While I wasn’t up quite that early, I did shoot out of bed this morning, much earlier than normal. I’m usually up (on weekdays, anyway) between 5:30 and 5:50, depending on whether I’m heading to the gym or not. This morning, I was up right after 5:00, and though I laid in bed resting, my mind was racing.
Sometimes I find that if my mind gets whirling in the early morning, I can’t go back to bed. Often it is with thoughts of ideas to try, steps to take, agenda items coming up, and more. Sometimes, it is with thoughts regarding items I’m stressed about, and other times it is about experiences I’m looking forward to.
But once my mind gets going, I’m up.
I tend to be an early riser anyway, often getting up before everyone else in my house. Truth be told, I enjoy the quiet I might get on a given morning to read the paper, check email, or have a cup of tea or juice.
And, it also allows me to collect my thoughts before everyone in the house is ready to go. While I’m certainly more tired at the end of the day, I do find that getting going early in the morning helps me to be the best I can be.
In our work lives too, we have to recognize that some are up at the crack of dawn, while others get up right before the day begins. Our goal as leaders and learners needs to be to recognize where people are, where they are coming from, and help them get through the day in the most effective way possible. So, whether people are tired at the start of the day or wide awake, we have to allow for the differences in how people approach and move through the day in order for us to be at our best, and in order for everyone else to be at theirs as well.