Damnit, Back Up Alarm Clock

[Dutch Lock Down Day One Hundred Seventy Nine]

I was totally going to go back to sleep this morning.

And then I didn’t.

But first the news:

When I first started getting up at ass o’clock in the morning, I was waking up the cat. She sleeps downstairs in the living room and I’ll admit to a bit of joy as I woke her up instead of the other way around.

See, she knew that our alarm went off at 0645 (back in the day) and that we rolled out of bed around 0700 and she would come upstairs and start howling JUST before the alarm clock around 0630.

Brat.

Thus, it was totally petty of me, but I LOVED waking her up those two precious first days before she figured out it was going to be a thing and started waking up before I got downstairs.

But now.

Every morning I sleep in – this past Sunday, yesterday and, yes, today – she HOWLS.

Starting at five something.

And it’s like she has a snooze button cause she does it again twenty minutes later. And then again. And again.

Three or four times between five something and whenever we finally get out of bed, this little demon cat HOWLS at the injustice of it all. At a half empty food bowl. At a water bowl with YESTERDAY’S water.

At joyful vengeance that she’s the early riser once more.

Totally understandable.

Brat.

But today it helped. Cause I was sleeping in not because there was something pressing on my mind or because I had a rough night or because I’m a little sick, but because I’m being lazy.

I don’t wanna.

I need to remember all the reasons why I’m getting up well before most people on the American west coast have gone to bed – why I’m torturing myself with the five a.m. alarm clock.

Productivity

I have a list of things that I get done every day no matter what and when I get up at 0645 they get wedged into cracks of time throughout the day. That often means that I end up getting to bedtime realizing I haven’t done x y z and then I have to do those things which wakes me back up and makes going to sleep Very Difficult.

Waking up at five a.m. gives me the space to accomplish those things without pushing aside other priorities AND because there’s no other demand for attention, I can give my full focus to those things.

Stress

I used to wedge quite a bit of my daily things into our morning rush hour time which means I’d help get the kids out of bed, dressed, and downstairs, then run back upstairs for thirty minutes to get most of my daily things done, then back down and out the door. It meant if anything went wrong with getting dressed and downstairs that I had less time for those things and was super stressed to get out the door.

Since I’ve started this five a.m. thing we’re never late getting out the door because of me.

Focus

Once I’m actually awake and in the office and typing, I’m more focused than during the day and as much as I’ve already stressed that it’s because there aren’t any distractions, I also know there’s science behind this.

As much as I want to find some research to back this up, I’m running out of time before it really is time to get back into the house and get everyone moving for the day.

Confidence

And a lot of self-esteem, too.

It’s a little win to jump start to the day. BAM! I’ve started my day with a win by waking up at five a.m. – that seemed impossible, but I did it. Like running a half marathon but without the soreness the next day. And it’s not so taxing to the body that I can’t do it every morning.

Thanks, Brat

As much as I’m grumbling about the catling, I’m also thankful to her for getting me up this morning – at five twenty. I really do enjoy this time to be super productive, lower stress, focus on the daily tasks, and start the day with a win.

Bonus, when she howled into our room and over to the bed, I could pick her up and snuggle her in bed for a bit. When the snooze button is a furry purring cat, it’s okay to take another minute before embracing the day.