The 4 a.m. Club
Productivity and Serenity Before Dawn
Early morning tranquility and efficiency
I often get up at 4 a.m. Not sure when I started it. When I do it, I usually find that the day goes very well. When I don’t, I often feel I’m chasing my tail, trying to catch up.
A Day in the Life: Yesterday’s 4 a.m. Rise
Yesterday, I rose at 4 a.m. I got dressed, made myself a cup of tea and wrote my journal.
By 5 a.m. or soon afterwards, I was editing the audio recording of Episode 3 of my second memoir, Saved by a Woman.
Morning Work Routine: The 4 a.m. Advantage
With short five- or ten-minute breaks, I worked until 11 a.m., when I had breakfast. I was pleased I’d already six hours’ quality work done, and it was only morning coffee time.
Experimenting with the Routine: Extended Morning Productivity
It was the first time I had tried that variation. Normally, I stopped at 7 a.m. to get breakfast, fill or empty the dishwasher, shower and dress. Maybe clean and set the stove. It was often 9.30 a.m. or later before I was back at my desk.
Writing Strategies: Mornings as Quality Worktime
As a writer, I find mornings are my quality worktime. So yesterday’s variation really worked for me. Six good hours of quality writing time under my belt by 11 a.m. I had, by morning coffee, succeeded in editing the third episode of my book.
Dry January and Writing Challenges: Audiobook Progress
‘Only the third episode?’ you well may ask.
Regular readers may recall my decision to extend Dry January until I had completed recording and editing the audiobook of my second memoir. There are 100 episodes, each of about 800 words, plus front matter, and appendices etc. in the book.
The Challenge of Sobriety: Guilt-free Alternatives
Will I be on the dry for most of this year? Weirdly, I’ve hardly missed it so far. Maybe once or twice, after a stressful day. Or on a Friday, when my week’s work is done. Guinness 0.0 is OK. But two’s my limit! ‘Pretend Guinness’, as I call it. But it doesn’t taste bad at all.
Neglecting Old Favourites: Unloved Gin and Uisce Beatha
My booze bottles are gathering dust.
The gin is feeling unloved. I’d usually have a G&T on a Friday night, to get the weekend going. I may need to send the untouched bottle to therapy, giving it the cold shoulder as I am. My other favourite tipple, uisce beatha, is also feeling neglected. Maybe the counsellor will charge less if I send both?
Morning Audiobook Recording: The Voice Challenge
This morning, I recorded episode 4 between 5.15 a.m. and 6 a.m. I did lots of retakes. It’s astonishing how the human voice changes depending on the time and day of speaking. So my strategy this morning was to record often enough so that no later patches or retakes will be needed, when my voice could sound quite different.
Editing Challenges: Crafting a Good Audiobook
The problem with that approach is that the recording and editing takes longer. But it’s the editing that takes forever. You can get away with slurring words or ‘ems’ and ‘ahs’ and mouth sounds, extended pauses, background noises etc. during a live speech, but you shouldn’t have those in an audiobook.
Editing an audio clip requires the elimination of anything that will distract from the listener’s pleasure. You can have noises and errors in a podcast that wouldn’t be acceptable while listening to a book.
Plus I’ve a slight issue with the ‘s’ sound and I often have to rerecord words starting or ending in an ‘s’.
Reflection on the 4 a.m. Club: By 11 O’clock and Beyond
But back to the 4 a.m. club. By 11 o’clock yesterday morning, I felt thrilled with my six hours already under my belt. In the afternoon, I took the dog out and later I planted some Rosa rugosa to fill gaps in our front hedge following the felling of ash trees last year.
Cherished Gifts: A Cherry Tree from Mary
I also planted a cherry tree that our friend Mary gifted to us, yeah, the friend who introduced Ruth to me. Thanks Mary!
Happy days,
Joe
P.S. – The Origin of the 4 a.m. Club
P.S. I called this Substack the 4 a.m. Club because I was introduced years ago to the idea of rising at 4 a.m. by an American Steiner school teacher, who found it very helpful for her. She mentioned that it’s a thing internationally and I’m pretty sure she mentioned ‘the 4 a.m. Club’. I googled ‘4 a.m. club’ this morning and seemingly there is an actual club. I’m not a member and I don’t know anything about it or if it’s what the Steiner teacher was referring to. Google also warned that if one’s genetic disposition isn’t favourable to be productive at that hour of the morning that it could be harmful to one’s health and well-being. Luckily, it works for me!
Joe, what time do you go bed at if your up a 4 am ?