The Early Bird: A difficult habit to establish.

Getting out of bed early in the morning and starting a productive day is one of the most difficult habits to establish. But, let’s look at reasons why establishing this habit is such a great way to start the day.

First off, getting things done after 6:00 p.m. is not something you want to do. In the evenings you want to do some fun and relaxing things. Go to a movie, cook a nice dinner, have friends over, read a book, sit in front of the fireplace, go to hear music, and go dancing.

None of those things you really want to do in the morning. There are things that just don’t make sense at any other time of day. But, why do we so hate to get out of bed?

I think mostly is because someone else got us up to go do something we didn’t want to do. Going to school for 12 years early in the morning would classify as one of those things. I know that I had issues with it. I never went to school looking forward to it. I always dreaded it for many reasons. So, staying in bed was like a fortress where we didn’t have to face the world every day and do things we don’t want to do.

But when you can set up your mornings in such a way that you look forward to it then getting up is no longer a chore.

I think it is important to begin the day as we end the day…on our terms. If all we do is get out of bed, hit the shower and go to work, whatever work that is, then getting up is a drudgery.

But if we get up and can enjoy an hour or so of doing things that give us a nice feeling then we will do it. Going for a walk, making a nice breakfast, writing a blog, reading inspirational and motivational things to get your mind in the right set for the day are all things that can help you get the covers off and put your day in a good mode.

The thing that I always found interesting is that birds sing mostly in the morning. In the springtime, when the birds are at their most active, the air is full of every kind of birdsong you can imagine. They seem to love being up in the morning.

I always wonder what they are singing about. Are they trying to find a mate? Are they trying to establish a territory? What are they doing?

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

I had an uncle who was a farmer. We would visit the farm often, but one day he came up to the room where my parents, my brother and I were sleeping and was talking to Dad. It was 4 o’clock in the morning.

He said, “Get up, Get up, get out of bed. Get up, Get up, you lazy head!”

I want to develop the habit of getting up early and be productive before most people ever even wake up. It is a completely new thing for me. I have never gotten up on a regular basis at 4:00 a.m. to get my day started. I guess it would mean going to bed at around 8:00 or 9:00 pm most of the time. But, unless you are doing something fun, you may as well sleep at night, just sitting around and watching TV till 11:00 p.m. does nothing for you.

I used to work from 10:00 – 14:00 (10-2) and then go back at 18:00 – 22:00 (6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. or later.) I would often not get home till 12:00 or 1:00 a.m. so getting up at 4:00 would have been insane. So, it is dependent upon your lifestyle and your work of course.

All I have to say is that getting a routine and establishing a schedule based on feeling good and productivity is the thing that is going to improve my life the most.

I hope I can achieve this goal every day so that my days get started right.