‘Fireman’s Approach’ Helps Overcome Early Wake Up Calls
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Blogger
I got up today at 5 a.m.
I wish I could tell you it was to catch a flight to some exciting destination, but it wasn’t, unfortunately. It was for a one-off work project, hardly as exciting a venture as, say, heading to Europe.
I’m not a morning person. Never have been, even as a baby. My parents told me I kept them up all night not because I cried but because I slept. They kept springing up out of bed to make sure I was still breathing.
So whenever I have to get up absurdly early – and anytime before 7 is absurdly early, although that, too is on a sliding scale, say on a weekend – I have to prepare for it the previous night.
That’s because my brain does not function early in the morning. At all.
Oh, I can get in the shower and such, but I may forget to shave. I have trouble getting dressed. Instead of pulling out clothes in an orderly fashion, I stand dazed in front of the dresser and closet unable to think what it is I’m supposed to be wearing and if I figure that out, I have no recollection of where anything is located.
My solution, I learned after some trial and error, is to simply eliminate the morning thinking process. So I’m like a fireman sleeping in a firehouse. I lay everything out I’m going to wear the night before – including my underwear and even socks and shoes.
Whatever I need to take with me has to be ready to go and be in my immediate path. Everything I need for the day or a travel trip must be packed ahead of time. There’s no last-minute check of the suitcase to be sure, for example, I have just that right PubClub.com shirt I want to take with me. Nope, that was done the previous evening.
Using this method, all I have to do is collect everything on my way out the door.
Once I get moving, the brain starts to snap to attention but I can’t rely on it until I’m well my way into my day.
Cheers!
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