So you quit your job, become a freelancer, build a growing list of clients, you’re booking jobs, landing gigs and making money! You think you’ve struck gold!

But your productivity is weak, you don’t maximize your days, you waste time and find yourself frustrated, moody and missing out and that’s all because you sleep late!

[bctt tweet=”Wake up, Bih!!! ” username=”iamianthia”]

Trade out of all those “you’s” for “I’s” and this is my life! Over the past few months, I’ve been hustling, working my a$$ off trying to make what I do work, or so I thought. Being a freelance journalist I’ve had to keep my ears to the ground, reach out daily to potential clients, maintain relationships with existing ones and constantly push my brand…singlehandedly. But one thing soon became crystal clear to me…

[bctt tweet=”Sleeping in late minimises productivity” username=”iamianthia”]

Sure, I’ve had a pretty successful run working for myself as a content creator and influencer but every morning I wake up and my dad is already out of the house (he wakes up super early), I’ve already missed a call from my boyfriend and Wendy Williams is on, I want to scream to the high heavens because again…I’m waking up late! It’s already around 10 am.

Here’s what happened…

My (Silly, non-productive, time wasting) Morning Routine

• 9:45 a.m. – wake up and make bathroom run!
• 10:00 a.m. – catch Wendy Williams’ Hot Topics segment
• 10:15 a.m. – on commercial break make tea and breakfast
• 10:30 a.m.  – come back to watching Wendy while checking email and social media
• 11:00 a.m. – read through news stories, scan more social media and email threads
• 11:30 a.m. – return calls to my mommy, sister and boyfriend
• 12:00 p.m. – start the real work day

“Sometimes routine is our biggest enemy.” 

Now this silly, non-productive, time wasting schedule varied from day to day, but waking up late was a constant. I soon realised that I was being sucked into a lazy, backwards schedule that just wasn’t characteristic of a #girlboss.

Here are 4 ways waking up late was ruining my life

1. Decreased preparation and productivity 

“When you start your day late you end up in the losing column.” 

Not only did I lose time, I lost opportunities to prepare and win, to reach out to clients, to catch them first thing in the morning when they’re actually in office, all bright eyed and bushy tailed! To be honest, I probably lost out on some money and opportunities too! Because I’d wake up so late in the morning, I’d find my self scrambling to get work done, return or make calls before 3pm when people are getting ready to leave their office for the day or pick up the kids from school. I didn’t give myself time to make a list of things to do and actually execute them in a timely fashion. As for productivity? It was at a minimum and personally unsatisfactory. 

2. Procrastination at an all time high 

My “to do” lists would unnecessarily spill over into the next day. And why? For no reason at all, other than the fact that I slept in too late and just couldn’t get it all done. Had I gotten up earlier, I could’ve slayed my day and ticked off everything I needed to do, with time to get a jumpstart on the next day. Because I woke up so late I was groggy and moody; my mind felt ready to work but the body just wasn’t having it. Instead of hitting the ground running, I was playing catch up with the day, which automatically sets you up for failure. Sleeping too long or too late actually made me sleepier! You’d think that catching a few more zzz’s would  make you feel more rested, but it actually is counterproductive.

3. Days feel much shorter. Is 5pm the new 12pm? 

“There’s no way it’s 5pm already! I haven’t gotten through all of my tasks, I’m still looking for lunch and I have to go to the gym soon!” I swear this was my cry everyday. When everyone else is getting off from work, I’d be trying to jump into my gym clothes while finishing up a document or hit send on an email. Silly, right?

[bctt tweet=”5pm is nothing to look forward to when you get your day started at noon ” username=”iamianthia”]

4. As a #girlboss, I didn’t make every minute count! 

This is the kicker! Waking up late didn’t position me to win, it didn’t let me “carpe that diem” and squeeze every second out of the day, it wasn’t setting me up for greatness and really and truly, it wasn’t making me feel good about myself. Many days I just felt flat and unaccomplished. Sure I may have booked a job or picked up a check, but that may have been the only thing I completed that day when I could’ve booked 10 other jobs or picked up 10 other checks.

[bctt tweet=”Every minute of productivity counts! ” username=”iamianthia”]

When I worked my 9 to 5, I had no choice but to get up early and be to work on time. Now that I work for myself, I’ve realised that’s one lesson that should carry over, even more so. When you’re pushing your own brand, trying to collaborate with others and the amount of money you make depends on you, waking up early is essential. I’m thankful that my late sleeping has never directly impacted my work nor my coins, I’ve never missed a meeting, been late for a job nor let a client down, but here’s one lesson I did learn…

[bctt tweet=”Entrepreneurs have no time to sleep in ” username=”iamianthia”]

P.S. I know there are some bosses who say they wake up as early as 4 am but…baby steps for me ok!! Since I work from home and don’t have to worry about traffic, 7:30/8 a.m. is the new call time and it’s been working out pretty great! :))

If your job didn’t require an early morning, what time would you wake up every day?