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Marcus Aurelius' Stoic idea of winning the morning. This means doing your best to make the most of the first part of the day: arise early and jump into doing t

Marcus Aurelius' Stoic idea of winning the morning. This means doing your best to make the most of the first part of the day: arise early and jump into doing the most important tasks of the day. Practice good habits. Then, as the day expands and becomes less in your control, you've 'won' the morning. I use 'win the morning!' almost as a mantra, and just that single, simple idea been life-changing.

sq1020 7y ago
Great advice. Waking up early at the same time every day even the weekend does wonders.
sdinsn 7y ago
I agree with this- my day is always more productive if I get started early.
seddin 7y ago
I highly recommend watching this lecture about Marcus Aurelius https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5897dMWJiSM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5897dMWJiSM
- mygo 7y ago
  Thank you for this
Havoc 7y ago
I don't recall seeing that? Do you remember what chapter that is in?
- stakkur 7y ago
  Book 5 of Meditations.
cactus2093 7y ago
I like the sound of this but what does it look like in practice? By "arise early" are we talking like 4 or 5am, or just early enough to get to the office slightly before 9am and be the first one there by a few minutes? By "jump into the most important tasks of the day", would you consider working out to be one of those? It's important in the long run to do consistently, but on a given day it's not usually what I would list as my most important task. I guess what I'm saying is, I feel like if you put the right spin on almost any series of morning activities you can call it winning the morning. So it's not very prescriptive advice that I can use to be more productive. It's almost a tautology - to be more productive, start your day by being productive.
- bardworx 7y ago
  You can nitpick any idea into oblivion but the gist is: figure out what is the most important thing for you to do in the morning to be productive and do it. And if going to the gym in the morning makes the rest of your day productive by providing you with lots of energy and a clear head, then yes, going to the gym is the most important and productive for you to do in the AM.
- stakkur 7y ago
  You get to decide. Wake up early enough to get done what needs doing. Do the important things first. Make the most of the morning hours. You might like this newsletter/podcast: dailystoic.com
- asdff 7y ago
  For a lot of people, being 'productive' to them means burning the midnight oil which is hardly actually productive. If you do things when you are alert it makes them more effective. It also gives you the rest of the day to just breath and not be hard on yourself for getting tired and your performance faltering throughout the day; after all you got all that stuff done earlier. Ever have a weekend when you got everything you needed to do done by noon? The day becomes yours and you feel like a superhuman.
  - mackrevinack 7y ago
hug 7y ago
Along the same lines: Eat the frog. "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first." - not Mark Twain.
koheripbal 7y ago
"Rise to Victory" is the way I teach my kids to wake up in the morning. Setting a central focus for the morning, and working to accomplish it before noon is critical. If I cannot finish whatever it is, I usually become so incensed that that drive lasts me the rest of the afternoon. ...and I track every day in my Google Docs journal. I lay out the thing I want to accomplish that day, and then just break it out to the steps needed to accomplish it before the day gets filled with distractions. It turns out, this simple journal is the one habit I've that's lasted more than a year - it's become invaluable. of all the GTD, Pomodoros, Google tasks, etc... ...all I ever needed was a list in a doc that was broken into dated sections.
striker_axel 7y ago
I have also started doing this 1. Taking a good amount of water 2. Exercise 3. Practicing piano Whether my day was good or bad I feel complete by EOD

sq1020 7y ago

Great advice. Waking up early at the same time every day even the weekend does wonders.

sdinsn 7y ago

I agree with this- my day is always more productive if I get started early.

seddin 7y ago

I highly recommend watching this lecture about Marcus Aurelius https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5897dMWJiSM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5897dMWJiSM

mygo 7y ago
Thank you for this

Havoc 7y ago

I don't recall seeing that? Do you remember what chapter that is in?

stakkur 7y ago
Book 5 of Meditations.

cactus2093 7y ago

I like the sound of this but what does it look like in practice? By "arise early" are we talking like 4 or 5am, or just early enough to get to the office slightly before 9am and be the first one there by a few minutes? By "jump into the most important tasks of the day", would you consider working out to be one of those? It's important in the long run to do consistently, but on a given day it's not usually what I would list as my most important task. I guess what I'm saying is, I feel like if you put the right spin on almost any series of morning activities you can call it winning the morning. So it's not very prescriptive advice that I can use to be more productive. It's almost a tautology - to be more productive, start your day by being productive.

bardworx 7y ago
You can nitpick any idea into oblivion but the gist is: figure out what is the most important thing for you to do in the morning to be productive and do it. And if going to the gym in the morning makes the rest of your day productive by providing you with lots of energy and a clear head, then yes, going to the gym is the most important and productive for you to do in the AM.
stakkur 7y ago
You get to decide. Wake up early enough to get done what needs doing. Do the important things first. Make the most of the morning hours. You might like this newsletter/podcast: dailystoic.com
asdff 7y ago
For a lot of people, being 'productive' to them means burning the midnight oil which is hardly actually productive. If you do things when you are alert it makes them more effective. It also gives you the rest of the day to just breath and not be hard on yourself for getting tired and your performance faltering throughout the day; after all you got all that stuff done earlier. Ever have a weekend when you got everything you needed to do done by noon? The day becomes yours and you feel like a superhuman.
- mackrevinack 7y ago

hug 7y ago

Along the same lines: Eat the frog. "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first." - not Mark Twain.

koheripbal 7y ago

"Rise to Victory" is the way I teach my kids to wake up in the morning. Setting a central focus for the morning, and working to accomplish it before noon is critical. If I cannot finish whatever it is, I usually become so incensed that that drive lasts me the rest of the afternoon. ...and I track every day in my Google Docs journal. I lay out the thing I want to accomplish that day, and then just break it out to the steps needed to accomplish it before the day gets filled with distractions. It turns out, this simple journal is the one habit I've that's lasted more than a year - it's become invaluable. of all the GTD, Pomodoros, Google tasks, etc... ...all I ever needed was a list in a doc that was broken into dated sections.

striker_axel 7y ago

I have also started doing this 1. Taking a good amount of water 2. Exercise 3. Practicing piano Whether my day was good or bad I feel complete by EOD