Wake up at the same time everyday. This single principle has enabled me the time and freedom to do so much more with each day.

Since January 16th, 2021, I have aimed to wake up at 6am everyday including weekends.
This is what it has done for me:

• Ensured consistent and quality sleep
• Changed my relationship with sleep
• Given me more proactive time (as opposed to reactive time) in my day

I used to pride myself on being “able to operate well on even a couple hours sleep”. This was usually said as justification for staying up late either partying or playing video games (sometimes both) the night before a work day. I’d use this to rationalise how I survived when I went for months working 14+ hour days.

Recently I have spent considerable time reflecting on when I have been at my best and when I have been at my worst. The most striking factor was sleep consistency:

• At my best I would average 7.5 hours sleep, wake up earlier than 7am and wake up within 30mins of the time I woke up the day before. I’d also wake up at least 90 minutes before I had to do anything for anyone else (work, social / familial commitments etc.)
• At my worst I would also average 7.5 hours sleep however this was a combination of short sleeps and very, very long sleeps (i.e. 4 hours one night, 12 hours the next). I’d wake up at times all over the place and generally wake up within 15 to 30 minutes of having to do anything for anyone else. Sometimes even less (waking up and literally dialing straight into my first meeting for the day).

I decided to test the causality with situations when I was at my best. Was I at my best because of these sleep habits or did I have these sleep habits because I was at my best? Or, perhaps, is this a glorious cycle and the trick being to get into the cycle and resist the factors that pull me out?
To test this, I made a commitment that I would wake up at 6am every day for 2 weeks. No excuses allowed. No matter the situation, no matter how much sleep I got, no matter how cold it was. Wake up at 6am everyday for 2 weeks. Practically, these are the things I did to help;

• Set my alarm to repeat and did not allow myself to change my alarm
• Removed the snooze option
• Put “Do not disturb” on my phone from 9pm to 7am every day (only exception are direct phone calls and texts from immediate family)
• No technology for at least 30 mins before sleeping. Ideally, one hour.

To further help motivate this, I allowed myself 1 hour every morning between 730 and 830 to do literally whatever I wanted. Have to make use of this new time right? I used that time to play video games, watch TV, read, go for walks, go to the gym etc. Literally whatever I felt like would provide me the most joy. This meant that before I started work each day or opened myself up to the world (shifting from proactive time to reactive time) I had already achieved something just for myself that day.

I starting noticing that I didn’t mind going to sleep earlier than usual and landed naturally at a a rhythm where I was off technology by 9, in bed by 9:15 and just journaled and read until I felt ready to sleep. The morning free-time changed my relationship with sleep the night before. In the past, I would dread mornings causing me to do the things I enjoyed at night and postpone sleep. Now, because I knew I had my personal proactive time locked in, I was happy to go to sleep because it meant morning would come sooner.

Now, my morning routine looks like this after my 6am wake-up:

• 6:00 – Mindfulness meditation
• 6:20 – Morning Journal
• 6:25 – Shower and dress
• 6:45 – Breakfast and coffee
• 7:00 – Walk (if working from home) or commute (if working at the office)
• 7:30 – Free-time (gaming, tv, reading, writing etc.)
• 8:30 – Begin work

Between 6 and 8:30 – the day is mine. I have done the things I now know contribute to a good day and done them on my own terms.

My evening routine is generally:

• 9:00 – Prepare for bed (brush teeth etc.) – no more phone or devices from this point onwards
• 9:10 – Evening Journal
• 9:15 – Read
• Once I feel ready to sleep I will put my book down and sleep

This sets me up well for a great sleep and ensures I’m ready for the day ahead.