I Woke Up At 3:30am For The Sake Of Productivity. I Will Never Do It Again.
Seven Mistakes I Made
In 2020, I wanted to make the most of the worldwide pandemic lockdown.
Since we had nowhere to go and no one to meet, I thought this was the perfect time to get my personal and work routines on track. This was the ideal opportunity gifted us to by Nature to live our days as we would prefer.
So I decided I'd start my day at 3:30 am.
My Reason For Waking Up At 3:30am
The early morning silence.
You can never beat the blessing of spending the first couple of hours in quiet.
It's just you.
You don't have to go anywhere. You don't have any meetings to attend. No deadlines to meet. Or any errands to run. There's no hustle-and-bustle ready to swallow you up.
Like the stray dog chilling like the Great Sphinx of Giza, you get to be present in the moment.
You can do (or not do) anything you want in those early hours.
My usual 7am to 10pm day didn't feel enough for me to do all the things I had to do in a day AND write.
So my aim was to use these first three hours of my day for writing.
I stayed committed to 3:30am for three months.
But I failed.
Waking up early is not necessary to be successful. It's how you wake up that matters when it comes to success, not when you wake up.
- Mel Robbins
7 Mistakes I Made
Cheating On Sleep
When we read articles or watch videos where people throw all the reasons you should wake up like confetti, one crucial point they forget to mention is sleep.
You have to get 9 hours of sleep, no matter when you want to wake up.
Thankfully I knew the importance of sleep even before starting this new schedule. I used Sleep Calculator to see when I needed to go to sleep to wake up feeling rested and fresh. It suggested I should go to bed by 6:15-7:45pm.
Out of the three-month experiment, I could only go to bed by 7:45pm, maybe ten times.
I went to bed by 10pm, and then it would take me an hour - an hour and a half to go to sleep (2020 was a very anxious year, hence the disturbed sleep).
Which meant I didn't get enough sleep, I didn't wake up feeling fresh, and therefore my writing mojo went out the window.
The Conundrum Called Humans
One of the reasons why I couldn't go to bed by the suggested 7:45pm is that I live and have to exist with other human beings.
Mealtimes are family time for me. So going to bed that early meant that I'd have to eat my dinner at 4:30-5pm, alone. Missing out on family time didn't sit well with me.
Also, I should have realized that I could change my schedule, but I cannot adjust everyone according to it. Most of my friends work till 8pm, and only after that are they available for a call or a quick meet. Missing out on my friends didn't sit well with me either.
Life Happens
This is a lesson I have learnt in the last two years.
No matter how much you try to stick to a schedule, something will come up to break it all apart.
You will have to go somewhere. You will have some errand to run. The day you need the internet the most, it wouldn't work. You will fall ill. Someone in your family will fall sick. Even if you put up a "do-not-disturb", disturbance and distractions are always knocking at your door.
You have to be flexible and be okay with however the day decides to go.
A Bully To Self
One of the most toxic relationships we have and don't realize is ourselves.
There have been days where I had to force myself out of bed at 3:30am and spend the next couple of hours staring at the blank screen.
The lack of sleep and forcing myself to do something I am not comfortable doing is the cause of the blank mind and blank screen.
But instead of realizing that, I would talk myself down with all things negative, such as -
I craved out time for you, and now you won't write?
So many people wake up early and work hard. If you can't do this, then you're a failure.
How do you ever imagine writing your book like this?
Such mental conversations didn't help me at all. They demoralized me and made me believe that I was good for nothing.
I Didn't Take Myself Into Consideration
When we make plans and schedules, we are so excited about everything we want to do that we forget the person supposed to do all you write down on your to-do list.
I didn't consider that I could not function with few hours of sleep.
I didn't consider my periods. They have a mood of their own. And they waste a lot of my time before and after the main event.
I didn't consider that I wanted to present with my family and friends.
I didn't consider that I could be a perfectionist at times. Therefore, lack of any progress means I'll unconsciously bully myself.
I didn't consider that writing is an art and therefore cannot be treated as a 9-to-5.
I didn't consider that I am human and need moments for rest and recovery.
I bit off more than I could chew.
The One Big Problem With All Productivity Advice
... is that it assumes that we are the same all the time.
That we are energetic and enthusiastic all the time.
That we wake up supercharged every day and remain so all day.
That we had a good night's sleep.
That we don't have emotional, mental, and physical highs and lows throughout the day.
That nothing can stop us.
In short, they assume we are not humans but machines.
Too Much On My Plate
I woke up early so that I could tackle my writing. I didn't realize that I still had the rest of the day to sumo-fight with.
As I mentioned earlier, my usual 7am to 10pm day didn't feel enough for me to do all the things I had to do in a day AND also write. But waking up early to write didn't mean the stress of the rest of the day had lessened. I actually put more stress on myself than before.
It is not always about adding a new hack or app into your day that makes you productive. Instead, it's removing some of those items that make space for the things that truly matter to you.
I had to learn to say no for my own sanity and health.
So What I am Doing Now?
I am back to my 7am to 10pm schedule. Therefore, getting good sleep.
I prioritize my day according to the tasks I need to complete.
I don't beat myself up if something is left out. I know I did my best for the day.
I try not to get irritated by disturbance and distractions. No use of that extra stress.
I tune in with my mind, body and soul, and stay gentle with it.
