Time is limited. Even at 4:00am.
I learned an important lesson today. That’s what I love
about this challenge. It forces us to think about what we are doing, how we are
doing it, and why we are doing it. We get better as we go.
I have been rising early for a while now and it truly has
become a habit. I rise crazy-early because of my family schedule beginning at 6:00 am. My alarm is set for 4:30, but today I woke naturally at 4:00 (for the third day in a row). This is the
only quiet time I have in a day and I don’t want to waste it.
But I did waste it. Not the whole time, I got my act
together eventually, but the morning was not as productive as it could have
been because I went to sleep without a plan.
When I woke, I felt lost. I was awake but wandering.
Fortunately, I have a routine I go through each morning so I
was able to begin there. The first thing I do when I wake is drink a large glass of water and turn on the coffee maker. I then empty the dishwasher which
helps to get my blood pumping and my muscles moving. From there, I sit down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. It was great to have this routine in
place.
It was a good start but I quickly realized that I had no
plan for the remainder of my morning time and the clock was ticking away. Watching
the clock tick away is not a productive use of time but that’s how much of my
time was spent today.
I try to use my early morning hours for high impact
activities that require uninterrupted quiet time. Short-term planning is not
one of those activities. I am often able to plan and make lists at other times
of the day, so I have decided that I don’t want to spend precious early morning
hours that way.
This is another example of how a great morning really begins
the night before. Before I turn in tonight (at a reasonable time), I will be
certain to have a plan for tomorrow morning.
