Increase your productivity: front-load your day

April 26, 2007

[Edits: fixed some minor formatting issues]

Today and yesterday I experienced some powerful reinforcement for the notion that early-risers tend to get more done. Actually, I suppose that’s only true if they get up and get to work on their commitments for the day. Yesterday I rose at 6:30 AM to do my workout before going in to the office. I did it because I wanted to know if working out first thing would give me more energy to use throughout the day. What I discovered yesterday is that it’s still too soon to say what effect my workout has on my energy levels. I was somewhat tired and sluggish during the workday, but that might be due to insufficient nutrition as opposed to early-morning exercise.

What I did realize as I drove home from work around 5 PM yesterday was that one of the biggest commitments of my day, working out, was already accomplished! That freed up my evening for writing my blog, reading other blogs, and a long, heart-warming phone call before bed. Excited about having my evenings more free, I resolved to wake up even earlier today so I could work out AND write today’s blog before work. Yippee! It’s not even 8AM and two of my biggest “musts” for the day are already accomplished. What will I do with my reclaimed evening time today? I’ll use it to prepare my talking points and agenda for tomorrow night’s debut episode of The Growth and Gratitude Hour.

I will be honest. Although I used to be a habitual early riser who could get up without an external alarm at 6:15 AM most days, I’ve been a snooze button junkie since the fall. Given my recent routine of rising around 8 AM after 15 - 60 minutes of snooze button negotiations, I was not thrilled with the idea of waking up by 6:30 yesterday and 6:15 today. How then did I succeed? Quite honestly, it’s not rocket science, but I’ll take you through my process if you’re interested:

1. I opened my eyes in response to the sound of my alarm.
2. I paid attention to my thought process as I reached for the alarm.

1st thought: “NO! I’m still sleepy…”

2nd thought: “I can grab another 5 - 15 minutes of sleep if I hit the snooze button.”

3rd thought: “If I hit that snooze button, I’ll derail my morning workout plan for today.”

4th thought: “I promised myself I’d do 3 morning workout during this workweek and I already snoozed away 2 chances on Monday and Tuesday…”

5th thought (as I sat up and brought my feet to the floor): “I want to keep my word on this.”

I also thought back to when I went through Air Force Basic Training. I was expected to rise each morning by 5:30 (earlier if we were being punished for something) and it never mattered to the instructors how tired or sleepy I was. By 5:45, I was outdoors warming up for a 2 mile run. I did this (with lots of moaning at first) for 6 weeks in basic training and then I continued with a similar routine for a couple of months at technical school. At the end of the training, I was in the best physical conditioning of my life. AND I was accustomed to getting up early and accomplishing tasks and projects that have had lasting impact on my personal development. With that reference experience in mind, I peacefully dressed for my workout, had a glass of water and began stretching for my jog yesterday and today.

It’s called discipline and I’m the only person who can do this for me.

Over the past few years I found it so easy to NOT hold myself accountable for keeping my promises (sometimes to myself and sometimes to other people). I’m not proud of that. I’m not ashamed of it either. I accept it without bothering to judge it or myself. My response is to decide if that’s what I really prefer. Clearly, I do not prefer to have low personal accountability and mediocre results. That’s why I committed to my “Change-A-Habit” Challenge. I was ready to hold myself to a higher standard.

Eleven days into the 30 day experience, I’m feeling better than I have in years. I feel more powerful, more focused, more satisfied, more excited, more relaxed, more productive, more effective, and much healthier than I felt 11 short days ago. Not even halfway into the trial and I’m already considering what commitments I’ll make for my NEXT 30 day challenge. Why is that? It’s because I love the way it feels to hold myself to a higher set of standards and to experience myself responding by producing more results of higher quality than I’d been settling for in the recent past. Will I continue to challenge myself? You bet! Will I rise early tomorrow to accomplish my workout and my blog entry? YES!

What are the important tasks in your days that can be shifted to the early morning? If you make the shift to front-loading your day, how will you spend the time that’s freed up by the changes to your schedule? I encourage you to think about ways to increase your productivity and sense of personal accomplishment today. If you identify a strategy that might work, don’t just sit there. Give it a try!

Posted in Personal Effectiveness