The First Two Hours

The first two hours of every day are extremely precious. Especially if you get up early enough to take advantage of quiet time before the demands of work and family begin. This is your chance to learn, create or contemplate. But what is the first thing most people do when they wake up? They check email and social media feeds, squandering this opportunity for growth and reflection.

Chase Jarvis in his book Creativity Calling, says the first hours of the day are the most important for people who are creative. This is when they should be writing, painting or creating music. Hal Elrod wrote a book called The Miracle Morning, in which he outlines what he calls SAVERS, which stands for Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading and Scribing. He doesn’t spend a lot of time in any one area, but collectively SAVERS can have a big impact on your day and the rest of your life.

I’ve shifted between these activities over the years, and most recently spend my first two hours studying a foreign language and reading something that provides good mental nutrition such as personal development, a biography or something on personal finance. My 8:00 a.m. meeting comes much too soon.

“But Kevin, I’m not a morning person,” you say. “I can barely get up in time to get the kids off for school.” If that describes you, you may need to shift your two hours to the evening. In my experience though, the end of the day leaves me too tired to do anything creative and reading anything results in nodding off to sleep. If it works for you though, great. Just be sure to carve out this time for yourself away from social media and email. Compare the value added to your life from creating something new to reading an angry post on Facebook. If you need help making this a habit, I recommend the books above for guidance. In fact, you could read them first thing in the morning.