If you have made it to this blog, then you are here to a) understand the benefits of waking up early and b) how you can do it too.
I know you are going to say, there are already lots of articles covering this topic, well I am going to share the advantages I have had and steps you can take to wake up early.
Look, I am not going to judge, not everyone is a morning person and it’s up to the individual’s lifestyle. You won’t be considered a failure for not waking up early. I know people who do wake up early and does not use the time effectively.
Ben Franklin once said, “Early to bed, and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” And I find this an accurate statement.
I wake up around 5am every weekday and slightly later during the weekends. I will admit it is hard, especially when you have young children. I don’t like it much, but over years I have built resiliency and made it into a habit.
Here are some of the benefits and advantages I have by waking up early.
1. Extra time to plan your day ahead
By waking up earlier than you typically do, you will find you will have extra time to plan the day ahead of you. Use 15 minutes of the day to just write down your goals for the day and what you want to achieve. Use a simple notepad or your mobile to take some notes down. By planning your day, you are already setting the mindset on what you want to achieve.
2. Perfect time for meditation
I find the morning is a great time to focus on your mental state and spend 10 minutes doing mindfulness or mediation to help you be fully prepared for the day ahead. Especially when the kids are asleep you will find this is the best quiet time of the day.
3. Feel more energetic and drive to take action
One of the biggest benefits I find is that I feel that I have more energy. Being a father of two young kids I used to feel consistently tired, however waking up early and going to work and dealing with the kids in the evening, does make me feel tired, but it’s a different kind of tiredness, I find it more tolerable – like the difference between good tired and bad tired.
4. Feel more energetic and drive to take action
So you have written down your list for the day, spent 10 minutes meditating and whilst the whole world is asleep and you have no interruptions from your family members; you get a feeling that your concentration and focus is boosted and your thinking on ways and smart solutions on how to take action on your task list and to better prep for the day ahead. You will find yourself being more alert during the peak time of your day when you get into the office, whilst others are still getting mentally prepared to start their day.
5. Increases your productivity
I find that I procrastinate less in the morning and am more productive by waking up early. So, you have woken up early and completed your to-do list and either did some meditation or some exercise, you can then use the time to check and reply to your emails, prepare notes for your meetings and start on your tasks for the day. I find that my best work and creativity is done in the morning.
How can you wake up early in the morning?
If you are not used to waking up early or find it difficult to go to sleep, here are some recommendations from me that you can do.
Don’t try and wake up 5am straight away: I would look to wake up up 15 or 20 minutes earlier than you typically do for the first week or two. Once you get used to this, then I would look to reduce it by another 15 to 20 minutes. You don’t need to wake up at 5am but have a realistic time in mind you want to achieve.
Plan when you are going to go to bed: This is important, you still need plenty of sleep and rest and you cannot sleep late. Start to plan to go to bed between 9pm to 10pm, even if you do not to sleep straight away. Make it a routine to go to bed at that time going forward and be disciplined that you do.
Don’t be on your phone when you get bed: Stay away from Electronic devices as it produces light that stimulates your brain. Instead of being on the phone and being on YouTube, Netflix or Facebook, try and read a book instead.
Exercise before you go to bed: I find that doing a little bit of exercise before to bed makes me feel tired and ready to go to sleep once I am in bed.
Do not eat before you go to bed: Don’t have your dinner or any late night snacks just before you get into bed, as this will prevent you from going to sleep and you will just lay in bed awake.
Leave your alarm clock across the room: I leave my phone in the other end of the bedroom, so when the alarm goes off in the morning, it forces me to get out of bed and walk to the phone to turn off the alarm. This way you are on your feet and already out of bed.
Hopefully the above pointers give you a good insight to the benefits of waking up early and that you find my tips of waking up early.
Why not check out our next article on Smart Productivity Hacks To Make You More Productive
