Thoughts on using 4am
Some days, it seems, I do all the things that matter before about 7am.
I stretch. I put on a bouncy song and do silk-reeling, or just dancing, until my body feels fluid and warm. Since I haven't slept longer than 4-6h max, I'm not horribly stiff or sore anyway, but man it feels really good to move, to loosen up.
I make coffee and drink it while the sun comes up. Sometimes for half an hour, I just literally sit and stare outside, breathe the air, occasionally sip the coffee, and DO NOTHING.
That may sound dull, but it feels amazing. It puts this layer of breathing-room around everything else…the layer doesn't last long; the day uses it up; but no kidding, sitting and appreciating the negative space in your life, the verb-of-being of it, is how you fill up your reservior of chill. It may be the smartest productivity thing I do.
But you don't need to do nothing, or warm up your body, for very long. I take my tablet (because you know sometimes in this day and age you can't be bothered to unplug your 11" laptop >,>) and sit somewhere fairly random, and I…
…work on my precious stories. This isn't always my only time to do this, but it's one fo the few times I know I almost certainly will be able to…without this time, I start to feel like I can't call myself a writer.
…journal-dump or poetry-dump any heavy emotional stuff going on; or read from spiritual books. Settle the panic, if there is any (there usually is).
…study one of the interesting things I haven't had time for lately, or alternately am super engrossed in lately
…pound out some life-administrative task I haven't been getting to, eliminating *that* stress for today (this sounds stupid, but only if you haven't experienced what getting that nagging question or task off your plate 3h before the workday begins is like!)
…answer messages I've been meaning to get to, or shoot messages at friends that need connecting-with (having friends out there who owe / will probably send you some message back is also known as "buying smiles later")
…jot down cool ideas, or look at the ones already jotted, maybe do some organizing to see if I can plan or fit something in soon…there's space here to think about making a cool idea reality, about "phase 2" instead of just dumping phase 1 - have the idea - somewhere and running off.
Spaaaace. Before 7 is my space.
I drink a few glasses of water, just to make sure they get in me today.
I do pull-ups, or a hard part of my taiji forms, or squats or kettlebell or some other conditioning, so that my body gets some real attention today even if there isn't time for class or similar.
I used to try and swim super-early, or have taiji class before 8 nearly every day…I still aim for those things once a week or so, but they involve too much running around; I don't want to spend this time packing bags and navigating traffic. I like those things, but I can do them later…what I can't do later is be quietly with myself like this.
For a long while there, I scheduled phone conversations and work-sessions at 5am, figuring it'd help me get moving (it does, especially if you're adapting to a new sleep-schedule - I still highly recommend it for that). But I've since moved away from that. If I need to wake up and am worried I might not, I'm fortunate to be able to arrange checking in with people by text; but I don't prefer to be actually social during this time, at least not lately. Maybe it depends on how much I'm alone during the day? There are a lot of people around anymore, and while it is a little annoying (for them, I imagine) to have been up and alone for hours when they wake up (OMG HIIIII HOW ARE YOOOOU LET ME TELL YOU THIS-oh. You've been awake five seconds and don't want to talk, you say?), I've just come to love this chunk of solitude. Even if I have a ton to do and realistically start working at 5 or 6, getting up early enough to sit with my coffee and type, or think, or slowly bring my body and brain online in some contemplative way…holy crap is that valuable.
I'm a manager, a student, a teacher, a mom, and a big fan of the Internet and the written word. My life is communication, and that's awesome. But from about 4-6am, I'm mostly silent; I mostly listen.
I need that.
Originally published at *Transcendental *Logic. You can comment here or there.