Time To Accept That I’ve Failed At Something – Happily
Hey there!
I’m sure you’ve seen article after article that talk about what really successful CEOs do to keep their productivity high.
Often, those articles will center around why those CEOs often get up really early in the morning. And, maybe like me, you’ve thought, “Well, if it works for them…”
Yeah. No.
After 8 months of desperately trying to permanently change my chronotype (explained in the video below), I am officially tapping out.
And I share exactly why it didn’t work for me (and why it may not work for you).
(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)
Hope this helps!
David
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Hey there, it’s David H Lawrence the 17th. And today I come to you.
Hat in hand head bowed.
loud
saying
I have failed.
I have failed miserably and I couldn’t be happier about it. So.
There are tons and tons of articles.
That talk about why High performers and CEOs?
dot-com Founders end
college students going to Ivy League schools
are all
very very productive
When they get up in the morning at 5:30 or 4:30 or 3:30?
one of my coaches J Rodney Turner
Gets up at three 3:30 in the morning so that he has a real big leap on his day.
It should be noted that Jay Rodney Turner has family responsibilities.
That he bakes into his schedule.
And has created this schedule so that he can fulfill those. I don’t have such.
responsibility
It should also be noted that he’s a farmer.
So he may be used to getting up that early in the morning and end. I was on morning DJ. I was a morning radio DJ for
decades and I
Got up every morning at 3:30 in the morning to do a 5:30 a.m. Start for my show.
And when I quit one of the joys was that I could sleep in as long as I want it.
I died completely became a late Riser late sleeper late going to better.
I started just getting you know, what sort of Envy when I was reading all of these articles last year about these people
to get up really early in the morning.
And I thought okay, then I’ll let me see if this works and for the first, you know, maybe two months.
It was tough. It was really tough. One of the article said.
You’re just going to you don’t want to work your way back. Like, you know, if you go to bed at 2 in the morning.
Don’t go to bed the next night at 1 the next night at midnight the next time it alleges.
you know just
rip the Band-Aid off
One night.
Go to bed really early.
And know that it’s going to be really tough for you to fall asleep.
And the next day is going to be really tough cuz going to be a really long day.
so I tried it, I really did and you know, I found
that for that
That two or three months.
There was some real advantages to being up first thing in the morning cuz the whole world hadn’t started.
There their procession toward me.
And I did get a lot of stuff done. I found myself really productive, but I found myself really unhappy as well.
There’s this concept called a chronotype and it’s a series of animal names.
that are associated with
How your Rhythm how you were clock?
Operates there some people who are very early risers.
There’s some people who are kind of normal. There are people who
Are adjustable.
And then there are people who are late risers. The late risers are called wolves.
They stay up very late.
And then they they wake up late. So they stay up until one two three four in the morning and then I get up at like
10 11 12, you know, and they are called wolves.
The people that get up really early in the morning are designated as lions.
So they get up at like 5:30 in the morning to get to bed by 9.
And I desperately tried to change micronta type from a wolf.
To Alliance. Oh that I could enjoy these wonderful.
you know, it bandages and what I found was
My body was yelling at me saying no, that’s that’s not what I want. That’s not what feeds me that’s not what nourishes me.
and it was kind of exacerbated by the fact that
I had the shoulder issue.
It was hard for me to fall asleep.
By the way, I had an MRI the other day had a panic attack in the MRI machine, but I got an Open MRI later that afternoon.
Got my results back.
Touch of arthritis and a partially damaged
Tendon a torn.
Tendon that might need surgery. So you may see me in a sling.
at some point maybe not they haven’t determined whether or not
The procedures necessary yet, but I’ll let you know.
anyway
It made it hard to fall asleep.
Because you know getting in a position where your shoulder doesn’t hurt.
When you’re sleeping or something, nobody ever thinks about when they don’t have a shoulder problem.
But it was tough. So
I came to realize that the reason that CEOs.
And students and.com Founders and all of these people are called out for being really productive when they get up early in
the morning boils down to one thing.
And that’s other people’s schedules.
office hours
business hours
What they’re doing is they’re getting a jump on something that I don’t have to worry about.
Sure. It’s
Something that I have to deal with when I need to contact the business.
My business hours are not 9 to 5.
For 8 to 4:30 or whatever. They’re not sort of normal business hours.
I can do my job pretty much anytime I want.
And so I didn’t have that to avoid.
And so what I found out was when you let your body fall into a natural circadian rhythm.
Something that you’re comfortable with uncomfortable doing some of my work late at night when no one can bother me just as
if I was up really early in the morning and no one is around to bother me sending me emails texting me calling me things
like that.
Do I have my quiet time is just later in the day.
And there’s advantages and disadvantages to that getting a jump on things when you’re up first thing in the morning is one
advantage.
but I have the advantage of
late at night
I have what happened during the day as information.
That I can use to better plan my work.
So I’m here to admit to you.
In my particular case getting up that early in the morning.
Worked out for a while, but doesn’t work out. It doesn’t serve me anymore. So again, I’m a ricondo situation.
It doesn’t spark Joy.
But being a wolf does and I’ll take being a wolf. That’s kind of a
It’s kind of a fierce Crown inside.
So what works for you?
I know.
how some of my clients
At work cuz I know when they send me e-mail.
And I can see what time in the morning they send me e-mail what time of the night they send me e-mail, but I have an idea.
How about some people that I work with work?
My assistant is up very early in the morning because she has a child.
and so I know how she works and that kind of helps me because she get
Who takes care of some things before I get going?
Show me know what works for you. If you’re watching this video anywhere, but on video to go go pop over to go to
google.com and leave me a comment below the video somewhere.
what’s your
Our schedule. If you know chronotypes, are you old lion or are you a wolf or you a dolphin or you you know, bear what what
are your what what what is it that you do that works for you? What sparks joy for you when it comes to your schedule?
and just so you know, these videos are part of a
One a day.
365 day challenge that I’ve set up for myself all throughout this year. I’m doing a new video every day.
And this is but one of them and I appreciate you watching.
Leave me a comment. Let me know what you think about this because you know, I find making these videos at certain times of
day works for me as well.
Is it affects everything about your life? So I’d like to know how it affects you.
If you’d like to join my YouTube channel subscribe.
And be notified when these videos come out the moment they come out.
Button, click on my head there if there’s no head look for a subscribe button somewhere on the bottom of the page.
And if you like see the latest video I’ve done click on that frame and YouTube will play for you.
I’m David H Lawrence xvii The Wolf
I appreciate you watching and I’ll talk to you tomorrow..
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Wolf all the way!! Aawooooo!!! Thanks for this one. I totally concur. Thanks for taking the onus off my late ways and giving me a name.
https://thepowerofwhenquiz.com/ if you don’t already know.
Took the test. I thought I was a wolf because I like being up late, but it turns out I’m a dolphin who wishes she was a lion. As a dolphin, due to difficulty sleeping, I found if I stay awake long enough, exhaustion lets me sleep. But it means I spin around the clock, never having any kind of regular schedule. Thanks, David, for bringing this to my attention. I’m going to buy the book and hope it helps.
I’ve worked just about every shift there is in radio (when I was MUCH younger) and the only one that bothered me was midnight to 5 AM. Today I’m in bed by 10 PM (or earlier) and up about 7. I’m much more comfortable with this arrangement than any other I have been ‘forced’ into in the past.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad you got settled on what works for you!
I’m a wolf, but I’m trying to adjust my schedule to get to bed before midnight and get up at 9am. I’ve been trying this for about 2 years. I’m getting to bed before midnight most nights but getting up in the morning is almost always much later than 9am, despite all kinds of different wake-up routines I’ve tried. My body seems to function better with 9+ hours of sleep. If I get up before 10am, even if I’ve had 12 hours of sleep, I’ll still be tired. The problem becomes that I have all kinds of evening activities every week, so if I sleep late (almost all the time), I feel rushed, having very little time to get things done before my evening activities. Depending on how late I sleep, I sometimes have a headache, which knocks down my productivity further. Still working on it though, I’m not giving up. Thanks for the video David.
Thanks, Valeka. I’m a bear! I sleep well, am awake in the middle of the day, only get insomnia when I’m worrying about something, and eat all the time. When I had a “day job” I was able to force myself to get up around 5am for years, but now I’ve averaged out to about 7:30-8am rising, 10:30-11pm bedtime. I do work best from about 11-3 or 4, after that I’m not much good for anything, and get real grumpy. I guess it’s good to know Stephen King, Jeff Bezos, and Arianna Huffington are bears too. There’s hope for me yet!
If I get up before 9 am, my day is ruined. ‘Course I go to bed at 2 or 3 am.
I was in law enforcement for 20 years and always avoided the day shift. When I couldn’t trade off with someone, I would use overtime anc court time to take an hour or two off in the morning and come in late.
Being in the military and having to get up at Zero Dark Thirty every morning was torture.
Many thanks, DHLXVll! I found this topic rather enlightening + it helped me identify something I’ve long best myself up over. You’re a boon!
*beat (Damn autocorrect!) LOL.
David, When you began with ” I’ve failed “, I thought OH NO!!!! No more everyday video from you. Which would make me very very sad, because I really enjoy having this everyday connection with you. I’m definitely a Lion. A Leo too.
But I frequently get up at 1 or 2am having gone to bed at 10.30 and usually manage to get down to sorting out my finances and editing chapters of my book, and even recording. Then back to bed at 5.30 for a couple of hours.
Being older, I just have to sleep when I’m tired. Work when I’m inspired. I tried having a time table, but at my age I just have to do what makes me happy. Not very business like, but it works. So doing more of what works, is a great bit of your advice for me. Namaste, Linda
AJ shared something with me today re: Marie Kondo’s “spark joy” philosophy—apparently she has a followup question, which is something like: “Does this item (habit, activity, etc) represent the person I want to be?”
I’ve been experimenting with letting my body make its own choices lately, and it likes to go to bed around 10pm and get up between 7 and 8:30am, schedule permitting. And with a far more consistent MOOD on that more “natural” schedule… it certainly represents the person I want to be.
Thanks for another great video touching on the holistic aspect of work.
Well, clearly, I am a Lion — and to correct the record – I’m up at 2:00 am almost every morning, except when I’m up against a deadline, then I’ll move that up to 1 or 1:30 — but because of my “bias for action” that rarely occurs unless I get one of those “can you squeeze this one in your schedule” requests from a client.
And you’re correct in that my basis for this time is to balance and manage the rhythm of my home and my neighborhood. Managing my audiobook production schedule, along with getting my daughter off to school and then back to the farm for other odds and ends does allow me to be the most productive — the flip side is that I go to bed when our daughter goes to bed — it keeps us all on the same schedule —
Another great video, David — Thanks!!
Rodney
I didn’t know you’d moved your wake up time even earlier – I was going on information you’d shared with me a few years ago. Glad to hear the update.
Well! Thanks for the link Veleka. I’m apparently a bear, even if some of the things he applies to them are definitely not my speed. I really do want 7-8 hours of sleep, I can stay up late with little problem, and I hate trying to be a morning person…but my dog is old enough that my sleep schedule is offset to accommodate her. So bearishness often takes a back seat to reality. *Sigh*.
That said, I will put my head down in work and plug away at work for hours on end–the only thing that will really make me fail is being pulled off one thing and onto another repeatedly. When I get in a cycle like that, I get irritated, nothing gets done, and I growl and grumble a lot and sometimes grab some honey to make me feel better. Except for that last bit about the honey.
Thanks David! This was interesting and I’m glad to hear you’ve got the flexibility to adapt your sleep cycle to what works best for your health. 🙂
Hey David,
I’m glad you made peace with your internal clock. I’ve always been a night owl rather than a lark. It bothered me while I worked at a 9 to 5.
However, IF you are still interested in becoming a “lion” I recommend “The Energyblueprint” course by Ari Whitten. It covers a lot of territory but has a good deal on circadian rhythm. The entire course is quite extensive and costs upward of $400.00. But you can get a free masterclass that is 10 hours, spread over several weeks, which should give you a good idea of the course and help you decide if you want to take it. The masterclass and course are more scientific than just inspirational and speculative. I highly recommend for anyone who wants more energy and might want to adjust their circadian rhythm.
I am a Wolf Monday – Friday and a Lion on Sat & Sunday when I Uber and get up at 5am. After driving my Sat and averaging 170 – 240 miles driving for that day – I am exhausted and get to bed Very early 7:30-9am…My Sunday is the same and I look forward to sleeping late on Monday… Then the rest of the week I go back to being a Wolf unless I have a shoot. My body adjusts to my schedule.
I am such a Lion! (But not as fierce as J Rodney.) I get up at 5:15 and am at the gym by 6am. Sometimes I’ll sleep in until 7am on the weekends. When I lived in Culver I used to do my morning run outside (my current neighborhood is not so great for that), and I loved being out in the quiet before the hustle and bustle begins. The only time I regret being a Lion is when I’m out with my Wolfie friends and get sleepy before they’re ready to go home. XD