The Early Bird Does Catch the Worm!

I wouldn't call myself a morning person per se, but when I do get up early I am always very productive. This is not about appraisal, or about how appraisal relates to real estate deals, but in a way it is. My company is working on a project that required an early morning conference call at 7 AM. This of course required us to be up at the office and ready to go by 7 AM. The training was 2.5 hours long. I was surprised to see that we were very alert, learned quite a bit, and the phones didn't ring. Normally, I like my phones to ring but in this case I was reminded how productive you can be if you just start even an hour earlier than you are used to.

So today, I would like to talk about three ways that catching that worm can positively affect your daily productivity:

1.  We stay on top of our day. I don't know about you, but when I come into the office and the phones are already ringing, my emails have already piled up, and I have messages to return, I feel like I'm behind for the rest of the day. Starting early lets me control my day rather than the other way around.
2. We all need peace and quiet to be at the top of our game. I find myself more creative, problems don't seem so large, and I'm an all around more positive guy when I have that time of quietness in the morning. There's something about getting started in the still of the early morning that really sets the tone for the rest of the day.
3. Starting with a clear head makes us more productive. When I start my day an hour early, I gain much more than an hour. Tasks that usually take me until noon or after lunch end up being finished between 9:30 and 10 AM. I know the math doesn't add up, but I think we drastically underestimate how detrimental it is for us to be stressed or dealing with the constant stream of distractions that usually starts between 8-9.

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." "The early bird catches the worm." We've heard these sayings all our lives, and although I may not particularly care if I catch the worm, I do want to be healthy, earn enough to provide for my family and help those less fortunate than myself, and who couldn't use a little more wisdom? What are your experiences with getting up early? Are you already an early riser? Do you think I'm crazy? Let us know what you think.