a day would require consistency. Again, my thought was to attempt to wake up earlier and write before my normal wake-up time.Then, I decided to do something else. Instead of trying to wake up earlier, I decided that when I did wake up, despite what time it was, the first thing I would do is write, edit, and submit a story.I

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t didn’t matter if I woke up at 6 a.m. or 10 a.m. My writing would be completed either way. Now 22 days into the challenge, the surprising thing is that I haven’t missed a single day. Unlike all my attempts to create a new morning habit before, this one has stuck simply because I did not set a time for it.It doesn’t matter the hours you are awake; it matters what you do in those hours.If you are not a morning person, stop trying to become one for society. If you want to be more productive, dedicate a few hours in the evening to your craft. Maybe it is after everyone goes to sleep.The best habits have a trigger as I have learned from Spandex Habits by Michelle Culp. My current writing habit is triggered by waking up. I am attempting to develop an exercise habit that is triggered by finishing writing.Figure out what your trigger is for the habit you want to develop. Then, it doesn’t matter what the time is, when that trigger occurs complete your habit. This will make you more likely to stick with it rather than abandoning it because of time.</article></body>

It is about what you do while you're awake

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash; edited by author

“If you want to get more done, wake up earlier.”

I hear this advice all the time. It is like these people believe that waking up earlier will convince father time to give you extra hours in your day.

I have attempted to implement this advice so many times. The results are always one day of waking up early, crashing in the early afternoon, and then oversleeping the next day.

Unsurprisingly, I am a night owl. I can get a week of work done in one late night, which saved me in graduate school. On the other hand, early mornings are the bane of my existence.

However, because everyone always swears by waking up early and society rewards those who wake up early, I attempt to adjust.

They say to place your most important thing in the day in the morning so you feel the need to get up and do that thing. Therefore, I have hundreds of times prepared myself to wake up early to work out.

Guess what didn’t get done that day? Working out.

Because I selected a specific time to wake up and do something, if I didn’t wake up at that time, I didn’t do that thing.

When I took on this 30 articles, 30 publication, 30 days Medium challenge suggested by David Majister, I knew that writing an article a day would require consistency. Again, my thought was to attempt to wake up earlier and write before my normal wake-up time.

Then, I decided to do something else. Instead of trying to wake up earlier, I decided that when I did wake up, despite what time it was, the first thing I would do is write, edit, and submit a story.

It didn’t matter if I woke up at 6 a.m. or 10 a.m. My writing would be completed either way. Now 22 days into the challenge, the surprising thing is that I haven’t missed a single day. Unlike all my attempts to create a new morning habit before, this one has stuck simply because I did not set a time for it.

It doesn’t matter the hours you are awake; it matters what you do in those hours.

If you are not a morning person, stop trying to become one for society. If you want to be more productive, dedicate a few hours in the evening to your craft. Maybe it is after everyone goes to sleep.

The best habits have a trigger as I have learned from Spandex Habits by Michelle Culp. My current writing habit is triggered by waking up. I am attempting to develop an exercise habit that is triggered by finishing writing.

Figure out what your trigger is for the habit you want to develop. Then, it doesn’t matter what the time is, when that trigger occurs complete your habit. This will make you more likely to stick with it rather than abandoning it because of time.