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RISE & GRIND

Posted on: April 27th, 2017 by KensingtonUser

I can’t believe I’ve only just run into Artemis Scantalides’s website.
Please read more great articles on her website. Enjoy today’s blog!

Often you see people post the phrase “Rise & Grind”. What does that mean? Does that mean that you wake up at 4:00 a.m. and crank out work until 7:00 p.m. like a machine?

If you don’t wake up at 4 or 5 a.m. and if you don’t work 12 plus hour days does that mean that you are not as driven, motivated, or productive?

Per the book, The Power Of Full Engagement” by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, it’s been proven that humans can only sustain an effective level of productivity for about 90-120 minutes before they need to take a break for energy renewal. It’s not about managing time, but energy, so that you can be most productive during the time that you dedicate to work.

Truthfully, there is no ultimate reward for grinding out 12 plus hours days, 7 days per week, and in fact the Japanese have a term for working such excessive hours and it’s called, “karoshi” which literally means, “death from overwork”.

For over 8 years of my life I woke up at least 5 days per week between 4-4:30 a.m., and often I would work until 8 p.m., whether it was training clients or teaching a class or working on administrative tasks. Waking up at 5:30 a.m. was “sleeping in” and 7 a.m. was flat out gluttony. With this schedule I would get most of my work done by 12 noon, including my own training, and be completely fried by 4 p.m. and ready to pass out in bed before 9 p.m.

My stress and anxiety were high, my moods were not always pleasant, my energy for training was slim to none, but I would push through. I had food cravings and no desire to do anything but sleep or to sit on my ass and watch TV when I wasn’t working.

Since I have moved to Las Vegas my schedule has completely flipped and I have more time in my day for breaks and energy renewal.

Due to our schedule at Cirque du Soleil, Eric and I both maintain an afternoon/evening schedule. As a result we go to bed later in the evening and wake up later in the morning without an alarm.

Our “Rise” is between 8-9 a.m. when coffee, writing, social media posts, emails, prep for the day, and our own training takes place, while our grind is after 2 p.m. until the later in the evening.

As a result of this schedule we get more consistent, restful sleep, and our bodies reward us for allowing them to wake up according to their own circadian rhythms without having to be jarred awake by an alarm.

With this new schedule I have found that I have much less stress and anxiety, less impulse to nap or to have food cravings, less mood swings, more energy, more creativity and better mental flow, better training sessions, and more productivity within the hours I allot for work.

Since we are not rising before the sun and awake for the news at 11 p.m. does that mean that we are any less driven, motivated, or productive than our friends and colleagues who “Rise & Grind” between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m.?

Absolutely not and in fact I’d argue that we are better rested and more productive, unless waking up at 4 a.m. is truly your optimal time to wake up ? .

Everyone has a different “Rise & Grind”. Whether you start your “Rise” at 4 a.m. or at 9 a.m., we all put in the same number of hours in a day, whether those hours are actually time or level of productivity during work hours…. and remember, just as recovery is part of training, sleep, rest, recovery and renewal fuel your ability as a human to be most productive and creative during work hours.

What is YOUR “Rise & Grind”??

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