Self-Help Myths: The Early Bird Catches The Worm… [Organize IT]

Productivity bloggers love to go on about getting up early. After some GTD loving, sleep is probably the most discussed topic out there… except here. Is this where I’m going wrong? Anyways, why is it so important whether you drag your body out of bed at midday, 8AM or even (ouch!) 5AM? Apparently, from those who do it on a daily basis it is supposed to make you more productive, if only for the reason that you get more stuff done with less distractions because the rest of the world is still (wasting time) sleeping.

Fair enough, that does make a lot of sense and I’m sure it works brilliantly… for those who can get up that early. Problem is it is now generally accepted that people function better at different times of the day. For every early bird there is a night owl (and probably a bunch of other birds between them). Let’s take a look at our caveman ancestors for a moment. Imagine if they all rose at the same time. Think of all the fights that would ensue when they all tried to hunt their breakfast. Or the struggle to get near the river for a drink. Nowadays it’s called the morning rush hour and the river has become a Starbucks, but the principle is the same.

It would be pointless writing this without having experimented with it myself. A few months ago I tried to get into the habit of waking up early. The only problem was no matter how much sleep I would get I’d never feel any better when I woke up in the morning. It was almost as though 7.00AM was the boundary upon which my sleepy body started to get cranky and fight back. Any later I felt fine, but if I got up earlier then grumpiness, lack of focus, motivation and various other unpleasantries would ensue, regardless of whether I had six hours or nine hours of sleep. I’m all for streamlining my life but putting myself through that so I could empty my inbox or get the bills posted quicker didn’t seem worth it. Especially when I could simply streamline my workload and relax instead.

If getting up early suits you personally and your lifestyle overall, great! You’ll get more done and feel better in the process. But if you are, for instance, someone who really comes to life during the evenings then take advantage of it instead of struggling away trying not to let your eyelids close. For all those people commenting on these posts about getting up early, saying they struggle to do it, guess what! You don’t have to. The early bird might be able to take advantage of everyone else being asleep, but you can equally take advantage of your energized evenings because people are too busy lounging in front of the TV. Though people continue to labor in a rigid 9-5 world, there are always measures you can take to let your life and work fit around your sleeping habits and not the other way around.

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Original post here: James

23 June 2008 | 10400 | Comments

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