I love mornings. Proper early mornings.
Apparently, at least amongst my friends and co-workers, that makes me a little unusual.
I love being up and about whilst the rest of the world is still asleep. It’s the time of the day that feels like my time. It’s the time of the day that I’m most productive, less distracted, focussed, and full of energy.
The downside is that I’m better at everything in the morning.
I exercise in the morning and — using the data my fitness band provides me with — my morning runs are measurably more effective than when I run in the afternoon (which I do when I’m working away). I run at a faster pace during morning runs, I run further (I can easily run 10km several mornings a week), I feel less tired (after a morning run, I’m actually full of energy), and I also prefer running when nobody else is around (maybe out of a fear that I look ridiculous running, which I’m almost positive I do). Plus, now that the mornings here are darker, I love seeing the beautiful sunrises.
I’m also more focussed in the mornings when it comes to work, and I’m able to concentrate on one thing for an extended period. Once the normal working day starts (and everyone else is awake) and I’m multitasking, I find it difficult to then switch back to focussing on just one project.
I also enjoy having some time to “read” a book on Audible (I’ve just finished listening to It and The X-Files: Cold Cases, and I’m about to start Sleeping Giants) or listen to a podcast. It sets me up for the day, and I feel creative and inspired.
In contrast, I reckon I work at half-speed once lunchtime is done. And don’t even ask me to get something done on an evening. When I occasionally have to work in crunch mode (which isn’t too often), I’d rather get up at 4am on a Saturday and Sunday than put in any evenings.
The problem, for me, is trying to fit in as much as possible in a morning. I’m now in a weird routine where I wake up just after 5am, go out for a run at 5:45am (and listen to a book or podcast), make breakfast around 6:45am (usually an omelette), and I’m sat at my desk, working, by 7:15am.
On the odd occasion that I sleep in (usually after work travel), I genuinely feel like I’ve lost nearly a day’s work if I get to my desk at 9am, and then I feel way less productive for the entire day.
So I’m on a mission to become more productive in the afternoon. I don’t want to work later than I do. Because of the early start, I’m happy to finish around 4pm, take a stroll around the marina, and then the evening is mine. I just want to feel like I’m more effective in the afternoon than I currently do.
So, what I’m going to try is to focus on writing something creative immediately after lunch when I usually hit my lull. It may be a blog/medium post, or I may even get back into some fictional writing (which I really used to enjoy, but haven’t done for some time). But it will be something creative, and not directly work related.
I start each day ready to work, inspired and focussed, and feeling creative. I’m thinking that if I can get into something creative when I usually start to flag, that I’ll find a rhythm that might give me a couple of extra hours in the afternoon. And I can still finish up early, but with less of a feeling that my afternoon was wasted.
Let’s see how it goes.
