There’s no feeling like clearing your to-do list before others are even up for the day. Waking up earlier is something I never really thought I’d be able to do. For years I claimed, “I’m not a morning person,” which really held me back from pursuing something like this. Throughout the trial I’ve felt better in terms of both the overall feel of a day, as well as made much greater progress on bigger projects.
Control the Course of the Day
Waking up early has allowed me to steer the direction of my day. Yesterday, for example, I didn’t get out of bed when I wanted to and thus didn’t get what I wanted to done. By the time I got home from a long day at work, I was too exhausted to make any progress on other goals.
Today, however, regardless of what happens after I write this post, I have already completed the biggest item on my list for the day. Being able to start the day off in accordance to my plan usually helps guide the course of the rest of the day.
Back to yesterday, starting the day out of control pushed the day overall in that direction. The entire day was spent reacting to things out of my control, causing stress and frustration for nearly the entire day. While we do not have control in every situation of our lives, stacking a few in our favor can help us to cope with those that aren’t.
Moving the Needle
The feeling of accomplishment I’ve experienced has already been highlighted in my other posts for this trial, but what am I accomplishing? There are a few other projects that have been on my mind that I haven’t made the time to put concentrated effort on for a long time.
One may not be a major project, but finally clearing out the items from my minimalism trial has nearly come to a close. With five things left as of this morning, I’ve been able to gift, donate, or sell everything else. These last five are on my for sale list, which was well over double in size prior to being able to tackle posting and coordinating sales when I had the energy to in the morning.
Most activities done, the above included, have been more in the spirit of maintenance and consolidation. Simple things like re-organizing certain spaces that have gone out of order, researching cost saving matters for projects like this blog, and other mundane activities that are often brushed aside.
I have been tinkering with some larger ventures, but want to have more concrete progress before discussing those further.
What’s Next?
This trial, which I absolutely loved, has now come to a close. I’m still going to keep the momentum on waking up earlier. However, I might shoot for 5 to 5:30, with a little more wiggle room on the weekends. The feeling I’m getting from doing more in the morning is phenomenal. I can’t recommend trying this out enough.
Next up, I’m going to be shifting focus from sleep to diet by keeping a food journal.
Trying Out Before Buying In 