Experimenting with mornings
Posted: - Modified: | kaizen, life, productivityHere's my approximate sleep data for the past week, tracked with the free “Sleep on It” app I installed on my iPod Touch.
| Woke up | Slept | |
| November 13 | 1:30 AM the next day | |
| November 14 | 7:54 AM | 11:14 PM |
| November 15 | 7:09 AM | 8:45 PM |
| November 16 | 6:50 AM | 9:23 PM |
| November 17 | 5:32 AM | 9:06 PM |
| November 18 | 5:05 AM | 9:34 PM |
| November 19 | 5:00 AM |
I switched back to an early-morning schedule, and I really like it. Let's see how wonderful it can be if I can tweak things further!
What's working well?
I set my cellphone alarm a few minutes after my iPod Touch alarm. Then I put my cellphone on the drawers in the hallway. Tada! Social obligation to get out of bed AND deal with cats, instead of just reaching for the oh-so-handy snooze button.
Also, I made several lists. Here they are:
| Things not worth staying up late for: Browsing the Web (it will still be there tomorrow). Reading books (ditto, save it for lunch). | Things worth waking up early for: Writing. Drawing. Hacking, particularly because I can get lots of momentum and make tons of progress before our 10 AM update. |
| Things worth staying up late for: Social interaction. Laying the groundwork for a productive morning (setting clothes out, etc.) | Things not worth waking up early for: casual web browsing. Hitting the snooze button. |
This classification makes it easier for me to put away my computer and get ready for a 9-ish bedtime. (Yes, I'm often in bed before J-.) It also helps me use my morning time more productively. I didn't get up early just to spend hours on iCanHasCheezburger.com! (Besides, it only takes me a few minutes to see the latest cat pictures…)
I haven't run into problems with afternoon fatigue. It might be the way I switch between different kinds of tasks I enjoy, and it might be that I eat a light lunch and I have snacks.
There are still a few things to work out. Commuting to work means interrupting flow, although if I wake up early enough, I can get a chunk of time. When I go into productive hacking mode so that I can check off lots of tasks before our morning status update, I find it hard to make time for my hobbies during the regular workday, because people come in with interesting requests. And then there's syncing up with W-, who's more of a night owl, but that's where shared activities and routines can help.
If you're experimenting with waking up earlier, maybe social obligations and self-reminders can help you too. I'll keep you posted as I learn and experience more!