For as long as I can remember, I have been a morning person. Whether for wrestling tournaments in high school or for work when in the military, being up early has never bothered me.
Now, I work a remote job from home for a company that is a time zone behind me. I could roll out of bed at 9am, make a pot of coffee, and log into work life. In the world of post-COVID remote work, this is how a lot of people operate.
I like being awake for sunrise. I like the peace of being the only one up in the house, on the road, or at the gym. I like setting the tone for my days–the things I do from 5am to 9am leave me feeling energized when it comes time to get my work day started.
The only trade-off of this lifestyle is needing to go to bed earlier at night; and that’s not really much of a negative in my book.
Here’s what my mornings generally look like:
5:00 - Wake up, get dressed and ready, eat my pre-workout meal (aka Breakfast #1).
5:45 - Read, write, and drink coffee (unless I am running that day, then I will drink coffee later).
6:45 - Train. The start time is give or take depending on whether I am running or lifting and if I need to drive somewhere for the training session.
8:15 - Eat a heartier Breakfast #2, hang out with the dog, shower.
9:15 - Get to work.
I understand that not everyone is fortunate enough to have a zero-minute commute. If you have to drive somewhere for work, you won’t be able to get as much done without waking up earlier. When I did commute for work, I still made it a point to get up early and get my workouts done before going into the office.
I don’t say all this to brag or put down those who aren’t morning people–I just think everyone should give it a shot. There’s something very liberating about getting your non-work priorities knocked out on the front end; getting off for the day with the freedom to relax and spend time with loved ones is a huge stress reliever.
I've done both in my life from meeting a friend to workout at 5:30 to waiting by the door of the gym for opening with the old guys. Now that I am an old guy, I find I perform better once I'm been up a while. However, it is nice to have room in the evenings.