12 lessons from a man who has learned to wake up at 4:30 am

We suggest you read the story Filipe Castro Matos (Filipe Castro Matos), who trained himself to wake up at 4:30 in the morning for 21 days.

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April 2 I gave himself a new challenge. The task was simple: 21 working days I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. I'm used to wake up early (6:00 am almost every day), but this time I wanted to go even further. I would like to test yourself and know your limits.

And at the same time I would like to share their achievements with other people so that they can follow my example. I also wanted to refute some of the misconceptions that society blindly follows.

I have decided to comply with such a regime only on weekdays because the weekends and holidays - is a separate conversation. Of course, some things I do not have time to do during the week, so you have to carry them on Saturday and Sunday, but most of the weekend - it's time for fun and night gulyanok.

Yes, of course I would have to comply with such a regime and every day, but in this case I would have broken your life balance. Since I was planning to continue to wake up as early, and after 21 days, it would become a real torture, rather than an advantage.

Why 21 days? Well, I have relied on the old idea of ​​how the world of Dr. Maxwell Moltz, who argues that in order to form new habits, You need exactly 21 days. I do not know if it really works, I just needed to set a goal.

I have one rule I try to follow: always set ourselves a specific objective, because the only way you can understand, succeeded or failed you get what you I wanted.

What was the ultimate goal of all this? The increase in productivity. I wanted to take from each day to the maximum. I always think about how to improve their work, how to improve their lives, and I like to think about all the details and take action that will help me to achieve the desired.

I always knew I was a lark, and my goal was to get up even earlier and observe whether it will increase my productivity.

So, what I learned during that time? A lot of everything.

1. If you want to change something in your life, you need support

This will help you not to go out of your way when you will (and it certainly will) the desire to drop everything. I decided to share my observations with friends and acquaintances to Facebook. I knew that I needed to tell someone, because it is an additional incentive to move to the target.

When about your new habit will know the people they are interested in, will ask questions. The most useful - you will be afraid to show weakness, and already this alone is enough to not quit the job. Especially I would like to light someone else his idea. Of course, I knew that if I fail, it will not be a tragedy, but the thought that I might follow the other people who helped me move on.

2. People are attentive to details

Some people believe these early awakening is not quite normal, so I had to actively defend its position in the comments. People were worried about me. We asked a lot of questions. And while they thought that they themselves could never accustom myself to get up as early.

I led a long and meaningful conversations with the people who read my posts, and I am grateful to everyone who responded. These people made me think about many things, and this article that you are reading right now, appeared thanks to these conversations in many ways.

3. People do not want to wake up early, because they think that because of this they will sleep less

In the beginning, many are actually very worried about me. Most asked questions boiled down to one thing: when I sleep? Of course, I planned out everything in advance.

I knew very well how long it takes my body to get enough sleep. And since I changed the time of his awakening, it was also necessary to change the time in which I would go to bed. it was easy for me. To sleep, I need 6-7 hours, and I was not going to sleep less.

So if time 9:30 or 10:00 pm, then I know that I must go to bed. To my surprise, most of the people who asked me, when I sleep, in fact, sleeping a lot less than I do. And I began to sleep better than before.

4. Eliminate the obstacles that will meet you on the road

People are very fond of saying that to do something or that something is impossible. Yes, of course, there are certain circumstances that may be an obstacle. But I believe that many people are simply lazy and do not want to put extra effort to improve their lives. They just go with the flow, without thinking about their real capabilities.

Yes, it can be easy for me to say, because I had the right conditions: I'm not married, I do not have children, my life belongs only to me. But, on the other hand, much depended on my desire and motivation.

If I had lived with his parents, to do this it would be much harder, because I would have had to reckon with his family, with their habits and rhythm of life. So, I started this path, making sure in advance that I do not hurt.

Think about everything that bothers you achieve the desired goal.

This applies not only to the desire to wake up early, but also to the desire to quit smoking, start going to the gym or, for example, have more fruit and vegetables. How to get rid of all obstacles that prevent you reach your goal?

I knew that I would need the following: complete independence, the ability to go to sleep when I want, an opportunity not to wake up in the middle of the night cold sweat, knowing that I have a lot of unfinished cases, the ability to work from anywhere and at any time... Fortunately, I have it all It was.

I usually work in startups, which means that I have a free and flexible, and that is why I can start to work at 4:30 am. This schedule allows me to return home early. In addition, no one does not depend on me, and I do not depend on anybody. And despite the fact that in the same house with me live seven other people, I easily obtain sleep so early.

5. Your physical condition will greatly help you

If we talk about the dream, that I was very lucky. I fall asleep very quickly (on average it takes me 5 minutes). Good sleep (wake up at night is rare). No problems with awakening: I get up from the ringtone.

Of course, this is a consequence of my lifestyle, I eat well, do sports every day, my life is not permanent and global concerns. And I think that most people are too early to wake up, if you decide to change your lifestyle.

All change begins with small things, but after a few weeks or months you realize the benefits of all of these small changes.

6. Forget the phrase "Another 10 of minutes,"

Many of us have sinned this: do not get up from the ringtone and rearrange it for another 10 minutes later. Fortunately, I rarely did so, and now finally convinced of the futility of this activity.

If you want to wake up at a certain time, then please forget about this eternal "Well, 10 more of minutes." It seriously affect your day: You did not sleep enough during these 10 minutes, also you will feel more tired, and it is a very negative impact on your business.

7. I love to sleep, but my body needs only 6-7 hours to sleep

After 6-7 hours of sleep I can not sleep, just toss and turn in bed. It is better to get up and do something interesting and useful. In the next world otosplyus.

8. It will have more time to work

After I began to wake up at 4:30 in the morning, I had an extra two hours that I could devote to work. How? As I mentioned above, I am a lark, and after 6 pm I can not do anything particularly helpful, my productivity It falls in the second half of the day.

So these two evening hours, I sat useless in the Internet, I moved to the morning and dedicated work. Now I can finish work early and relax just when I needed.

9. I had the time to parse email

As a rule, the two hours I have time to answer all emails and plan your day. See the number zero in front of "Inbox" at 6:30 in the morning - it's wonderful. Most pleased with the fact that few people can answer me on posts at this early hour. This is especially true Facebook - is the most vicious enemy of our time. A message for the message, we can hang in the correspondence for the day.

And if you think about it, you will notice that most people did not need immediate answers to their questions, and nothing bad will happen if you reply to the letter tomorrow.

10. There is more time for training

I went to the gym and before decided to get up early. But as I began to wake up at 4:30 am, I decided to add one more workout per week. Prior to this, I have enough training three times a week, but now this is not enough: I need 4-5 workouts.

This helped me wake up early, I do not come to the gym tired, as it usually happened before. Plus the gym I go with a sense of accomplishment - I had to work for two hours.

11. A new look at the world

My early wake-up allowed me to notice the details in the outside world, to which I used to practically ignored.

Go for a jog or walk until the sun has not risen - it was not possible before, when I lived on the standard schedule.

12. And of course, we need the willpower to transform their daily routine

If you do not have willpower, it is more than likely that you will give up. Train your will power to achieve the desired learning.

In the end, if you really want, then no one would be unable to stop you!

see also

• 5 reasons to get up early, confirmed by science →
• 4 reasons why we feel tired after waking →
• How to learn to get up early: a detailed instruction →