The Early Bird Gets the Worm - And I Know Why!

I'm making an assumption that most everyone knows most successful people start their days early and get lots done while the rest of us are still sleeping. I have never been one of the those people. I get quite a bit done, but I have never been able to master myself to the point of getting up early.  I make notoriously bad decisions snuggled under my blankets, the foremost being that it's not necessary to get up and get going.

Recently I came across a course that is supposed to help you be more productive and such, and,  without even taking the course, I knew it wouldn't work for me because one of the number one principles was getting up early. However, since it continues to annoy me that I'm so pathetic, I was still thinking about this idea and the way she phrased it: "Make your first two hours count."

Let me backtrack a bit.  Since I've had this ordeal with the cancer, I've had a very hard time motivating myself to get the stuff done that I used to. I just run out of steam, not even physically, but mentally, much quicker than I ever have. It's sort of a level of despair, where I think, "Who cares anyway?" And I talk myself out of believing it's important - I mean, if I'm gone, it's not going to get done, is it? Will the world fall apart if I don't do this thing? NO. But, this has left me with rather a long, unfinished to do list of things that, since I am here, are really my responsibility. As the new year has rolled out, I've gotten sick of having all this junk following me around everyday so I decided to I was just going to get up early until I got it all done.  And I discovered something.

Yes, I may have been able to pull off taking care of most of these items at night before, but the reason 2 hours in the morning is infinitely more productive than 2 hours later in the day is because in the morning there is still HOPE. By afternoon I have become mostly demoralized by the day;  I have failed at too many things, unexpected events have crept in to usurp my plans and energy, people are not cooperating with my expectations, I have forgotten to take the meat out. But in the morning, not only am I uninterrupted for a small window, but optimism still reigns! For a brief period, this day could still be what I envision it to be. And I get a chance to do my to do list from a place of strength rather than grit.

So, did I get up early this morning? No.  But I would have felt better, in retrospect, than I feel now, having tried to grab another hour of sleep. I may not always get up early in the future either, but this whole idea of working before I've given up on life for the day is very enticing! Now there was a time this would not have worked - like last year.  I could NOT out-wake my children.  Somehow their radar would launch them out of bed within 15 minutes of my feet hitting the floor. But suddenly this year, if I'm quiet, there is a window... and I feel inspired to open it and see what flies in.