Strategies to become a person in the morning

On several occasions I have been accused of being "one of those annoying and productive morning people". And although there are people much more productive in the morning, I am quite productive and 90% of that happens at dawn.

For example, on a typical morning from Monday to Friday, when I see my first customer of the day, usually around 9:00 am, I have:

I showered, shaved, dressed, had a coffee and arrived at my office no later than 6:00 am.

Then I write for at least an hour, usually a draft of a new article or section of a new book.

Next, I meditate, typically for 15 or 20 minutes.

After that, I spend about an hour researching for a future job or reading.

And I usually finish my work early in the morning with about half an hour of marketing and / or promotion of my work online.

I do this, or something like it, every morning from Monday to Friday, from Monday to Friday, rain, shine, whatever.

Every time I describe this to people, I usually get the following "fine for you " answers :

Well, you're probably just one of those super early birds that are biologically ready to jump out of bed at 5:00 am every morning. Except that I'm not. In any case, my biological tendency is probably a bit in favor of being a nocturnal owl. I just started this routine a couple of years ago.

Then you're probably on speed or some kind of energizing Tibetan herbal tea. No drugs or ridiculous supplements aside from my medium cup of Starbuck coffee every morning at 5:30 am, plus a cup of reinforcement around noon.

If it's not drugs or genetics, it has to be magic, right? Absolutely. As I will explain, it is the magic of a good nighttime routine.

I am convinced that the reason why productive people in the morning can do what they do actually has very little to do with things like biological tendencies, mental discipline and willpower, or even routines and habits. morning When you ask people who are productive early in the morning, it is rare that they describe how arduous and difficult it is and how they have slowly developed the sand and the special collection of life hacks to push themselves through each tortuous early morning. Quite the contrary: most productive people in the morning usually say something (annoyingly) on the line, it's easy or I really enjoy it.

This means that these people are lying (and are in danger of extinction from the biological point of view of primitive birds or jump into stimulants), or something else is at stake. Something equally powerful but, I suspect, much more ordinary and mundane. So much that we do not even consider it because it's so boring.

As the subtitle of this piece suggests, I think the secret to being a productive person in the morning really has very little to do with the morning and everything to do with a nightly routine that makes it relatively easy to get up early and be productive.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at how this afternoon routine might look. Specifically, I will review the 3 reasons why a relatively boring evening routine is the secret to energize, be creative and productive in the mornings.

REASON # 1: THE RELAXATION-DREAM CONNECTION

It could be said that sleeping badly is the biggest obstacle to getting up early and then being productive. If you did not get enough sleep or if the quality of your sleep was bad, you will be very sleepy and will be stunned in the morning (and perhaps all day). And I do not care how disciplined you are, if you are exhausted every morning, you will not succeed in establishing a habit of productive mornings. You must sleep well. And the proper dream starts the day before.

Just like a car traveling 90 miles per hour on the highway, you can not safely exit the highway without slowing down first, people can not fall asleep successfully without first relaxing. In a way, relaxation is the mental equivalent of a downward shift from the work / day life, to the low gear / sleep park. And the longer you have to slow down, the smoother your transition will be. To mix my metaphors: a boring routine at night is relaxing, and relaxation is the door to good sleep.

So, how do we create a more relaxing nighttime routine? To be honest, I do not think finding relaxing ways to spend your time is the problem. Most of us know what relaxes us personally and we have a pretty clear idea of how we can incorporate those things into our nocturnal routines. The hardest question, I think, is whether we are willing to accept the concessions that would accompany it. Specifically, most people have trouble building a consistent and relaxing nighttime routine because they do not want to miss out on all the fun and exciting things that could happen at night.

In other words, the main obstacle to a consistent and relaxing nighttime routine is FOMO (Fear of getting lost). And while there's nothing wrong with an exciting, spontaneous and wild nightlife, it's important to recognize that for most of us it's likely to be incompatible with a productive morning routine.

REASON # 2: ELIMINATION OF FRICTION

While being deprived of sleep is the first and biggest obstacle to getting up and being productive early, there are many other potential obstacles or sources of friction in the morning that make it difficult to get up and out. And, in many ways, these small fragments of friction are problematic because they are often small and seemingly inconsequential. We ignore them so small.

A classic example is deciding what clothes to wear. It seems silly, but having to take one time to decide, find, get, overrule, then find and get other clothing is a process that requires time -consuming and mentally draining.

The same could be said for a variety of small things we do in the morning, all of which create morning frictions and make it difficult to get up quickly and start working productively:

Preparing and preparing breakfast.

Make, prepare and pack a lunch.

Decide and pack training clothes.

Track and pack work-related accessories such as laptops, tablets, folders, documents, identification credentials, etc.

And on and on the list goes

Instead of spending the mental and physical energy to do all these little things early in the morning, when most of us, even if we sleep well, we're still a little dazed, why not do it the night before? Getting up early and going directly to work would be much easier if your clothes were already ready, you had breakfast and had lunch in the fridge and your briefcase or your work bag was already full of everything you needed, waiting. the door

A surprising reason why most of us recognize that this is a good idea, but it seems that we never implemented it sporadically is that we do not have a good system to remind us and guide us through the process at night. The term system sounds complicated, but it does not have to be. A simple checklist of late-night tasks written on a small tab that sits on your bathroom counter so you can always see it before bedtime can be incredibly effective.

Not convinced? Read this: The manifest on the checklist.

REASON # 3: MAKE A PLAN

While sleeping well and eliminating morning friction are important components in establishing a consistent and effective habit of morning productivity, an extremely important factor is having a clear plan to do the work that matters.

When you talk to those annoying and productive morning people, a strong pattern that arises is that the kind of work they do early in the morning is the work that matters most to them and they are usually enthusiastic.

I imagine, for example, that there are very few productive morning widget packers. On the contrary, people who are productive in the morning tend to be productive in a certain type of work. Namely, work that is creative, challenging and, in some way, personally meaningful.

Now, it would take more than a couple of paragraphs to work out the process of finding meaningful work. For now I think it is enough to say that it is important to ask: Why do I want to get up very early and be productive every day? It seems to me that the most productive people first thing in the morning have a convincing answer to that question, which acts as a very powerful force that gets them out of bed early and puts them into hard work.

But suppose for now that you have a good reason to get up early and be productive. As important and perhaps necessary as it is, I still do not think it is enough for us to get up and go every morning, day after day. To push us beyond the limit, there is a missing ingredient that should, I believe, be added the night before: a plan. More specifically, a very clear one .

The last reason why having a relatively boring evening routine is essential to getting up early and being productive is that it allows you to make a plan for what you are going to work on and how you will do it. And even the simplest plan or scheme for work, makes it much easier to start, which in turn makes it much easier to do things.

I recommend you stay very, very simple. Take 5 minutes after dinner, but before sitting down to watch Netflix (or whatever it is that involves your relaxing and boring nighttime routine) and write down the only thing you would like to achieve with your early morning hours. Here are some examples:

Write introduction and first section of the article about nocturnal routines.

Find and summarize 3 articles on the effects of sleep on decision making.

Finish reading Section 2 of the Manifest from the Checklist.

Send 5 emails to potential customers.

Meditate for 30 minutes.

Just like Reason # 2 was about eliminating friction when getting up and getting on the road to work, Reason # 3 is about reducing the friction between getting to work and really starting with the right job. If you are routinely distracted and unsure about how to start, this little practice of deciding an important task the night before will be a lifesaver.

I would also recommend reading Cal Newport's in-depth work. It's about how to set yourself up to work successfully at the job that matters most.