Up with the lark - or burning midnight oil?
It's well known among successful entrepreneurs that a vital key to success is just to work harder than anyone else.
A few weeks ago Wayne Hemmingway, founder of fashion label Red or Dead, told me how he gets up at 5am to start the working day to be sure he can finish work at 5pm to spend time with his family - and he's not a struggling start-up entrepreneur any more, putting in long hours because he can't afford the staff; this is someone who has made it! Quite a few successful people have told me they start very early too.
On the other end of the scale I also know a lot of highly successful people who work until late. One friend of mine, Jonathan Elvidge, who's the founder of Red 5 and the Gadget Shop, shares my own habit of being a late worker. We've often exchanged emails, and occaisionally even phone calls, in the early hours of the morning when we're both still working with girlfriends long asleep.
So as long as you are putting in more work than anyone else, in order to win your success, it doesn't matter at which end of the day you do it. Or does it? As a late worker I often feel frowned upon by the early risers. They seem to lay claim to extra virtue by being up before anyone else, and tut-tut at those of us who start work later, ignoring the fact that we'll still be there when they're snoring.
But I love my late night working sessions with a glass of whisky, some music, and just my desk lamp illuminating my work in a dark room. I also love starting the next day slowly, not talking to anyone for the first hour or so, getting strong coffee (really strong) and fresh bread - all before I have to do any hard thinking or social interaction. I hate waking up to an alarm, and won't set one unless I have to be up really early.
My average day? In general I get up at 8.30am, work at home for an hour, then have a quick shower and go to the office where I'll grab some coffee and toast as I do my first catch up of the day. I'm there until about 7pm when I go home to have dinner, then I go to my home office at about 9pm and work until between midnight and 1am - or later if I'm working on a special project. Often in bed I'll listen to some podcasts, or read for a while, before going to sleep.
Does being up early really have anything to offer to beat that? What's it like to be in bed by 10pm? Won't it throw your body clock at weekends if you go out? Won't you miss out on parties, pubs and so on? Don't you miss out on a whisky with your late night work session?? ;)
Is there anything, anything at all, that could possibly make it worthwhile? And is it possible to convert a night-owl like me to operate as a lark?
There are gurus on the subject who say that there's no such thing as morning people or night people - that anyone can learn to get up at any time. So, I wonder, should I give this early-rising a go? See if it is better to be up early? More virtuous? Will it be more productive, or will I just collapse in a heap by mid afternoon and actually end up doing less work?
I'm toying with the idea of giving it a go as an experiment.
There's some advice on the net to help me decide, and then try it out:
Steve Pavlina's now famous post on How to become an early riser
How to become an early riser Part 2
How I became an early riser.
How to get up when your alarm goes off
I'll let you know if I do give it a go, and what revelations I experience as a result. Any suggestions or passing-on-of-experience is welcome!
Click For RSS Feed
Hi Steve, thanks for the
Leo (not verified) on January 1st, 1970
Hi Steve, thanks for the link to Zen Habits. I've been a night owl myself and am now a morning person, so I thought I'd share my thoughts.
I think you should do what works for you -- there is no better choice. I switched to mornings because I found that I wasn't as productive at night (I was tired and I would watch tv or surf the internet instead of working). And I wanted the morning time to workout and work on some of my other goals.
Switching to being a morning person isn't that hard, although it requires some adjustment. I suggest doing it slowly, gradually. It's worked out nice for me and I wouldn't got back. If you decide to make the change, I wish you the best of luck!
Thanks Leo, I noted the
Steve Parks on January 1st, 1970
Thanks Leo,
I noted the point on your post about doing it gradually, and think that's good advice - although I'm an impatient person who likes quick results!!
I'm a bit aprehensive, but I'm going to give it a go. I'll keep an update here on how I get on, and what the pros and cons are.
cheers
Steve
I'm just starting up my own
ASK M (not verified) on January 1st, 1970
I'm just starting up my own business, but I'm not sure that working extra long hours is a good idea - Liz Jackson, in her book "Start Up!", says that she's never agreed with working an 80-hour week or working till midnight every night - and she's built up a
Hi M, Yes - different people
Steve Parks on January 1st, 1970
Hi M,
Yes - different people aim for different things, and it's perfectly justified to build a business that fits around family and lifestyle commitments and decisions. No one should become a slave to their business.
It does seem to be the case, however, that to build a very big company very quickly you do need to put the hours in (or an awful lot of cash to hire other people to do the hours!). It also depends on what kind of business your company is: if you're just providing a service to business clients then you won't need to work crazy hours to do okay and your overheads won't be huge, but if you're building a major consumer brand (like Wayne Hemmingway did with Red or Dead, or Jonathan Elvidge did with The Gadget Shop and now Red 5), then it really does eat time - because sourcing suppliers, developing products, raising funds, recruiting staff, finding premises, marketing etc etc are all on a much bigger scale, and you can always then open another shop, then another, so the work is never done.
So I'd say that you could build a great business working a normal day or less - but it takes a lot more work to build a hugely successful fast-growing business that becomes a household name.
Different people have different ambitions though, and I know plenty of reasonably successful people who took a concious decision that they wanted a small business, and not to build a big business.
And the thing for many high-growth entrepreneurs (and me), is that they don't actually see it as work. It's not a job that they go to, do the work and then come home. It's their life. It's who they are. There is no boundary between home and work. They get emails, faxes and calls at home at nights and weekends, colleagues call round to discuss things, and so on.
Richard Branson is like that. If you read his autobiography, he never stops! He makes calls at night, has meetings in his living room at weekends, and even the bank manager came round to his house to discuss the overdraft for the Virgin group.
I love what I do, and it's amazing that it happens to earn me money - so I never tire of doing it. I guess that's why it's difficult to stop at night and go to bed!
I'm interested in switching to being an early bird just for a short time, mainly because I like to try different experiences. My guess is that I'll soon be back to my night-owl ways!!
cheers
Steve
Hi Steve, I'm starting up as
Ask M (not verified) on January 1st, 1970
Hi Steve,
I'm starting up as an accounts software consultant - so providing a service to business clients is exactly what I'll be doing - you've hit the nail on the head.
And you're right about another thing - I have made a conscious decision to be a one-woman band rather than building a global brand.
I've read Richard Branson's book, "Screw it, let's do it" and he does seem to be on the go 36 hours a day!! That's not me and I know I'd never make a success of that - so I'm going to keep small.
Good luck with trying early mornings!
M
Thanks M It sounds like
Steve Parks on January 1st, 1970
Thanks M
It sounds like you're going be to be very happy! It's great that you've got such focus on what you want. You'll do really well. I know a few people doing the same thing, and they're comfortably off, feel very free, and are happy.
Good luck!
And I'll keep an update if I do go for early mornings... but it's a bit of a chicken and egg.... I wonder what comes first: going to bed early or getting up early? :)
cheers
steve
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