For over a decade, I’ve been engaged in a brutal, one-sided war -against mornings. Every January, I bravely declare, “This is the year I’ll become an early riser!” And every February, I hit snooze with the accuracy of a trained assassin.

It always starts the same way. I read one of those “5 AM Club” articles about how CEOs, Olympic athletes, and probably superheroes all wake up before sunrise. I get inspired, I buy a sunrise alarm clock that simulates dawn, I download apps that make me solve math problems to turn off the alarm, I set my phone across the room to “force” myself out of bed… Then 4 AM arrives.

I open one eye, see pitch-black sky, and immediately start negotiating with myself like a hostage situation. “If I wake up at 4:30 instead, I’ll be extra productive, right?” By 4:30, I’m rationalizing how “sleep is the real self-care.”

Even the alarm clock that screamed motivational quotes didn’t work! (I threw it out of the window on day two). My bed remains undefeated. Scientists may as well rename gravity after it — that’s how powerfully it holds me down in the morning.

My speed of work and my organizational skills have only fueled this battle. Every night, I line up the next day like a military operation- clothes ironed, breakfast & lunch for the family packed, the maid instructed about her morning chores. With everything prepped, the question hits me: What on earth am I supposed to do with those extra 30 minutes if I wake up early? All those articles promise blissful sunrise, youthful yoga, mindful journaling, green detoxification concoctions. But when the alarm rings, all these activities feel Optional.

At some point, I tried to embrace my unique habit of hitting the bed at 10 pm yet being unable to get up by 4 am!. “Some people are just built differently,” I told myself, but then some chipper morning person would post their 5 AM sunrise run with hashtags like #grindtime or #hustlecore, and I’d spiral again.

So, I tried to wake up early one more time. I made it! I watched the sunrise! I felt unstoppable!
Then I fell asleep after returning home from work!

Still, every once in a while, I’ll set that 4 AM alarm again – not because I think I’ll actually get up, but because hope, like my snooze button, springs eternal.

Over time, I’ve realised that it’s not about when I start the day, but how I finish it! The early hours may not be my favorite, but by the end of the day – when every “task to do” is crossed off, I feel a sense of accomplishment that makes it all worthwhile. Maybe I’m not a morning person, but I’ve mastered making the rest of the day count.

Ms. Sana Imran, Secretary to Principal & Director