How to Wake Up and Instantly Achieve Something Everyday
Imagine this: you wake up and you instantly achieve something. You complete a goal, you make progress, you build momentum and you build self-esteem. You make it part of your routine and achieve something everyday, instantly.
All you have to do is tackle a goal when you wake up.
Each morning when I wake up I get started on one of my goals before I do anything else. Before I’ve even had breakfast, had a shower or got changed, I’ve usually completed the most important task of my day.
When I started doing this it had massive effects on my productivity. I had done the most important thing, I’d made progress on the previous day, I’d achieved what I wanted to achieve and had the rest of the day to add to that.
By making this part of my morning routine, I gave myself a huge boost every single morning, compounding on the last day. My achievement and progress rate went through the roof, my momentum grew, and the feeling that I’m achieving something is constantly with me.
It is simple to do, and could be the quickest, easiest lifehack you’ve ever used!
The first step is to plan what it is that you’ll be working on. This needs to be done the night before.
What is your major goal? What is the most important task for you to do? What would reap the most benefits? What would progress you further and push you towards what it is that you want?
The important point here is to choose something that provides the most results, it has to be something that is meaningful to you and helps you to progress toward your goals. If you choose a major task that is congruent with your life goals, you’ll feel a stronger sense of achievement. If you’re faced with a decision of writing a book vs. ironing clothes, start writing the book! Tackle the big things early in the day, and you’ll see that you still have time for the small things later. Put them at the bottom of your to-do list!
Once you know what you’re going to do and you have your plans set out for when you wake up, it is time to forget about it and get some sleep!
When you wake up, get started instantly. Jump out of bed, skip your whole morning routine and just get started on the task.
Don’t get a shower, don’t get changed, don’t stretch, lie back and turn on the T.V. If you really have to eat something, grab something quick and wait until later for a larger breakfast (unless you plan on working for a long time)!
You don’t want any distractions, no TV, no radio, don’t check your e-mails, don’t check your RSS reader, don’t check your facebook, twitter, digg, stumble upon, any social network. If you don’t need it, don’t use it!
If possible, don’t have anyone interrupt you or disturb you. It helps a lot if you wake up before anyone else. You get an hour or two where you can just sit quietly and get on with your task, it’s this quiet isolation that is ideal for getting something done.
If you do this everyday, you’ll be making progress every single time you wake up, before you have even had a shower and got dressed, you’ve achieved what you wanted to. Before everyone else is awake, you’ve completed one of your big goals. It is a life changing habit that is easy to start. Make it part of your morning routine and see how your progress snowballs, compounding each day on top of what you have previously achieved. Doing it every day helps you to stay motivated, it’s constant progress, it isn’t once a week , it is every day, it is part of your routine, it is the first thing you do, everything else is second to it.
Those goals that are gathering dust can be done before anyone else is even awake. You’re starting the rest of the day with your main goal completed, you’ve built momentum for the rest of the day and you are going to be inspired and motivated by what you’ve already achieved. This constant feeling of achievement every morning means that your self-esteem is building, which means that you are motivated to achieve more and more. It’s a cycle of motivation and achievement and once you get started it is hard to stop it.
Try this, and instantly achieve something the next time you wake up.
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Paul Dickinson
Paul Dickinson is the author of SolopreneurProductivity.com, a blog designed for the sole purpose of providing productivity tips and tricks for solopreneurs!Follow me on Twitter: @pauldickinson
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Comments
Chung Nguyen-Le says on May 15th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Great tips Paul.
I absolutely love waking up early as for me it has and is the most productive part of the day. I actually thought I would be able to come in give some of my own tips but you seem to get the key ones – such as planning the night before.
I also find that it is the best time to exercise as it seems to set the energy levels for the rest of the day.
Erin says on May 15th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for this article. I think I will be making changes in my daily routine. Note: there is a spelling mistake. I think you mean ‘effects’ rather than ‘affects’.
Wellington Grey says on May 15th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
You’re entirely right that this is the simpliest & most effective lifehack that you can try. I’ve been trying my own version of this for about four months now, and I’m amazed at the difference it makes.
Even if I end up having an unproductive or otherwise bad day later on, I can still feel good knowing that I’ve done some work on what’s most important to me.
Still… getting up consistently at 5AM ain’t easy : )
John smith (fake name) says on May 15th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
@Chung Nguyen-Le:
Most productive part of the day is when i’m at work and there is no one around i.e. after 6:00pm. I’m uber productive when i’m alone, just keep Office boy so he makes me tea and gets stuff to eat. Most of my emails with assignments and stuff to be accomplished is sent to employees between 12 midnight and 3am (usually from home, i got home around 9pm). 9am I’m on my desk come hell or high water. Hectic, but i’m loving it, i don’t get tired of it, loving what you do is really dangerous. Sometimes you love it more than going out with friends, when you sit in club and impatiently wait when party is over so you can get home to do planning or research a bit more.
Prayerthegate says on May 15th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Excellent advice. I am recently working from home and have been getting up super early to get my blog post done. It feels great, as I am most creative early in the day. I can do the more mundane tasks later on. Thanks for the details on this post.
Jeremy says on May 15th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Hahaha, so the way you wake up and instantly achieve something every day is to wake up and instantly achieve something? Next thing you’ll be telling me is that the way to avoid procrastination is to try not to put things off until later, and that all you need to do in order to accomplish your goals is to, in fact, accomplish your goals. Amazing post!
Bracki says on May 15th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Does not work when you have kids.
Alex Le says on May 15th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I made a site specifically just for this called “Tomorrow It”
http://www.tomorrowit.com (or even shorter, tmrit.com)
Essentially you just jot down the tasks you need to take care of for tomorrow, hit “Tomorrow It.” If you want to do it today, hit “Today It.” It’s dead simple.
Cheers!
Alex
TheSound says on May 15th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Come on Bracki, I’m sure Paul would just tell you, you aren’t getting up early enough. (Paul doesn’t take care of small children.)
Robin Krieglstein says on May 16th, 2009 at 12:24 am
I’ve found this a great strategy during some of the most productive times of my life. Paul, you’ve inspired me to start kicking off each day with a bang once again.
And Bracki – Now that I’ve got a 2 month old son, I’m out to prove you wrong!
Check in on the The GoalTribe Blog to see how that turns out.
Robin Krieglstein
GoalTribe.com
brad says on May 16th, 2009 at 1:54 am
i like this post a lot. start the day on the right food and make things happen.
all the best,
brad
Paul Dickinson says on May 16th, 2009 at 4:18 am
@TheSound You are very much right that I don’t take care of small children, and unfortunately because of that fact, what I write could not incorporate having to take care of small children simply because I have no experience in it. Until I do, anything I write will take caring for children into account, I think it would be foolish for me to try to write for that audience since I have no experience myself!
@erin You’re right, it should be affects!
Thanks everyone for the comments, good or bad, I like reading feedback!
Susie Blackmon says on May 16th, 2009 at 4:19 am
I have getting up early nailed . . . it’s that darn list I haven’t perfected but for you, I will work hard on that aspect. Getting up early is the best part of my day and the sense of accomplishment when the sun rises is delicious.
Guest says on May 16th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Sorry but this is counterproductive. Eating is the key, as well as taking time for a good wakening. Especially when you’re not a morning-type individual.
Tia says on May 16th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
We will all have to tweek this to our own lifestyle…kids, morning person or not, workouts, breakfast. But the theme is sage. Start the day with what matters to us and put our best foot forward. Love it…will try it. I just need to learn to let go and go to sleep.
Jon Reid says on May 17th, 2009 at 12:07 am
As Tia says, tweak to fit. The important thing I get from this is to overcome inertia and establish momentum.
Alan Williamson says on May 17th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Someone wrote a book about this. The title of the book is “Eat the Frog”.
Dr Wright says on May 17th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I think I will work on getting my excercise done
Vincent says on May 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Hi Paul,
Completing one main tasks early in the morning consistently can help us achieve great results. Sometimes people leave the important tasks to do it later but only end up procrastinating. Doing it first thing in the morning eliminate the chances of us procrastinating.
Cheers,
Vincent
Steve says on May 17th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I started getting up at 545 am four days a week to meet a friend for running. It’s amazing how much more energy and accomplishment I feel going into the day when I meet this goal.
timgray says on May 18th, 2009 at 8:45 am
“not the morning type” is simply bad habits.
If you think you have to be up until midnight every night, then yes, you will be a grouch at 6:00am every morning. Stop trying to be a college student up all night and suddenly with decent sleep habits, you become a morning person.
“I’m not a morning person” is an excuse for those that refuse to adjust their sleeping habits to their life needs.
Lloyd Vincent says on May 18th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I recently got into the habit of waking up early, and am looking for ways to enhance my morning experience. Starting the day with accomplishment is a great idea, but I will allow nothing to interfere with my morning jog.
If it takes more than 10 minutes, I’m doing it after my jog. Period. But hey, a lot can be accomplished in 10 minutes… I’ll give it a try starting tomorrow.
Sascha says on May 18th, 2009 at 9:54 am
As has been already hinted above, the hint’s author is not taking into account the differences between people – and thus ends up with a rather simplistic, tautological just-do-it. Which will just not work for people with different circadian rhythms, different cognitive styles, different physiological needs (my brain just works better if a have had a douche and shave, at least some liquid and perhaps some exercise), different workplace setups (there are more than enough valid reasons to not let work enter your home) etc.
In short: fail.
Trying to slay your biggest dragons as early as possible in the day is still a good idea. But “as early as possible” will turn out to be quite different for many people.
Ibrahim | ZenCollegeLife.com says on May 18th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Fantastic advice. I’m going to start this tomorrow!
Ricky Buchanan says on May 19th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
@TimGrey: To say “not being a morning person” is just a reflection of bad habits is disregarding that not everybody is like you. I happen to have a disability which, amongst many other things, has had the effect of switching me from being a morning person to very much NOT being a morning person. This seems to be quite unusual phenomena, so being able to say one has lived “both sides of the argument” is not common but indeed I have.
I can positively assure you that the experience happens completely independently of when I go to bed, how much sleep I get, or other commonly cited factors such as caffeine use/non-use. I used to wake up automatically, ready to conquer the world. Now no matter how rested I am there’s a hazy fog between me and reality for the first hour or two of my day, and it’s actually late in the evening when I feel at my best and ready to conquer the world.
I used to love being a morning person, and have tried every trick and technique I’ve read about to re-capture it but it just won’t happen for me any more.
Lesson: Don’t under-estimate biology. Tweak life hacks so they work for you.
Ricky
Lloyd Vincent says on May 21st, 2009 at 5:52 am
When did this become an article on getting up early? I thought it was about accomplishing something when you woke up… Just because you wake up at 5pm instead of 5am doesn’t mean things are any different.
Travis says on June 14th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I’ve been waking up extremely early myself lately, usually aiming for 6-7am. I find that the best way to stay productive for ME is if I begin my conquering the day as early as possible. http://personalwebguide.com/productivity I actually wrote my own article on the subject, but it seems that if I wait until past noon, I’m actually able to accomplish very little.
Even worse, when I get an extremely late start, it seems like I go almost the entire day without doing anything. It’s easier I hit the dirt running asap, or I end up wasting my time away throughout the day.
Celes | CelestineChua.com says on June 28th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Thanks Paul! I find that when I tackle the most impactful task of the day first thing in the morning, everything else just goes really smoothly. It’s like getting the big rocks in place. On the note of waking up early, I wrote a popular post a while back on 21 tips to wake up early: http://celestinechua.com/blog/.....-up-early/
Stefan | StudySuccessful.com says on July 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I love this one! I actually gave a name to this progress. The BTD (before the day). Do something before you do anything else on that day. Pretty hard though, as I can’t do anything for two hours without having breakfast. But writing a rough blog post, and not editing and all yet, works out pretty good!
The link to my post about BTD:
http://studysuccessful.com/before-the-day-btd/
karen says on November 11th, 2009 at 6:06 am
have read all your comments and good intentions. i would like to try this . has it worked for any of you?