Bob Iger, the executive chairman of Disney, sets his alarm for an ungodly 4.15am; Richard Branson jumpstarts his day at 5am; while Victoria Beckham is in the gym by 6am. For years, we’ve been told that rising with the birds is the secret of being productive, successful, and Getting Stuff Done. But having recently become an early waker myself, I can’t help but think we’ve got it all wrong.
You see, every morning at 6am, before the rest of my household is up, you’ll find me curled up in a chair in the garden doing nothing. Not listening to self-improvement podcasts, not getting fit, not planning how to become a person with a whole lot of zeros as my net worth, but doing no-thing. I’ve not so much been getting up and at ’em, as getting up and then sitting down again, and it’s been a wellbeing wonder.
In fact, it’s ironic how doing so little has achieved so much: it’s given me all-day energy (without a bucketload of coffee), lifted my mood, and generally been a sanity-saving way of shushing my racing mind and preparing myself for the day ahead. Heck, the exposure to early morning light has even reset my body clock, helping me fall asleep quickly at night so I feel less tired than before.
Research suggests I’m not imagining these benefits, either. A global study of 18,000 people led by Durham University – dubbed the rest test – found that people’s wellbeing was closely related to their ability to properly rest. Meanwhile, an article published in the journal Nature confirms that the brain in its do-nothing resting state is not doing nothing at all. In fact, it’s working hard to regulate emotions and attention, processing experiences, consolidate memories, and generally keep our head in check. To power up, it helps to power down.
Let me add that, at first, getting up early purposely to do nothing wasn’t easy. Initially, it left me feeling adrift, panicky, and guilty, as though I was slacking off and wasting precious time when I should have at the very least been unloading the dishwasher. But then I remember that what I needed more than anything wasn’t to be more productive (I’m already working + home schooling, thank you very much) but health-boosting recharge time that would help prevent burnout. And if it was only by getting up at 6am that I could find that reliable and distraction-free time, so be it.
For clarity, I never used to be a morning person. Just ask my partner and daughter who had the misfortune of being around the cranky, sluggish old me before I’d had my first cup of tea. In fact, every time I heard my alarm go off I could feel my brain flooded with whatever the opposite of feel-good endorphins are.
But what I discovered is that the I-don’t-wanna-get-out-of-bed-feeling disappears when what’s waiting for you is genuinely smile-inducing. If I’d set my alarm for 6am to do lunges/spreadsheets/bullet journaling, I’d have sunk straight back beneath the covers. But knowing that my power hour was for powering down, and that I might get a glimpse of the fox cubs that live under the trampoline or the robin that loves to sing its little heart out, makes my early mornings a joy.
Which brings me to my No 1 lockdown purchase: the swingiest, cosiest garden chair imaginable (just a few clicks with PayPal, and it was mine). It cocoons me so well that my head empties, my shoulders drop, and I can’t help but smile. As for my phone? That stays tucked away. Like most people, I’ve become increasingly aware that I can’t relax because of my phone, but I’ve also increasingly stopped knowing how to relax with it, so I Leave. It. Turned. Off.
Once my 60 minutes is up and my family wakes and the work emails start streaming in, I feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to give everyone and everything my full attention.
There’s no question about it: at a time when everything has felt full-on, making a commitment to be fully off (well, for an hour anyway) has been a lifestyle habit that’s paid off. So, tomorrow morning, why not get busy doing nothing?
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