My way from a night owl to an early bird

I remember ever since I liked staying late night. There were several reasons for that:

1. After a day full of work I enjoyed having several hours of fun and going to bed early would be a pity. It would mean I need to get up and go to work again. Zero fun. Do you know that feeling? I guess you do.

2. Late at night when everybody at home already sleeps is a great time to concentrate. This is a time when you can read a book, surf the internet, learn or code (if you’re a programmer like me).

3. This is when night-life starts :) Pubs open late, this is when parties start and all the memorable things happen. (this reason made sense when I was a few years younger, not anymore :) )

All this made me go to bed about 1–2pm. It was then hard to wake up early and in a good shape and the cycle went on.

So how did I drop this all recently to get up at 4–5am?

When you have a little kid the life is an instant race for some free time and needs good task management. I often tried to add some gym into my workday, but usually in the evening, my plans for running or going out to swim were crashed with a sudden need of doing sth else. Sometimes it was working late night because during the day there was not enough time for it. The other day maybe cleaning the house after baby’s plays was more important. After all who likes to live in a pigpen.

I noticed that if I get up early when everyone sleeps I am able to do what I planned. Moreover, my brain is fresh and works better than late at night. Still, it was very hard to change the routine of night owl. Until the last vacation.

The last vacation we spent traveling from city to city and I decided to wake up early every day to run in every new place to see how it is and compare with others.
This curiosity to meet the place and the fact that I was on vacation, relaxed and strong, made me get up early in the morning with pleasure.
Being in a different place every two days or so was also breaking everyday routine (while staying at home) and I think this was actually the most important factor to shape a new routine.
This new routine I want to cultivate now after coming back from vacation because neglecting it for a few days is the first step to come back to old bad habits.

Conclusions:
1. Changing a routine is easier when you’re drugged out of other daily routines.

2. Changing place and surroundings, e.g. going on vacation, is a good time to shape new routines

3. It takes time for a new routine to accommodate. Short vacation may not be enough time. It took mine about a month to form.

4. Starting days from the tasks you planned gives you more chance to finish them than leaving them for the end of the day.

Hope you liked this post and you found some takeaways for you. If so, please give me a like or share ;)