I Changed My Daily Rhythm. Early Morning Silence Is When I am Most Productive

This morning—March 21—I woke up around 4 AM. Looking out over Prague, more than ten new blog post ideas rushed through my mind. I quickly reached for my phone and noted them down before they disappeared. That is just how it works for me. Calm, silence, and a fresh morning mind have a big impact on my thinking and productivity.

Waking up in the very early morning—or basically at night—is nothing unusual for me. About half of the posts I have written this year started this way: I would wake up around 3 or 4 AM, start thinking about something and tell myself, “Richard, your brain is already working—you are not falling back asleep anyway.” So I would start writing.

The view from my room before sunrise

But these early starts used to make my days pretty inconsistent—some days I showed up at work at 9:30, others at 6:00. One night I would get eight hours of sleep, the next only three and a half. I started to feel the consequences. So I told myself: I need structure. I decided to fix my workday start at 7:30 AM. Since then—unless something truly unexpected comes up—I stick to it, arriving at the office between 7:20 and 7:40 every morning.

My mornings fall into two categories: I either wake up around 6:00 and just make it, or I wake up earlier, around 3:00 or 4:00. When that happens, thoughts start spinning, and I get into a productive focus mode that lasts until around 6:00. Then I eat and head to the office. But unlike before, I do not bounce between extremes—like waking up at 3:00 one day and 8:30 the next.

If you have any thoughts, questions, or feedback, feel free to drop me a message at mail@richardgolian.com.