I am what you would call a night owl, but a little bit of an early riser. How is that even possible? Well, I used to have a bad habit of checking my phone when I got home after work and somehow before I knew it, it was way past midnight already and I got to go to work early in the morning so I had no choice but to sleep late and get up early. I know this is a very bad habit, but luckily, I realised this soon and started looking for methods that would work. Many of you might think I would search for something like “Top 10 Habits of Highly Successful People”. Well, you are right, but this time, it is not something like “waking up at 4:30 a.m.” anymore. In fact, it is quite the opposite, and guess what? This habit came from the one and only president of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos. Why do I call this the opposite? While Richard Branson gets up at 5 a.m., Apple’s Tim Cook gets up at the ungodly hour of 3:45 a.m., Jeff Bezos gets a full night’s sleep and spends his leisurely mornings…puttering? Yes, you read that right. The world’s richest man skips heroic productivity rituals for breakfast with his kids and a slow morning warm up. He doesn’t get fully up to speed mentally until 10 a.m. And no, it is not a bad habit. In fact, it gives you more than you can imagine. As a person who provides Melbourne SEO services, I have read many infographics about a day in the life of a digital marketer and how they mostly get up at 5 a.m. in the morning to check their emails, do some quick analysis, make business plans, read newspapers; you name it – too early for hard work, right? While there is nothing wrong with being productive early in the morning, you will be surprised by this fact that I’m going to tell you right now in this article. Keep reading to find out!

So, why did I say that you should follow Jeff Bezos’ lead?

Well, I’m not acting like I hate being an early riser and actually, there is nothing wrong with that, but there are reasons beyond simple pleasure more people should consider remaking their mornings to resemble Bezos’ more than Branson’s. What I meant by this is that you shouldn’t waste your time doing it wrong – there is a time for productivity and you should manage it carefully. Yes, there is a time for that and you can’t use your productivity at the wrong time.

According to science, when it comes to knowledge work, our brains have about 4 hours a day of good work in them. Therefore, if for example you get up at 5 a.m. and start doing your hardest tasks, chances are, your brain will be pretty well spent by the time most people are arriving at the office. So, when it is actually your work time, you might lose focus and not be able to fully use your brain optimally since you have already spent most of your productive activities in the morning before going to work. Not to mention the effects that you will get when it is 9 p.m. when you come home after work.

The lesson we can learn from this is that you can set your own morning routine according to your own body and work rhythms – you can choose to be an early riser or you can get up at 9 a.m. – whatever suits you best, but it is advisable that you use your time wisely. You can start being productive anytime as long as you know it is the right time for you. Remember this; your brain works best for 4 hours a day, use your time properly. Know when to take a rest, when to play and when to work or brainstorm. That way, you will never find it difficult to concentrate or focus at work.