Day 30

IT"S DAY 30!!!!

30 DAYS OF WAKING UP AT 7AM!!!

Ok...NEARLY 30 days of waking up at 7am!!

Ok, ok...like, 18 days of waking up at 7am???

Whatever it is (I actually lost count), what an exciting adventure!

My plan to wake up at 7 became less about the time I woke up and more about trying to be the kind of person I always wanted to be. I learned that the courage to challenge habits and look at the world in a different way is the key that opens the door to possibility.  It was from cultivating that mindset that I saw actual change.

So here, on Day 30, I will sum up by saying this:

Waking up at 7 made me want to be a better person.

Even when got up at 8.

Day 29

Ode to Coffee

Oh, sweet love.

Nectar of goodness.

I love you, so.

Good morning Elixir of Dreams.

Good Morning.

Day 28

In my 7am life I am wearing this outfit.

And riding that bike.**

To the Farmer's Market.

To buy a baguette that I will eat dipped in olive oil before heading to my 4pm Yoga class.

(sigh)

I'd wake up at 6am for that outfit.

Gorgeous photo courtesy of Garance Doré

**I will, however, be wearing a helmet. 

Day 27

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."

-Lao Tzu

BACK BY APATHETIC DEMAND....

IT'S MINI GOAL TUESDAYS!!!

This week's goal:

NOTHING!

It is my goal to do nothing, plan nothing, strive for nothing.

I will look at the sky, cherish the day, smell the metaphorical roses.

I will see where the wind takes me.

This week, the day will have to be enough as it is, whatever it is.  

No improvement necessary. 

This week I will just BE.

Don't get me wrong...I will try to BE at 7am...but that's it!

And maybe I'll clean my closets if I have time.

Check out Leo Babauta's post "Simplicity Redefined: Be Open to What Emerges" at zenhabits.net

He says it better....

Day 26

A Letter to my Closets...

Part 2.

Dear Closets,

It has come to  my attention that you still have not been cleaned.

Please accept my most heartfelt apologies regarding this delay.  This office tries very hard to accommodate all requests in timely fashion.  Please believe me when I say, your organization and your cleanliness are held in the highest regard and will be tended to as soon as possible.

However, today it is very pretty outside and I would like to go out and play.

So, I am going to.

Thank you for your continued support.

Your patience is GREATLY appreciated.

Yours truly,

Jen D.

Day 25

Not a Haiku:

Roses are red

Violets make me glad

Slept till 8:30

And I don't even feel bad 

Day 24

A Haiku:

Out late. Late I wake.

But had so much fun last night.

Worth it, yes. Worth it.

Day 23

A Letter to My Closets...

Dear My Closets:

Thank you for your recent inquiry about receiving a complete overhaul by Monday.  Our establishment is, as always, eager to accommodate any and all improvement requests.

However, due to time constraints, the scope of the project and the fact that it is my birthday weekend, it has become apparent that cleaning ALL of you by Monday is quite impossible.

What I propose is this:

I will clean ONLY the closet I keep my clothes in, get rid of all extraneous items and give said items to charity.  

This compromise will allow your project to proceed in the right direction, while still allowing me time to party on Friday night and lay at the beach Saturday day.

Your patience is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jen D.

Day 22

so true....

Day 21

"How did it get so late so soon?  Its night before its afternoon.  December is here before its June.  My goodness how the time has flewn.  How did it get so late so soon?"

-Dr. Seuss

"Only ten more days and then I can sleep in!"

"10 days?"

"Yeah!  I said I was doing it until the 31st."

"Well, you only did about half the time so, you should really tack on some days."

"What?!?  I did it more than half the time!!!  I did it...like...16 out of 20 days.  That's a really good percentage!"

"hmmm."

"Don't you think???"

(silence)

"You really should tack on some days."

Day 20

Back by popular demand (mine)....

IT"S MINI GOAL TUESDAYS!!!

Oh, the slippery slope of cleaning.  

My little office nook looks so fresh and so clean it makes me want do crazy things.

I want to twirl on a mountain and sing! I want to tap dance in the rain!

I want to....clean my closets!

I know!!! I'm a woman unleashed!!!

To give you an idea about the size of the project that would be closet cleaning, the stuff that was in the office was the stuff that DIDN'T fit in the closets.

But that's not going to stop me!  

I am a cleaning maniac! I am a cleaning machine!

I am...feeling a little light headed.  My apartment is REALLY hot.

any-whoo...clean closets by Friday.

Errr...Monday.  Yeah.  Monday.

NOT my closet.  Mariah Carey's closet.

Day 19

AFTER!!!

Yay, Mini Goal Tuesdays!!!

"So, what time did you wake up this morning?"

"Well, I woke up at 8 but it was a mistake.  I accidentally shut off my alarm."

"Are you going to say that on the blog?"

"Well...no.  It's not relevant.  I'm revealing my after photo from cleaning up the office."

"Its not relevant that you woke up at 8?"

"Umm...no...cause...you know...I cleaned the office."

"So, it's not relevant for your 7am blog, for your 7am plan, that you woke up at 8 this morning because...you cleaned your office?"

(silence)

"Stop bugging me."

Day 18

Yep.  That's my office.

Picture brought to you via the camera wire that I have been looking for for three days.

Found it!

Before......

Day 17

Nope.  Not my office.

But isn't this a great idea for a two person workstation???

This pic is from the terrific blog Unclutterer.  It has all kinds of fun tips for organizing your home and office.

By the Way...

STILL can't find the camera wire to upload my before photos!

I DID, however, find a souvenir for my Mom, from a trip I took over a month ago, that I never mailed to her.  

Not sure what I was thinking when I stored it in a box with a deflated exercise ball.  Safe keeping???

Sorry, Mom.  I'll send it Monday.

Day 16

How NOT to clean your office in two easy steps:

1. Get an unavoidable, all-encompassing, time eating plumbing emergency that will devour your whole day and derail all of your best intentions.

2. Say you were going to "start tomorrow."

Ah, so this is where the saying "don't put off till tomorrow what may be completely sabotaged by a clogged shower drain" comes from.  

Lesson learned, my friends.   

Lesson learned.

So, as I leave the house in search of a plumber and a prayer, I am applying for an extension on my Mini Goal.  Shall we say Monday???

Monday it is!  Clean office by Monday!

Well, at least I was up at 7.  

I couldn't shower....but I was up.

Day 15

How to clean your office in two easy steps:

1. Start tomorrow

2. See number 1

p.s. I was going to post a "before" picture but I can't find the wire that allows me to upload pictures onto my computer.  

Maybe its under the giant mound of stuff in the office that I'm supposed to be organizing.

Oh, the irony.

Day 14

Wow.

It looks like some lunatic hacked into my blog and proclaimed I would clean up my office by Friday.

That's a crazy idea.  

Oh, well.  Silly blog hacker.

Ugh.  

Ok, FIne!  It was me!  

What was I thinking????

Clean office by FRIDAY???

Perhaps I can just throw a lovely decorative sheet over the mammoth pile.  

It will be like shabby chic meets modern art....

Ugh.

Ok, Fine!  FIne! 

I said I'll do it, I'll do it.

In need a little inspiration?  (I am..)

Visit:

www.apartmenttherapy.com

It's a fantastic, addictive website featuring people who have decorated/re-decorated and lived to tell the tale.

awesome pic(!) up top courtesy of Apartment Therapy

That (unfortunately) is not my office.

(sigh)

Day 13

"First say to yourself what you would be;

and then do what you have to do."

-Epictetus

IT"S MINI GOAL TUESDAYS!

As I've been moving forward (and then back and then forward again) in my quest for a 7am existence, it has come to my attention that certain areas of my life are in need of a little boost.  Just like when you paint one room in your house and then you suddenly notice how dingy the rest of the rooms look, my 7am plan has highlighted some other "rooms" in need of a fresh coat of paint.

And so Mini Goal Tuesdays are born!

Each week I will pick one small task, the accomplishment of which will hopefully bring me closer to a more peaceful, healthy, productive existence.  Hopefully...

This week's goal (drumroll please):

Organizing the corner of my office where paper goes to die.  

Bills, magazines, catalogs, birthday cards, anything I'm not sure I need, anything I'm not sure I want, anything I need to stash somewhere because company is coming over, ALL of these things live in the southeast corner of my office.  

Well, no more!

By the end of the week, that corner will have a new life!

Before and after pics to follow....

Day 12

"Life and fruit aren't perfect."

-my Mom

It's 9am.  I just woke up.  

BUT...but I am NOT going to beat myself up about it.  I had couple of late nights this weekend and rather than walk around as a miserable zombie for 2 days I chose...CHOSE to sleep in.

I think this is ok for two resaons:

1. This experiment is about living in a more conscious way. It is about challenging the habitual patterns that run our lives.  By choosing to sleep in, I was not under the influence of my habits but rather looking at the situation and assessing what would be the best decision for the circumstance at hand.

2. I did not start this experiment to turn myself into a regimented nut who has to be in bed by 9:45.

So, I fell off the wagon.  

But that wagon is just down the street.  

It is stopped at a light and I am running to hop back on it.  

Day 11

A Haiku Part 2:

So late went to bed

8 I wake not at 7

No time to workout

Day 10

A Haiku:

Yes 7 am

awake I am yes I am

I will now workout

Day 9

LOST:  my motivation

LAST SEEN:  7/10/09 12:03pm

DESCRIPTION:  usually seen running errands, paying bills or cleaning

IF FOUND:   

Please contact Jen D. at 1-800-serioulsyneedsanap.  Leave a message as she will be otherwise occupied getting frozen yogurt and wandering about looking at pretty clothes she is not allowed to buy.

Day 8

"A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes."

`Mahatma Gandhi

I have a new plan of attack.

I am going to tell myself that I enjoy being a morning person.

Maybe I do enjoy it.  Maybe I am just conditioned to believe that I don't enjoy it.  Maybe by anticipating that this experiment would be hard and laborious I have made it hard and laborious.

In that vein, I will now list several things I love about waking up early:

Number 1.

Number 1...

Number....hmmm

Ok, ok...hold on...I'm thinking...

Aha! THIS is the problem!  I have no idea why I'm waking up early!  

In my fantasies about the 7am life, the person waking up early (aka me) is always doing something of value.  That person is doing yoga or hiking or picking veggies from an organic garden.  

That person is never sitting on her couch bitching about how she is too tired to live!

I need purpose!

Ok.  New, new plan of attack.  

From now on, I seek purpose.  I will strive to fill my extra hour in the day with something that enhances my life!

I'm pretty sure getting to Target right when they open doesn't count...

Alright, I'll think of something else.

Day 7

"....no matter where you go, there you are."

-Confucius

I had every intention of sleeping in.

That's right!  You heard me!  I was sleeping in and I didn't care what anyone had to say about it!

As I opened my eyes to greet the new day, I wondered what decadent hour I had lounged until.  Was it 8?  8:30? Neh, 9?

6:56?!?!

I could hear my body laughing at me.  Now it decides to come on board?!  Now?!  

(sigh)

I wandered around my apartment for a few minutes and then it hit me.

I had met the challenge.  I had woken up at 7....

Nothing in the challenge saying I'm not allowed to take a nap....

So I did.

I "napped" from 7:15 until 8:30.

(hee hee)

Day 6

"Isn't it amazing the difference an hour makes?"

Yes, Mom.  Yes, it is amazing.   It's amazing that I'm nearly a week into this war of attrition I call "an experiment" and I'm STILL exhausted!   How, in good heaven, is it possible I am THIS tired from getting up one measly, itty bitty hour earlier?!?  It's an hour!  That's nothing!

Where is the productivity???  Where is the inner peace???  I did laundry this afternoon and thought I was going to pass out!

"Well, you are just going to have to go to bed earlier.  You know, like, start to wind down at an earlier hour."

Ha!  That is the other lovely side effect of this whole mess.  From 11am to 8pm, I am an energy vacuum, devoid of all properties that constitutes a pleasant, functioning member of society.  After 8, however, that's when the party starts.  I am suddenly and without warning wide awake!  I am effervescent!  Like a 6 six year old with a baby sitter, I will do ANYTHING to avoid going to sleep!

"Hmmm...I don't know...."

Me either, Mom.  Me either.

Day 5

"So, you've been waking up everyday and hiking?  That's great!"

"Uh...no, not exactly.   The hiking wasn't the point of the experiment."

"I thought you started a blog because you wanted to hike everyday."

"No.  I was hiking when I had the idea.  The hiking was symbolic of a life I want to lead.  The kind of person I want to be."

"So, you've just been...waking up at 7?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"I know it doesn't sound like a lot but that's what has been so interesting.  If a habit is small then a person should have an easy time changing it.  But if a small habit is hard to change, does that mean that the habit is actually a big habit?  Or even beyond that idea, could it be that the size of the habit isn't even a factor in how easy or hard it is to change?  Maybe how a person changes a habit is more a reflection on that person's own tendencies rather than a reflection on the habit itself."

"uh-huh."

"I mean...I'll probably start working out next week...."

Day 4

text received 7:07am:

GET UP! ITS 7AM!

AND CALL ME SO I KNOW YR NOT CHEATING!

ring.

ring.

"Hello?"

"It's 7:15.  I gave you a fifteen minute grace period.  I wanted to make sure you were up.  You can't cheat yet.  It's only Day 4."

"I'm up.  I just can't talk until I've had coffee."

"Good!  Cause your 7am plan is like my quitting smoking."

"That is not remotely the same thing!  If I wake up at 8 I don't die!"

"Hmmm.  I guess you are right..."

Wait.  

Maybe it is the same thing.  Maybe changing a habit, regardless of its size, requires the same discipline.  Maybe we can find justification to let ourselves fall short no matter how big or small the change.

More on this debate tomorrow.  

Although I am up right now, I am certainly not awake.

Day 3

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

-Andy Warhol

Day 1: total exhilaration 

Day 2: bleak exhaustion

Day 3: selective amnesia

I no longer recall why I started this experiment.  I vaguely recall something about metaphor and big change through small change, personal development...was I hiking on a mountain???

Ugh.

It's only Day 3.  

"They" say it only takes four days to change a habit.  Or is it 21 days to change a habit?  Or is it DON'T try and change a habit?

So, only one more day or 18 more days or, you know, NEVER and I'm out of the woods.

Until then I will trust I had a point and will wait for that point to reveal itself at a later date.  

Perhaps after I've gotten 8 full hours of sleep.

Day 2

"You're awake?!?"

"Of course I'm awake.  It's Day 2."

"That's great!  You know Day 2 is the hardest day. It's the day..."

"Are you talking to me???  I can't hear you until I get coffee."

I have formulated a theory.

It is a working theory.

It goes like this:

People who wake up early....

go to bed early.

I did NOT go to bed early last night.

I was too excited to go to bed.

I had woken up at 7!  I had beaten the giant, slayed the dragon, saved the world from being hit by an asteroid!  This little experiment was going to be a cake walk!

I took myself to Target to celebrate.  I reasoned that all the clothes I currently have are for someone who wakes up at 8.  My 7am self needed a new outfit. 

And a new haircut!  I marched into my hairdresser and demanded he cut 2 and a half inches off my hair! (Or just asked nicely and showed him a picture...)

It was a 7am makeover and it called for, no screamed for, a night out on the town!

"You know, we should really head home.  You have to wake up at 7."

"But my hair doesn't want to go home!"

"Yeah, but you should really get to sleep."

"But my hair doesn't want to sleep!"

So, here begins day 2.  My hair and I are deliriously tired.

I think I just spilled coffee on my computer...

Day 1

"I'm awake!!!"

I suppose technically I was awake.  Just because a person's eyes are closed and that person is still in bed does not necessarily mean said person is sleeping.  

I had put on my glasses.  It was a start.

"Goood Mor-ning."

"What is that noise?!"

"A leaf blower."

So much for birds chirping.  Then it occurred to me.  As I lay in bed, pretending to be awake, some man/woman was already up, probably by, say 4am, and is now blowing leaves.

Ok. Up we go.

At this point, I would like to state for the record that I am well aware that 7 is not an unreasonable time to wake up in the morning.

Lots, and LOTS, of people wake up a lot earlier than that.

My friend Jennie wakes up at 5.

Jennie has a husband, a baby and a special needs deaf trauma dog.  If she was allowed the privilege of sleeping in until the lazy hour of 7 she would probably cry happy tears.

My mom wakes up at 4:30.  And works out.  She's 62.

My boyfriend wakes up at 6.  Just because he loves mornings. 

But this experiment isn't about the time.  It's about challenging a habit.  It's about making change, accomplishing a goal.  It's about trying on a new way of life.

So, here I am, born again morning person, off to start my day.

I am going to need more coffee.

a new dawn

"Isn't this beautiful?" 

 "Yes.  Yes it is." 

 "How is it that we don't do this everyday?!" 

"Well..."

"No, I mean seriously.  How are we not up here everyday, 7 in the morning, hiking, enjoying the fresh summer air?!"

"You don't wake up that early."

"I could!"

"But you don't."

"I will!  I'm going to wake up everyday this month at 7am and be productive!"

"That sounds awful."

Ah, the 7am plan.  Long have I held the dream of the 7am plan.  It is a plan of hope.   A plan of promise.  A plan that I have been completely unable to execute.

In my mind, it goes a little something like this....

I awake at 7.  I greet the morning with a single, delicate shot of espresso and quickly change into my workout gear. With gusto I begin my morning yoga routine.   The new sun warms my home and my heart.  Birds chirp.  Butterflies play.  And as I pick fresh vegetables from my organic garden for my morning juice, peace and love rain upon the land.

All because I got my butt up at 7.

Instead of 8.

Perhaps...perhaps...I am over reaching but, having never actually tried the plan,  I don't know for sure that that wouldn't happen.  At the very least, I think I would beat the crowd to Trader Joe's.

I think, for me, waking up early has always symbolized potential.  Extra hours that are untouched, unaccounted for.  Extra hours to fulfill dreams.

So, today I begin.  Err...tomorrow I begin (it's already 9:45).  I begin the process of exploration. 

Can changing one tiny habit affect change in larger areas of life?

Will waking up early set off a chain reaction that will turn my life into the haven of productivity and peace that I have always envisioned?

Or will I simply become grumpy and annoy my loved ones?

Until 7am, my friends.  Until 7...