Why I Start My Work Day At 5 A.M.

Many of the best experiences in life are totally unplanned. Whether it’s random high school moments, a spontaneous weekend adventure or a serendipitous encounter, we’ve all experienced the beauty of stumbling into something awesome.

Stumbling into a 5-a.m. start
I work for an incredible company, with teammates scattered around the globe.

Most of us tend to work 9–5ish hours, and up until a few months ago I did, too. My schedule was pretty standard:

But a few weeks ago, this all changed.

I’m part of a three-person team, and recently we got the chance to build a new online product. But, before we could begin, we first needed to complete a five-day design sprint to validate the idea.

The other guys on my team live in Europe (I’m just outside Toronto, Canada) so I woke up early for those five days to spend as much time as possible together. It was a stellar experience to have Zoom (video call) running for the entire day as we brainstormed, built prototypes and gathered user feedback.

Buffer.com: Why We Need to Write Multiple Headlines

As the project advanced past the sprint, I no longer needed to be up early but I felt an urge to keep doing it. I’d stumbled upon a remarkable discovery: I love starting work at 5 a.m.!

My new daily rhythm
Here’s what my day looks like with this new schedule:

The key part of this new rhythm is the middle section. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., I’m free to do whatever I want!

Buffer.com: Happiness Experiments: Peer-Reviewed Emails, Snippet-Free Days, and More

During this break, I typically hang out with my wife and kids until 1 pm, put my two older boys down for their nap, then head to the gym for an hour. I’m back by around 2:30 p.m., at which time I grab a quick shower and meal then jump back in to work.

It’s so trippy to take a four-hour mid-day break but still smash out a full day of work.

The other added benefit is how this schedule affects my evenings.

I need to be sleeping by about 9:30 p.m. to feel fresh in the morning. Generally, I’m not doing anything super valuable late at night, so I find that most of my time awake is spent on activities that mean a lot to me (e.g. hanging out with my family & friends, fitness, reading, work).

Of course, I will stay up late if we’re we have people over or if there’s something I want to watch live, but I’m usually in bed a little after 9 p.m.

Buffer.com: 11 Simple Design Tips to Enhance Your Social Media Images

The power of choice
I’m aware that most people don’t enjoy the same freedoms as I do at my company— the choice to work where and when I want. However, my new-found love for 4:30 a.m. wake-ups isn’t just about when I start my day.

As I reflect on why this new rhythm makes me feel so great, I realize that they’re something deeper, something beneath the long mid-day break and the pride of waking up early.

It’s about the ability to choose.

In her book The Art of Choosing, Sheena Iyengar describes an experiment where people were given chips to use at a casino. They were presented with two options for where to use their chips:

All the wheels were identical. So, which table did people prefer?

The table with two wheels.

Why? Because on that table, they could pick the wheel they wanted to play on, and that allowed them to feel more in control of their bet.

This experiment illustrates what many people really want—to feel like they’re in control of what they’re doing.

I’m incredibly grateful to enjoy this privilege.

This article originally appeared on Buffer.