John was a gifted administrator, a spiritual leader, very intelligent and highly self-disciplined in his use of time. To achieve a good degree, and do other things alongside, meant strict self-discipline. He would get up at 6.00 am to give himself an hour and a half of quiet – first to read the Bible and pray, and then to read The Times, before arriving for breakfast in Hall (the college dining room) at 8.00 am. He would return to Hall for lunch at 12.55 pm, and be back at his desk by 1.45 pm.
Early rising was a habit for life. In due course he would get up even earlier, and then take a ‘horizontal half hour’ or ‘HHH’ after lunch to rest each day. It is not easy to get up early on dark, cold wintry mornings. John found that the secret to early rising is going to bed on time.
‘It was always the same,’ said his friend at Cambridge, John Sheldon, ‘even when discussion was in full flow. As soon as the college clock struck 9.30, John would leave. He got up early, and it was the only way to do it.’
