by Rachel Smith
14 February 2014
I’m going to get right to it: my productivity trick is early mornings. The quiet limbo between 5-9am.
It’s kind of ironic how I discovered this strategy. Mainly because I’m a night owl who’s not up before 8am unless there are exceptional circumstances. Like a flight to Tahiti. Or a mammoth copywriting project that will not DIE.
The particular project I’d been working on was taking ages (lots of similar content that had to sound different, lots of SEO keywords to be plugged in). I was a bit behind, I had other work on the boil requiring my attention and my usual tactic of trying, post-dinner, to wrestle a couple more creative hours out of my tired brain was failing dismally. It was time for drastic measures.
Horrifyingly, I decided I’d get up at 5am every day and work only on that project until 9am. It was part punishment, part experiment, part last-resort. And you know what? I almost came to like it.
For weeks, I was out of bed on the first buzz of my alarm. Straight into a coolish shower to wake me up while the kettle bubbled to life and the inky sky behind me did its slow creep of orange and pink. Between those early hours, I got so much done I astounded even myself. It probably helped that there were no phone calls, no emails to check and no social media to be distracted by (everyone I knew was asleep). My brain was surprisingly fresh, my writing was sharp and I blitzed that project with time to spare.
And when it was over and I went back to my 9-5 routine, I found myself nostalgic for those quiet, reflective early morning hours. I missed the sunrises. I missed my focus and the lack of distractions. I’d been glad to find that being up with the birds wasn’t as laborious as I’d dreaded. If anything, it was easy to get work done and hugely satisfying to reach 9am and realise just how far ahead in my day I was. It’s a strategy I’ve not used since, but would definitely employ if I needed to again.
Have you got any offbeat working strategies when you’re under the pump? I’d love you to share in the comments.
Main image: Samuel Scrimshaw
Interesting how our work patterns change through the ages.
In the late 90s, I could literally power into the night and get work completed.
Now, an early routine works best. A few weeks ago during a major deadline period, I sat down at my desk at 6am and by 9.30 had completed two 1200 word features.
Aha, I knew someone else would endorse my productivity trick 🙂
I can identify. I am definitely not a morning person. I find it very painful getting up early but ironically it is when I am most productive.
I find that combining early mornings with a quick gym visit or dog walk clears my mind and gives me the energy boost I need to get focused.
When I combine the two, they are my most productive days.
Isn’t it funny? I dread it but it works for me. Haven’t done it in a while but I should’ve this week, which has been bedlam (and rather unproductive).