Jump Start January: Week 3 Day 6

Various productivity gurus suggest you should get up at 4.30am to get the most out of your day. By and large I think this is an unnecessary load of bunk, but getting up a bit earlier can sometimes be good for you – so here’s how to make the process easier.

If you’re a true night owl, and you don’t need to get up extra early, don’t bother. However, an early start can be beneficial for many of us.

For example, many years ago, when I’d just started my second job, I was contacted by a publisher to write a small book with a tight deadline. I’d always wanted to write a book, and it was basically a dream come true.

The only problem was that I had a full time job, plus various personal commitments and freelance jobs that were taking up most of my evenings and weekends. There was only one thing for it – do the book research one evening per week, and get up an hour earlier and write the manuscript every morning.

The only other alternative was to turn the book offer down. But there was no way I wanted to do that, and the opportunity was too good to pass up.

So I got up an hour earlier than usual every day, however tired or groggy I felt, and got the job done within the deadline. Two other book offers followed that, so it led on to to other opportunities too.

To get up without any fuss, and to short-circuit the natural tendency to hit the snooze button and stay comfy, I got into the habit of quickly counting to five and moving as soon as the alarm went off.

One: Sit up in bed

Two: Throw off the covers

Three: Swing legs round off the edge of the bed

Four: Feet on the floor

Five: Start walking

Bit of a short, sharp shock, but it absolutely worked…

How about you? Are you any good at getting up early? Think you might try the ‘counting to five’ idea tomorrow?