What the heck happened to May 2014?!?!?!

Okay, so it’s high time I dredge up the memories of waking early for April’s habit.

I’m already a pretty early riser – between 6:30am and 7:30am is a good zone for me, so for April I wanted to challenge myself and push for a consistent 5am wake up call, seven days a week. I wanted to cultivate this habit of waking early because:

• I feel like I’m most productive and creative in the Morning. I generally peak by 3pm and then it’s hard going to get through to 5pm. At work I’m often reduced to filing emails and lame admin tasks after 3. On my writing day, I find myself lured into the abyss of YouTube or (ironically) productivity articles on the internet after 3.
• Waking extra early gives me the option of carving out time to exercise or just be outside.
• Early mornings are incredibly quiet and peaceful, so it’ s lovely time to reflect, read some scripture and pray.

Here’s what I learned.

1. Sometimes 5 o’ clock in the morning really sucks. It hurts and your home can start playing tricks on you, such as making everything fair game for the stubbing of toes and making door frames more attractive to shoulders and boobs, which you are constantly smacking into them.

2. In order to actually wake up at 5am you need to literally jump out of bed as soon as your alarm goes off. If you touch that snooze button you’ll be stuck in that snooze cycle for around one to two hours before you come to terms with having to get out of bed.

3. The best thing to do at 5am is have a cup of green tea. Due your home becoming your arch nemesis at this hour of the day, it’s best find a comfy seat and sip a hot cup of tea as you gradually wake up.

4. Early mornings give you time to stroll and just BE outside. The times I left the house before 7am I found time to walk down to the beach to breath in the ocean and the sunrise. I never really realised before just how different every single sunrise is, it’s quite miraculous if you’re paying attention.

5. Writing before 11am – HOLY SMOKES! On my writing day I could sit in my favourite cafe from 6am to 11am with out a break, without even realising how many hours I’d been writing for. By 2pm I’m pretty fried, but by then I’ve done a whole day’s work, so I don’t feel bad about breaking for the day. Shazam! Kowabunga dudes. (Yeah, mmkay whatever.) (Oh here’s where I confess that often I use my “break” to finally shower and eat cereal for lunch. Don’t judge.)

Lessons learned:

Early mornings are a good time to be alive, to do creative work, go for a jog or to just sit quietly. It’s a bonus in your day so use it for what you really want or really need. Also, going to bed early is really really important if you want to sustain an early morning lifestyle.

May’s habit: Exercise