Menu

There is something blissful about waking up early and you get a lot done too

By Nina Steele 

Waking up earlyGrowing up, my mother used to be up very early to do the housework. She was up around 4 am, sometimes even 3am. She would start by sweeping the floor of the living room and then she moved to the yard. As my two younger brothers and I shared a bedroom with her, which is adjacent to the living room, those early morning activities inevitably disrupted our sleep, albeit briefly.

Even more puzzling for us as children, was the fact that we did have a maid who was paid to do exactly what my mother insisted on doing so early in the morning. Having a maid is widespread in the developing world. The lack of opportunities means that there is cheap labour available for anyone who can afford it.

Now as an adult, I have become my mother, minus the housemaid of course. Yes I am an early riser too. Mind you, she and I have always shared more than a physical resemblance. A lot of my character traits have been inherited from her.

There is something utterly magical about waking up early. I like how eerily quiet the house is. I have to tiptoe around when getting out of bed, so as not to wake my husband up. I have become quite adept at that by now. The fact that I don’t need an alarm clock to wake up helps a great deal. My body just knows when to get up. It never stops to amaze me.

I am usually up by 5am. Recently, I have started waking up at 4am. My mother told me recently that she too has started getting up even earlier than she used to. She is now often up by 2am. As much as I enjoy waking up early, I hope I don’t end up getting up as early as that. Realistically, as she and I have so much in common, I suspect that this too could be my fate at some stage.

The advantage of waking up early is that you get so much done. I find that inspiration flows easily at that time. I do most of my writing during those early hours. If I do start an article in the middle of the day, I usually like to finish it off in those early hours. I find that my brain is sharper then.

There is of course one drawback to waking up this early and it is that I fall asleep early too. That too I share with my mother. As a child, I remember her sleeping in the yard very early in the evening, around 7 to 8pm. I am usually starting to feel tired around 8pm. Unless I am watching a show captivating enough to keep me awake, or out and about, I will usually doze off for a few hours, and then be up again before finally going to bed. My husband has long got used to my getting up early, so long as I don’t wake him up too that is.

Speak Your Mind

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap