"THE early bird catches the worm." We have been told of this quote a zillion times. Have you caught one? I hope you did, figuratively speaking.
Fast forward to your office environment. Being an early bird has its benefits. You get to appreciate the Zen-like atmosphere. When you're more than an hour early, you can do personal stuff. You can prep yourself. Read a book. Or go outside and walk around the neighborhood.
However, we're not here to talk about things you can do when you're early. The more interesting topic is the different profiles vis-a-vis their reason for being early.
Let me introduce you to a few of the characters I've met and known from the corporate world.
The School Bus. It can be a parent, a Tita, or a Tito who has students who need to catch the 7:30 am class.
The Out-of-Towner. He is one because of the distance to the city proper and the fact that their barangay, let's say Bugo, is kind of far. I have not yet even considered traffic congestion.
The Traffic Avoider. These people have learned that the only way to beat traffic is to avoid it. Avoiding it means waking up at dawn for you to leave early.
The Early Shift. They have no choice. The silver lining in this is they can still catch the sunset, or if they're lucky, they can still bask in the late afternoon sunshine.
The Early Worker. These are the hard workers. They are hard workers, or their boss is a slave driver. Just kidding. These people love their work, and they find the serenity conducive.
The Parking People. These are negotiators — parking space negotiators. They haggle for it with the parking boys or the shop owners who think they own the road area fronting their stores.
The common denominator among these early birds? Breakfast! They either bring one from home, eat out from nearby shops, or have it delivered.
Of the six profiles, I've been those three mentioned. Lately, I'm the traffic-avoider. I leave early to avoid the hustle and bustle. The kilay will have to wait at the office, which is a good thing since people will not recognize me. I can be who I want to be when driving. Wait, that's me, thinking out loud.
Kidding aside, I find it more relaxing. Starting my day with a good vibe.
And how about you? Do you see yourself in one of the profiles mentioned? Whatever the case, make sure you don't mix company time and personal time.
If you're The Early Worker, don't be too hard on yourself. Check out the things I've mentioned that you can do before the official time starts. Otherwise, you'll burn out, and I'm telling you now, it won't be easy.
Create a work-life balance so that loving one's work comes naturally. The next thing you'll know, you're already in your 30th year of service, and the fire's still burning.
