Day 161 of writing every day.
After struggling to get to sleep early for weeks, I finally managed to feel exhausted enough to shut everything down a little bit past midnight and fall asleep somewhere around 1 in the morning. As summer approaches, the sun rises quite early in the morning in Japan, with the break of dawn probably around 5 in the morning. I didn’t look it up and I’m not up early enough to see it, so don’t take my word for it if you want a precise answer.
I’ve been purposely keeping a crack open in my curtains to let in the sun so I naturally wake up as sunlight seeps into my room. The nice thing about not building my life around an 8 hour work day (10 hours if we count commute, lunch, and prep), is that I don’t have to be somewhere looking presentable and be forced to stay there all day. I wake up when I do and don’t need an alarm to tell me when I have to. If anything, an alarm is just a way to start the day stressed. I’ve had time to reflect on the lifestyle modern work culture imposes on anyone working as an employee instead being their own boss.
If anything, an alarm is just a way to start the day stressed.
Remote work might solve some of those issues, but it’s just a compromise for many who just don’t want to spend so much time in the office with people they don’t even really socialize with and having bosses and managers do nothing but breathe down their necks and talk about how to do better without being relatable at all.
Work will exhaust you and leave you unwilling to expend further energy at the end of the day to invest in yourself. That is why, I think I’m starting to get the idea of getting up early and putting in the work before you show up to your job. A job is just a job. Maybe those who feel truly fulfilled with what they’re doing won’t agree, but I think a majority of people wouldn’t hesitate to leave their job if offered something better in terms of pay, work conditions, and coworkers/supervisors.
So why not dedicate your mental and physical energy to do what you want before the work day starts? I’m pretty much done playing the hard-working and faithful yes-man employee. If an employer wants me to be at 100%, they ought to be more accommodating to what I need to feel and perform at 100%. Paying me below average wages and expect to have my life revolve around them and still be at peak performance levels is just pure nonsense.
This morning I woke up a little before 6 AM and I felt good not relying on an alarm to wake me up so early. I got up because I wanted to, and joined a Zoom study room and managed to squeeze in nearly 90 minutes of study time before a normal work day even started. I should give this a try more often, I think.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 