Climbing out of bed every morning can sometimes be the most difficult task I face every day, because I am a complete night owl and the morning air is cold. But despite this, I usually get up at 5 am (or maybe after hitting the snooze button twice) and make it an early morning because I need to go to work. Recently, I have been trying to make the 5 am wakeup time work better for me by getting in a quick 20 minutes on the treadmill before starting my day.
Habitual early rising has some great benefits that are easy to miss. I initially thought that the extra energy I had was just from getting my blood moving in the morning, but I realized there was more to it when I took some time off due to an injury. I was surprised to find that my energy level stayed consistently high even though I wasn’t working out. This showed me that my early mornings have more of an influence on my day than I ever realized. Below I’ve outlined the many benefits you’ll begin to experience by setting that alarm earlier than planned, and taking advantage of it.
How to Become an Early Riser
- Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.
- Allow yourself to sleep earlier. You might be used to staying up late, perhaps watching TV or surfing the Internet. But if you continue this habit, while trying to get up earlier, sooner or later one is going to give up. And if it is the early rising that gives, then you will crash and sleep late and have to start over.I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll sleep, and read while in bed. If you’re really tired, you just might fall asleep much sooner than you think.
- Put your alarm clock far from your bed. If it’s right next to your bed, you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it’s far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just have to stay up.
- Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the room. My habit is to stumble into the bathroom and go pee. By the time I’ve done that, and flushed the toilet and washed my hands and looked at my ugly mug in the mirror, I’m awake enough to face the day.
- Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
- Have a good reason. Set something to do early in the morning that’s important. This reason will motivate you to get up. I like to write in the morning, so that’s my reason. Also, when I’m done with that, I like to read all of your comments!
- Make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early. A good reward is to make a hot cup of coffee or tea and read a book. Other rewards might be a tasty treat for breakfast (smoothies! yum!) or watching the sunrise, or meditating. Find something that’s pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of your morning routine.
- Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to read your blogs, unless that’s a major goal of yours. Don’t wake up early and waste that extra time.
- Get a jump start on your day! I like to use that time to get a head start on preparing my kids’ lunches, on planning for the rest of the day (when I set my MITs), on exercising or meditating, and on reading. By the time 6:30 rolls around, I’ve done more than many people do the entire day.
Benefits of Being an Early Riser
Positive Outlook
If you are someone who prefers to stay up late at night, you probably find morning people to be very annoying. Their positive attitude and lack of noise early in the morning makes it difficult for you to wake up. However, morning people are more likely to have gotten the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep than those who stay up late. Therefore, their positive attitude in the morning is likely due to the fact that they are well-rested.
Better Problem Solvers
A mind that is rested is better prepared to deal with the challenges of the day. When you are well rested, you will be more organized and have more energy. This allows you to better deal with any problems that come up. In addition, long-term problems are more likely to be solved more easily because your brain is better able to problem solve when you are getting a good night’s rest.
More Energy
Sleeping better leads to more energy, and people who wake up earlier generally have better sleep patterns than those who stay up late. That being said, there are a lot of benefits to getting a good night’s sleep that are important to both your physical and mental health. When you drop into deeper cycles of sleep, your blood pressure lowers, your breathing slows, and your muscles relax. Your body temperature also drops, and the blood supply to your muscles increases. This helps with tissue and bone repair, as well as cell corrections. Growth hormones are also released that are essential for muscle development.
More Organized
We’ve all experienced it: we go to sleep with an idea of what we want to achieve the next day, only to be met with real-life issues as soon as we wake up. Something as simple as forgetting our lunch or having a slow commute can seem to ruin our entire day. When we wake up earlier and plan out our day, we can create a series of achievable goals that we can get right into. worrying about traffic and our child’s untied shoelaces is much easier to deal with when we don’t have to also remember a half dozen other things as we’re running out the door.
More Time to Exercise
How many people have started an evening workout routine, only to find that they can’t keep the promise to themselves of going to the gym every night?I started my early morning routine to get in a quick cardio workout. I find it challenging to find the time to do so by the end of the day.If you start your day with a workout, you’ll have more energy in the evening and you’ll be healthier overall. You’ll burn more calories during and after the workout, and you’ll sleep better at night.
Better, Deeper Rest
I’ve already talked about how your natural sleep cycle is affected by having a set sleep schedule, and this is closely related to how well you rest at night. When you get into a regular cycle of waking and sleeping, you make it easier for your body to go through the different stages of sleep that it needs in order to heal and promote healthy brain function. The sleep cycle happens several times throughout the night and is related to how our brain processes information and stores memories. In fact, many studies suggest that a lot of our problem solving happens during this time, so it’s especially important to make sure that this process isn’t interrupted. Plus, your body is able to physically regenerate and heal when it’s well-rested.
Uninterrupted Time to Work
face it, we can all be more productive if we can avoid distractions. I know that I can get a lot of writing done on the weekends if I get up early, before the noise of my children playing starts. Early risers also have a tendency to set their day’s goals out before them and have a higher rate of completion, mostly because they are able to take advantage of uninterrupted work to get a head start. Getting to the office before your colleagues also keeps you from procrastinating over the coffee pot, and allows you to focus and concentrate on the task at hand without the thought of what else needs to be accomplished before having to leave for the day. Your problems are essentially laid out before you and you can check them off your list as you move through the day.
More Family Time
If you don’t spend every night worrying about what you didn’t do during the day, or how you’re going to fit in a workout, you can enjoy your time with your family before bedtime. You may be physically tired from your day, but mentally you can relax in the company of those you love. Some morning habits that you may not realize can also include uninterrupted quiet time with your significant other. Morning ablutions have been linked to a variety of health benefits as well, so you should take advantage of them!
Better Mental Health
The above-mentioned factors contribute to a supportive environment for better mental health. They include improved brain function, lack of physical strain, restorative sleep, etc. All these together help you release anxiety and approach your day more positively. Not surprisingly, mental health experts believe that good sleep combined with good time management and organization skills lead to a healthier mind. On the other hand, too much sleep or unproductive sleep can lead to depression and other psychological problems.
Serenity
Rising early can provides the time needed to enjoy the space around you. Sleep may provide the opportunity to do nothing, but being awake allows to you fully enjoy it. Having time to do nothing allows you to unwind from the mental stimulation of the day.
You should do yourself a favor by taking some time off to relax every once in a while. Make yourself a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise. Curl up on the couch with a book you’ve been wanting to read, or just sit in silence and meditate. This period of silence can actually be very beneficial for your brain, as it increases oxygen intake and helps reduce migraines, high blood pressure, and overall stress on your body.
Time to Relax
Waking up early doesn’t have to be about being productive and getting things done. Sometimes it’s just nice to take your time in the morning, relax, and not have to worry about anything. Being able to pick out your outfit for the day, play with a different hairstyle, or flip through a catalog over a cup of coffee without having to worry about what’s next is all you need to feel like you have a fresh start.
