The people announcing this thanked us for showing up at such an ungodly hour.
I grinned and arrived, as I usually do, at 8:55ish.
Im regularly the first Lifehacker staffer in the office.
Partly because it looks good, but mostly because I am lazy and self-indulgent.
Arriving at 9 isnt exactly crack-of-dawn morning-person material.
The worst part of your morning becomes merely mediocre.
You have no one to disappoint or impress but yourself.
You just smile and wave and feel a camaraderie with your early morning brethren and sistren.
We few, we happy few!
Cash in on the extra minutes you bought.
you cry to the barista, the drive-thru cashier, the bodega cigarette-seller.
You are familiar, you are a regular.These are the people in your neighborhood.
You greet your co-workers like a benevolent philosopher king.
Maybe youre actually doing some work, maybe not.
You have set the tone for the day.
you could slip up
When you fail to arrive early, you merely arrive on time.
When you are actually late, everyone assumes you have a good reason.
After all, you are the person who arrives early.
Schedule an email withBoomerangor a Slack message withIFTTT, for a few minutes after you wake up.
(No need to stretch the truth beyond that.)
The point is to lessen any pressure oneveningresponses, which are truly heinous and should not even be faked.
You want to look like a hard worker, not a fool.
If you show up early, you have earned the social capital to leave early.
Especially after you gently remind them by saying Whew, gotta get an early start again tomorrow!
I dont like to think of this as blatantly transparent but as crystal clear.
This is all about appearance, and taking advantages of our cultural biases.
To show up late, in our society, shows weakness of spirit.
To leave early shows autonomy and self-direction and work-life balance.
People who leave early are influencers.
They have it all.
They have each been profiled inTimesStyle section.
They are off to bake their own bread and teach their children with flash cards.
They are cutting down on their screen time.
