Don’t listen productivity gurus: why waking up at 6am won’t make you successful

https://medium.com/swlh/dont-listen-to-those-productivity-gurus-why-waking-up-at-6am-won-t-make-you-successful-b3c77921d9fd

by aytekin • 8 years ago

56 18 8 years ago

medium.com

buahahaha• 8 years ago

Author says don't follow a morning routine, but then mentions they have a morning routine (breakfast/trainer).

Author says don't focus on the morning being your peak time, you should find the time of the day that is the peak time for yourself. Ignore the fact that their good breakfast and work out helps power their peak times. Inconsequential.

Okay, but that's why those morning routines have you do the rote/everyday stuff quickly in a short window, so you can have longer peak times during the day. Notice in their long list of things blogger says you should do is none of the real work you get paid to do.

Granted, you don't have to wake up at 6am; but if you're going to have a routine that you do every day, that you should optimize such that it doesn't get interrupted by work messages and e-mails or other responsibilities, when's it going to be?

It's going to be early in the morning.

The author is making the exact point they're attempting to refute. You should have a morning routine, it should be filled with things that are good for you and harder to schedule during the day, you should optimize the specifics to what makes you feel good, and doing it will make you more productive as a result. Great.

I'm glad the author took the time out of their day to correct all those other incorrect bloggers who didn't know what they were talking about.

gregjwild• 8 years ago

I think you're missing the point: 4:30am may be the right time for some, but that may be absolutely the wrong time for most. And it's not to do with finding a distraction free window. It's down to - as the article highlights - your body rhythm.

For instance, if I wake up at 6am I will spend hours in an awful state of catatonia. Often, I don't get over it the whole day. It's equivalent to how I felt when I suffered with depression. So, screw that.

thewizardofaus• 8 years ago

Interesting read. I always find the peak hours concept cool. I generally wake up at 7am each morning. My peak hours are usually 10am, 3pm and 8pm. I love how peak hours are different for everybody.

jds375• 8 years ago

Much of the content of that article is talked about in depth in Why We Sleep[1] (and much more)

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep

olliej2• 8 years ago

A lot of productivity gurus and life coach-style authors are simply the survivor on bias (or whatever it is called, brain is blanking). Basically they did X, and they are successful, so they recommend doing what they did as a path to success. Of course as xkcd said, a lottery winner could logically follow the same pattern by recommending people buy lottery tickets.

philipodonnell• 8 years ago

Survivorship bias, but you were close. :-) Its more to do with the people that weren't successful not being around any more.

olliej2• 8 years ago

So close!

skeleton• 8 years ago

Referenced xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1827/

mabynogy• 8 years ago

A guru saying the other gurus are wrong. Let people wake up when the want or can.

coll_throwaway• 8 years ago

This is super impractical. Although we'd all like to be able to set our own schedules there are deadlines to meet, meetings to attend and relationships to tend to. When everyone around you is working the 9-5 you've got to meet them halfway. Waking up early, eating healthful meals and exercising are good ways to do that.

And by the way, this talk about "prime time" is insane. You can get into flow whenever if you block out distraction, buckle down and are actually good at what you do.

tluyben22• 8 years ago

You can get into flow whenever if you block out distraction, buckle down and are actually good at what you do.

Indeed, which is the reason I find it insane you would have to get up at 6 for it. I like to go to bed at 2-3 am and get up at 10; works fine, always has.

tonyedgecombe• 8 years ago

I'd really like to know how hard wired we are to sleep at certain times. Listening to comments on HN seems to indicate it's set in stone although I have my doubts about that.

Karishma1234• 8 years ago

I know a couple how has been doing this for last 20 years. husband has been doing this for last 30 years. Both of them are the worst under-achievers I know.

tluyben22• 8 years ago

And ofcourse for any anecdote there are many pointing to the opposite: I know many people who do this and who are over achievers and very successful. Like the author himself by the way.

austinjp• 8 years ago

Find what routine works for you, sharpen the saw, take down time.

This is great and needs to be said more often to counter the prevailing message of "get up early and do as much as you can".

jeremyshaw• 8 years ago

I wrote a satirical piece about all the "advice" given on Medium.

https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-be-productive-according-to-ev...

king_nothing• 8 years ago

Felix Dennis called it “point at the sky” cargo-cult success modeling. Even so, Walmart C suite and veeps were notorious about whom could arrive the earliest and appear to work the most. OTOH, 37signals would say “fire the workaholics.”

internet_user• 8 years ago

I have known this for years. This is why the earliest I've ever been up is 10am.

Don’t listen productivity gurus: why waking up at 6am won’t make you successful

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