I don’t have enough time in the day. I don’t know anyone past the age of 25 who does. I am constantly lamenting about how I’d like to do all these things, fit all of these new learning ambitions, building apps and sites, while going to school, maintaining three blogs, a podcast, and other social presences, as well as hitting the gym like I used to into one day. Yet I often, when not tasked with having to get up early, stayed up late and got up in just enough time to get my day started, go to class, come home, order something because I’d be so tired, do minimal homework, and not have time to do anything else.
This bothered me. A lot. I kept reading a lot of terrible life hacking articles on Medium telling me I should get up at an ungodly hour because things look better when you have a whole day to do something.
Night Owl
I am a notorious night owl. But as I age I find I can’t hang with the big kids anymore and by 10 PM my eyes are tired and I am unable to focus. I am also an insomniac so while I know I am tired I am more than likely unable to sleep without medication. But that’s for another story on some other (looking at you, Medium) blog. Would I be able to change all this staying up until 2 am and getting up at 10 am, 8 when I have class? I thought about it and decided to act, a two week trial run of getting up at 5 am on weekdays to get stuff done.
5 am And It’s On
Lose an hour in the morning, and you will be all day hunting for it. ~Richard Whately
So I woke up at 5 am on a Tuesday morning. It was easy as I had gone to bed at 9 PM. But I found that by 6 I was ready to go back to bed. So I drank a whole 2L bottle of cola and several cups of iced black coffee.
But what I got done.
I had purchased JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts at Udemy for a ridiculously low price and heard good things about it. I wanted to dive in. I did that for a whole hour. By 6 I was ready to move on to Treehouse.
I went to Treehouse and learned more about AJAX. By 8, 2 hours before I had to leave, I had done more than I would have if I had waited till the end of the day. I went and did some homework at 8 and by 9:30 I was ready to leave.
Hustle Now, Regret It Later
Some people are born with very little; some are fortunate enough to have it all. When I grew up, we didn’t have much. I had to hustle to get what I wanted… but I had that hunger for more. I didn’t always make the right choices, but I learned from my mistakes. - Curtis Jackson
I was born poor. We didn’t have much. Eventually, through hard work, mom got a better position and lost it during the infamous PA furloughs of 88. She had garnered a better salary again eventually by longevity only. By then I was out of the house and on my own with no money of my own. I still don’t have money, and with the hand I had been dealt early I’ve had to struggle, get lucky, and hustle.
I don’t have enough time in the day. I don’t know anyone past the age of 25 who does. I am constantly lamenting about how I’d like to do all these things, fit all of these new learning ambitions, building apps and sites, while going to school, maintaining three blogs, a podcast, and other social presences, as well as hitting the gym like I used to into one day. Yet I often, when not tasked with having to get up early, stayed up late and got up in just enough time to get my day started, go to class, come home, order something because I’d be so tired, do minimal homework, and not have time to do anything else.
This bothered me. A lot. I kept reading a lot of terrible life hacking articles on Medium telling me I should get up at an ungodly hour because things look better when you have a whole day to do something.
Night Owl
I am a notorious night owl. But as I age I find I can’t hang with the big kids anymore and by 10 PM my eyes are tired and I am unable to focus. I am also an insomniac so while I know I am tired I am more than likely unable to sleep without medication. But that’s for another story on some other (looking at you, Medium) blog. Would I be able to change all this staying up until 2 am and getting up at 10 am, 8 when I have class? I thought about it and decided to act, a two week trial run of getting up at 5 am on weekdays to get stuff done.
5 am And It’s On
Lose an hour in the morning, and you will be all day hunting for it. ~Richard Whately
So I woke up at 5 am on a Tuesday morning. It was easy as I had gone to bed at 9 PM. But I found that by 6 I was ready to go back to bed. So I drank a whole 2L bottle of cola and several cups of iced black coffee.
But what I got done.
I had purchased JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts at Udemy for a ridiculously low price and heard good things about it. I wanted to dive in. I did that for a whole hour. By 6 I was ready to move on to Treehouse.
I went to Treehouse and learned more about AJAX. By 8, 2 hours before I had to leave, I had done more than I would have if I had waited till the end of the day. I went and did some homework at 8 and by 9:30 I was ready to leave.
Hustle Now, Regret It Later
Some people are born with very little; some are fortunate enough to have it all. When I grew up, we didn’t have much. I had to hustle to get what I wanted… but I had that hunger for more. I didn’t always make the right choices, but I learned from my mistakes. - Curtis Jackson
I was born poor. We didn’t have much. Eventually, through hard work, mom got a better position and lost it during the infamous PA furloughs of 88. She had garnered a better salary again eventually by longevity only. By then I was out of the house and on my own with no money of my own. I still don’t have money, and with the hand I had been dealt early I’ve had to struggle, get lucky, and hustle.
I want to build cool things. I want to be a full stack developer. Nothing has grabbed my attention like this. But I also need security. A steady income. I don’t have that right now. So getting up at the crack of dawn to improve my chances of being a good developer when I am all said in done is worth the tired eyes on the commute back home at 6 PM. Time to hustle like my life depends on it, because it honestly almost does.
