The Early Bird

 One day last week, I believe it was in one of the emails from my mentor Darren Hardy,he addressed the fact that people are most productive and attentive earlier in the day.

He offered up a staggering tidbit that at parole hearings, some absurd number , like 80% of the first cases of the day get paroled while by the end of the day that number drops to single digits.(My numbers may be off but it was quite a glaring difference).

It has taken me a couple of days to realize what an AHA moment that was for me.

As Darren noted, we are at our best, at our sharpest, at the beginning of the day.

I spend the first 5 hours or more of each day trapped behind the steering wheel of my bus.

1+1=No wonder I am finding it so hard to get things done!

By the time I get home, sometime after noon, I have frittered away the most productive hours of my day driving a bus and delivering meals to seniors.

While this may very well be a very noble and charitable act, it certainly does impede the whole grow as a person thing I desire.

It is what makes it so hard for me to focus.

It often stands in direct opposition to getting things done.

Often, I am burnt out when I get home.

I find myself checking emails, making some lunch and before even attempting to be productive, gifting myself with a break.

Before you know it, it's after 2, I have been up and at it since early in the morning and pretty soon, I will have to begin dinner preparation.

No wonder I am feeling somewhat less than productive!

I have had 2 different contractors doing work on my house in the last week.

One showed up daily before 9, as early as 8:30 (and I believe she would have started earlier but chose the later start in deference to Susan's morning schedule).The other saunters in some time around 11.

Which one do you think accomplishes more in a day?

I have always been an up and at it early person.

I still am, except now I sit in my bus for that most productive time period.

Something needs adjusting here!

It's taken a while for me to figure this out.

Now that the light is shining on it, all I have to do is find the solution.

Just that easy!