Friend: “What time do you get up?”

Me: “My day starts 5:00 am”.

Friend: “Why on earth would you get up that early?!  You are so motivated!”…

Me: “Motivated?… Nah, I just do it. It’s just routine.”

It’s odd to answer these questions whenever they are asked because arising early has been a natural thing to do. It never occurred to me that it might be unusual.

After the morning rituals, a cup of coffee, and letting the pooches out for a stroll, I settle down for a (hopefully) productive  hour at the keyboard.  I get some good work done before most people are out of bed. I find the thought gratifying.

The mornings are quiet and I enjoy the solitude. As a result, I think I do my best writing in the early hours. To my way of thinking the first hour of  every day should be invested doing some work on your most important goals.

That first hour is golden and can have a huge benefit throughout the day. If you put in a good, solid hour on the important long term things, the good feeling of accomplishment will spur you on to greater productivity as a consequence.

Things that you shouldn’t do first:

• don’t check email
• don’t listen to the news
• don’t turn on the TV

A few things to include:

• drink water
• a morning stretch routine
• be thankful

The early mornings aren’t something to dread as if you’re being deprived of a few precious moments of sleep. Little changes like these will have a subtle but profound effect on the rest of the day. Eventually, arising early becomes a a habit that you give scant thought to. It’s becomes part of your nature and what you do.

In fact, if I had to make only one recommendation to you on how you could improve your productivity this year, I would say: Get up one hour earlier and use it wisely. Study, read, practice, write, rehearse on whatever skill you’d like to develop.

For you, It’s valuable time to sharpen skills. To others, you’ll appear driven and motivated.

Does that matter to you? …