Digital Vision Blog

Time management. So much has been written and said about this topic. Right from when we were toddlers to adult life, we hear ’songs’ about it. The only difference is , when we were younger, time was managed for us. As we grow older, we suddenly or not so suddenly realise that its a ‘do-it-yourself’ thing and that what we achieve is a direct result of how we manage our time.

As a result, we would see some come up with all sorts of “timetables” for when they would read, relax,even eat and so on. Personally, I have always chosen to “go with the flow”. Sometimes this method works, and sometimes it fails miserably.

Over the past few weeks, I have by coincidence had the chance to interact with 3 individuals who to me are successful. 2 of them are elderly gentlemen and have raised families and live on their farms. The third is a lady whom I will mention later.

In both my conversations with these gentlemen, it came to light that they both woke up as early as 4.30am and slept early latest 9pm. That was their system, and I felt that this discipline to wake up early leads to having a successful day , successful weeks, successful years which in turn leads to a successful life. No one wakes up at 4.30 if they don’t know exactly what they want to accomplish, something gets you out of bed. This implies that they plan their activities, they have time to think about what lies ahead and what mistakes not to repeat.

The third is a young lady of around 28 years old who has overcome mountainlike obstacles to complete her college education and got a job with a prestigious audit firm. I met her during my stay in Rwanda. In fact ,I stayed with her for 3 weeks. Each day she wakes up at 4am to read and think. At 6am she prepares herself to leave for work and by 6.30 she is off all the while I am still tossing in bed.

When I look at her life, her set of circumstances and what she has achieved, I realise, though she may not, that her sleeping habits really play a big role in her achievements. I know there are lots of other factors, I wont debate that, am just saying, waking up early , helps.

What about me? I won’t go there. However, what about what I want to become? Let’s talk about that. I admire people who seem to always be in control of their lives. They never rush, always early, they know what they want. They don’t seem confused and frustrated because of ‘lack of time’.They think before they speak. (Is this related to the time we wake up? In my opinion it does, please continue reading. )

That’s the person I want to become. That’s the person I know I can become. I just need motivation. There is nothing I find as hard as motivating myself. I will start today, tonight. I already see the benefits. Instantly, self-worth increases. We become more reliable and trustworthy. It’s also a sign of maturity they say. More importantly, since life is precious, every second counts, so we better use them wisely. I have started now.

Waking up early infers that we plan each day. It also means, we review the previous day/week/month’s accomplishments and failures. I could have done this better, or I shouldn’t have said this? Next time I have the opportunity to do this, I will…. and the list goes on. The result, we think before we speak, or rather, our speech is a result of thoughts.

So I guess the old adage is true, early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and most of all…wise.

Here’s to rising early.