To work harder and to look better

Your Mom has been certainly right on this point. We know this simple truth but refuse to acknowledge it: early to bed, early to rise. This is what allows schoolchildren to learn so many things at once. This is what lets farmers, for example, to perform tons of hard physical work.

Many of us, especially a big part of freelancers, see the night way of life as accepted and even normal. So did. While working as a news editor, I used to have long night shifts at the studio and even found this romantic. Those days, I used to think that night and day is all the same if you have enough hours to sleep. I was mistaken. After two years I started suffering from laziness, dizziness and physical weakness, my mind was slow, and on my days off I wanted to do nothing but lie in the bath or watch TV series. I put on extra weight and could not understand the cause until I ran into some articles about sleeping habits which said that night work was slowing down your metabolism and the renovation of your brain cells.

Until the recent times, I used to be up till 1-2 AM and wake up at 9-9.30 AM (I do the greater part of my work from home and only have to leave home early 1 or 2 times a week). It took me a lot of effort to pull myself to work altogether, and my face was puffy. I knew that we obtain the best rest from the earliest night hours ("Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after midnight," the proverb says) but could not easily overcome my habit.

It happened all by chance, after a hard 9-hours-long air flight from Vladivostok (the Far East of Russia) back to Moscow. I kept myself from falling to bed immediately and went to sleep at 10 PM. I had 7 hours of deep healthy sleep and woke up all by myself at 5 AM. And you know what? I felt great despite the ordeal of the previous day! My mind was surprisingly clear, my face looked great and required no eye-patches. Yesterday I went to sleep at the same time, and the story repeated. I dedicated my morning to household chores, a short walk and gaming, bringing myself to work at 9, having totally and completely woken up. Now it turned out a much easier task.

I intend to go on with this experiment and see if it will help me think better and be more creative. Besides, I combine it with a month of a liquid diet which I have already done before. I wonder if it will be of interest if I share this routine here on Steemit.

In my opinion, many things, such as exercising, studying, housework and hobbies, even writing, may be moved from the late evening to the early morning, but only if you've gone to bed early as well. I heard about a Russian screenwriter who rises at 4AM and only works until noon to spend a rest of his time with his family. And if you have an opportunity to shift your working hours to the earlier time, you will free your evenings to do whatever can be interesting for you.

Will it somehow help me overcome my writing block? We'll see.