Waking Up Early
If you looked at former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink’s Instagram page, most of the images you’d see are of his watch at 4:30am, his daily wakeup and workout time. There’s a bit of a dark rationale for why he does that:
“I like to have that psychological win over the enemy. For me, when I wake up in the morning and I don’t know why, I'm thinking about the enemy and what they’re doing. And I know I'm not active duty anymore but it’s still in there, that there’s a guy that’s in a cave somewhere and he’s rocking back and forth and he’s got a machine gun in one hand and a grenade in the other hand, and he’s waiting for me and we’re going to meet.
When I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking to myself what can I do to be ready for that moment which is coming, which is coming. So that propels me out of bed.
I work out early in the morning.”
But Jocko’s not the only leader that subscribes to this practice of waking up extremely early. Some examples:
Beth Comstock, the former Vice Chair of GE:
“Early morning. I’m at the gym at 6, so I’m usually in my office by 7:15. And I try to not schedule a lot of meetings before 8. So I’ve got that first hour to get myself organized for the day, and to make sure that I’ve structured what I want to do.”
Perry Evans, the former CEO of Closely:
“One pattern I have, which surprises a lot of people, is that I get up at 4 every morning. I’ve done that for 15 years. It started when I had offices in Amsterdam and Melbourne, so your schedule has to change to stay ahead of things. So I spend two hours every morning just calibrating what’s going on in my market, which gives me a really strong barometer of where the product and the company need to go. Part of what I’m trying to do is really appreciate the challenges in each job function.”
Catherine Winder, the former President of Rainmaker Entertainment:
“The biggest challenge is being in meetings all day and not being able to have those moments to have a clear head. So I tend to get up extremely early in the morning.
[How early?]
“Depends. It could be as early as 3. Because then I can actually think, I can write, and I’m able to solve problems when everything is quiet.”
The emotional benefits of the early wake-up time
When I’m working with coaching clients who want to become more productive, waking up earlier tends to be an attractive strategy. But it’s not because they want to get more work done. Rather, it's because they want to have more control over their day.
For many people—especially those with children at home—early morning is the only reliable time to be alone and to have no distractions. And it’s in that noise-free environment that one can get centered and get ahead of his day.
Being "ahead of the day" is an emotional state more than anything. It’s the feeling of calm that comes from understanding and planning for the challenges you’ll face during the day. It’s the feeling of being prepared and proactive rather than completely reactive to and "out of control" of events.
For me personally, the "having control" benefit is the number one reason to be an early riser. In fact, I’m writing this post early in the morning. (That, and as an introvert, it’s the only time of day that people aren’t talking to me. I love my wife and kids, but I also need time away to reset.)
Early morning activities to boost productivity
In addition to the planning and centering that one can do to get ahead of the day, there are many other ways to juice one's productivity.
Exercise, obviously.
For example, Bog Iger, the CEO of Disney, exercises first thing. Describing a recent morning, “…I got up at 4:30, and 15 minutes later I was on what’s called a VersaClimber, which I have in my apartment in New York. It’s my go-to cardio exercise during the week; I ride a bike on weekends.”
Don’t check email.
Email represents other people’s agenda for you, not necessarily your agenda for the day.
In The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss recommends: “Instead, complete your most important task before 11:00 A.M. to avoid using lunch or reading e-mail as a postponement excuse.”
Morning Pages
This is the practice popularized by Julia Cameron:
“Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing,
done first thing in the morning. *There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages*–
they are not high art. They are not even ‘writing.’ They are about
anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes
only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and
synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put
three pages of anything on the page...and then do three more pages tomorrow.”
Morning pages can serve different purposes for different people. For some, it will help get thoughts out of your head so that you can focus on other matters during the day. It’s like taking the trash out or tidying your desk.
For others, the emphasis on “stream of consciousness writing” will help turn off the self-critic, which can be important for creativity and fleshing out new ideas.
Won’t I have to go to bed early?
Yeah.
But if you’re waking up early, you’re likely to be tired by early evening.
This brings up a wider point: one of the best strategies for productivity is to work on your most important activities when you’re at your highest energy parts of the day. If you’re a night owl, this strategy wouldn’t work since it’s working against your natural rhythms.
On the other hand, many of us try to get things done in the evening, but after a long day, this effort is often the least productive. It’d be much more effective to just call it quits and get a good night’s rest. The work will be there in the morning.