Month: December 2012

I’d just been reading about how an international speaker made time to go horse riding with his student daughter hours before heading off to the UK for a speaking tour.

Moment’s later, my daughter – also a student – came into my study and said, “Dad, I wish we could go shopping.” She was referring to the fact that my wife had taken my older son to the sales in Glasgow today.

I’d had other, work-related plans for the afternoon but decided to down tools and spend some quality time with her and my other son instead.

No, we didn’t go shopping, but went for a late lunch in a local café followed by a drive into the Clyde Valley and a wander along the Clyde Walkway in the light rain and unseasonably mild temperatures.

Unique ability

Her Sketchers walking shoes were more suited to retail therapy than rural therapy, so when we came to a path-turned-stream leading down to the riverside walkway, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to dry land. That was the first time I’d picked her up since she was a little girl – a spontaneous and special moment.

On the way back to the car my son spotted a couple of dippers – of the feathered rather than becostumed variety – feeding where the Mashock Burn meets the river. According to the RSPB website, dippers are ‘unique in the songbirds, for their ability to wade, swim and dive in running water’ – unlike my daughter in her footwear.

This afternoon reminded me that, while it’s good to have a plan, it’s important not to be so focused as to be inflexible and miss your real priorities in life – and family is one of our greatest priorities of all. I returned home refreshed and relaxed after taking some time out with my family, and still managed to do the other things I’d set out to do today.

I’m reminded of the lines from the old hymn, For the Beauty of the Earth:

‘For the joy of human love, Brother, sister, parent, child…Lord of all to Thee we raise, This our grateful hymn of praise.’

Do you need to pull back from your schedule for a time and make space for the people who matter most in your life – just to hang out together with no agenda? I’m grateful I did.

Research studies point to early birds having an edge over night owls in several areas of personal effectiveness. Is it possible – or even desirable – for midnight oil burners to change?

Although genetic factors may influence our leanings, it is possible to bring our day forward. And there are benefits to be had.

Early birds are inclined to:

• be more proactive
• focus better on long term goals
• anticipate and minimise problems
• perform better and get ahead at work

During my student days and earlier in my career, I was definitely in the night owl camp. These days, I’m more of an intermediate (I can’t think of a type of bird for that) – able to get up early when it’s important and less inclined to stay up late.

How do we change our routine and get off to an earlier start? Here are some suggested steps:

Pray about it

At the start, commit your intention to get up earlier to God and ask for His help. Reflect on scripture references to rising early (good examples are Psalm 5:3, Psalm 63:1 and Mark 1:35).

Change the label

Check how you label yourself. Chances are, if you keep saying: “I’m a night owl and I’ll never change,” this will remain true. Rewrite your ‘script’ along the lines of: “I’m used to staying up late, but I can and will take steps to change this.”

Earlier to bed

Everyone needs a certain amount of sleep – normally seven or eight hours. I may be stating the blindingly obvious, but if you want to get up at 6.30am, and you know you need seven and a half hours sleep, this means being in bed and asleep by 11pm.

Evening cool down

Adjust your evening routine so that you’re not over-stimulating your brain after mid-evening. As a keyboard player, for example, I try to avoid playing too much up tempo music as the evening wears on as I know it psyches me up.

Curb the caffeine

A big contributor to getting off to sleep late is excessive caffeine. If you drink a lot of caffeinated drinks throughout the day, try switching to decaf tea of coffee after lunchtime and you’ll see a difference.

Morning quiet time

If you don’t already do so, build a quite time with God into your early morning routine. For more tips on this, see my recent post ‘The best time investment you could ever make.’

If at first you don’t succeed…

If you do feel the need to make the switch to being an earlier bird and you don’t quite catch the worm first time, don’t give up. With persistence and by the power of God, you can make the change.

Question: what steps have worked best for you if you have made some positive moves in bringing forward your daily routine?