CEOs, athletes, artists and countless people deemed to be successful individuals have a secret weapon that all have access to, but few choose to take advantage of: early morning.
They say that the early bird catches the worm, which is true. Especially if you’re a bird looking for a worm.
But even as a human being, there are plenty of reasons for you to forget you have a snooze button and start your day a little earlier.
Life is meant to be lived… not slept through. Here are 9 reasons why you should get up with the sun:
1. You have more energy in the morning and a clearer mind.
Okay, you may need to have your cup of coffee first, but you get the idea.
Waking up early may not give you much more energy than waking up later, although even this may be the case depending on your sleeping habits, but what it will do is give you more time in the day when you feel energetic and motivated.
The later you wake up, in theory, the less time you have before you lose your motivation and get distracted.
Once the evening comes around, no one really wants to be working. Especially not when friends, neighbors, and/or children want to spend time with you.
Wake up earlier, get more done when you feel like getting things done, and then have more time to live a little.
2. There is nothing worse than starting your day off in a hurry.
I hate rushing with a fiery passion. I think it is the most annoying feeling in the world. Having to rush your day at any point leaves you feeling flustered and beat.
Starting your day off in a rush leaves a sour taste in your mouth, making it difficult to slow back down and get grounded.
Take your time in the mornings to do… nothing. Get ready slowly. Have breakfast while seated at a table instead of mid commute. Go for a walk or maybe a bit of exercise. Meditate or just breathe in the morning air.
Maybe you would even like to watch the sunrise – few people see the sunrise more than a handful of times in their lives. Why not get to see it every day?
3. Mornings are a great time to get personal things done – things you don’t need anyone else to help you with or to contribute to.
Write emails. Do some quick cleaning or organizing. Make your kids breakfast and lunch.
Do some reading. Do the laundry. Do all the things that you know that you won’t want to do once you get home from work.
I don’t know about you, but I dread going home knowing that a long list of chores awaits me.
Get up with the birds and do all the things you don’t especially enjoy doing early, allowing time to enjoy the rest of your day the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
4. Crossing a few things off your list early in the day will give you a nice sense of accomplishment, fueling you for the remainder of the day while simultaneously giving you peace of mind.
Sometimes we have such slam-packed schedules that we aren’t sure how we’ll manage to fit it all in. Waking up early will, for one, give you a few extra hours if you need it (emergencies do happen).
You’ll also be able to check a few things off your to-do list, making you especially productive and accomplished. Who doesn’t want a little ego boost in the mornings?
5. Overall, it’s more efficient.
Your mind focuses more intently in the mornings and because most of the world is either still asleep or just stirring, there are fewer distractions.
Also, the most efficient way to work is to work in neat two to four hour sessions – straight. No breaks or distractions.
Getting in one of these blocks earlier on in the day will basically give you extra hours in the day itself. Waking up early and getting to bed early is – in a nutshell – a more efficient way to live.
6. Starting early usually means finishing early – happy hour anyone?
As adults, we have a lot of responsibilities. Too many even. There is always work to be done and always things that we would rather be doing instead. The key to a happy and productive life is time management.
Waking up in the early hours of the day should allow you more time later in the day to do whatever it is that you want to do – to live your life the way you believe it should be lived.
Doing nothing but working all day, every day is miserable. Managing your time wisely by starting early can very well lead you to hate your life a little less.
7. You’ll get tired earlier and get to bed earlier, getting a better night’s sleep.
While the amount of hours you sleep may or may not affect your quality of sleep, as there are many factors to consider, what it will do is make getting a proper night’s sleep more likely. If you go to bed earlier you are more likely to get the needed hours.
Most people don’t just lie down and pass out right away – most people take some time to fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night and have to fall asleep all over again.
Getting to bed earlier will allow you to sleep in a little extra if a little extra is what you need.
8. You’ll literally experience a side of life you haven’t experienced before.
As human beings, we are creatures of habit. And as such, we like to follow routines that we have created for ourselves.
The problem with such routines is that, forgetting about the fact that they are usually unhealthy, they only allow you one version of reality.
If you wake up late then you never get to experience the magnificence that is dawn. You never get to hear the first chirping of the birds or the beautiful array of colors in the early morning sky.
You don’t get to see your environment in the morning calm before the storm. You don’t get to experience your whole life – the part of life you’ve been missing after sleeping in for so many years.
9. You get a couple of hours to be yourself. No masks. No gimmicks.
No trying to impress people you couldn’t care less about. Getting up earlier allows for more alone time – time that too few people give importance to.
Having a few extra hours in the day when you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not, when you don’t have to watch your every move, your every word, will give you a new a redefined sense of self.
You will feel better about yourself and feel happier overall. We get trapped in the rat race that is life. These morning hours are a time for you to simply be yourself. No one else is watching.
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