For years I’ve wished that I could wake up early and use the quiet pre-breakfast hours for distraction-free productivity. And for years I have spectacularly failed at this. I love the quiet, distraction-free hours at the end of the day too, as well as waking up slowly.1
Many famous leaders and politicians are known to start their days early, and I would like to be able to do this too. After years of trying and failing, I have had a break-through.
The secret of waking up early is this:
Become a parent.
After the first couple of months with a new-born:
- You will be well-practiced at quickly waking up at previously unthinkable times
- You will be used to operating on less sleep than you ever thought possible
- Your beautiful child will become a reliable alarm clock, waking you up at the crack of dawn with cute smiles and increasingly insistent demands that you get up, play and make breakfast.
-
If you have the freedom to begin sleeping and working when you want, I still believe this is a great option. I bashed out a PhD in 3.5 years during which I usually woke up late and began to work around lunch time! - Glorious autonomy! ↩