10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” - Ben Franklin, famously
“Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated Franklin …” - Mark Twain
Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works
for you, I think that’s great. There’s no reason to change, especially
if you’re happy with it. But for me, switching from being a night owl
to an early riser (and yes, it is possible) has been a godsend. It has
helped me in so many ways that I’d never go back. Here are just a few:
- Greet the day. I love being able to get up, and
greet a wonderful new day. I suggest creating a morning ritual that
includes saying thanks for your blessings. I’m inspired by the Dalai
Lama, who said, ” Everyday, think as you wake up, ‘today I am fortunate
to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not
going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself,
to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the
benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others,
I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to
benefit others as much as I can.’ “
- Amazing start. I used to start my day by jumping
out of bed, late as usual, and rushing to get myself and the kids
ready, and rushing to drop them to school and come in to work late. I
would walk into work, looking rumpled and barely awake, grumpy and
behind everyone else. Not a great start to your day. Now, I have a
renewing morning ritual, I’ve gotten so much done before 8 a.m., my
kids are early and so am I, and by the time everyone else gets in to
work, I’ve already gotten a head start. There is no better way to start
off your day than to wake early, in my experience.
- Quietude. No kids yelling, no babies crying, no
soccer balls, no cars, no television noise. The early morning hours are
so peaceful, so quiet. It’s my favorite time of day. I truly enjoy that
time of peace, that time to myself, when I can think, when I can read,
when I can breathe.
- Sunrise. People who wake late miss one of the
greatest feats of nature, repeated in full stereovision each and every
day — the rise of the sun. I love how the day slowly gets brighter,
when the midnight blue turns to lighter blue, when the brilliant colors
start to seep into the sky, when nature is painted in incredible
colors. I like doing my early morning run during this time, and I look
up at the sky as I run and say to the world, “What a glorious day!”
Really. I really do that. Corny, I know.
- Breakfast. Rise early and you actually have time
for breakfast. I’m told it’s one of the most important meals of the
day. Without breakfast, your body is running on fumes until you are so
hungry at lunchtime that you eat whatever unhealthy thing you can find.
The fattier and sugarier, the betterier. But eat breakfast, and you are
sated until later. Plus, eating breakfast while reading my book and
drinking my coffee in the quiet of the morning is eminently more
enjoyable than scarfing something down on the way to work, or at your
desk.
- Exercise. There are other times to exercise
besides the early morning, of course, but I’ve found that while
exercising right after work is also very enjoyable, it’s also liable to
be canceled because of other things that come up. Morning exercise is
virtually never canceled.
- Productivity. Mornings, for me at least, are the
most productive time of day. I like to do some writing in the morning,
when there are no distractions, before I check my email or blog stats.
I get so much more done by starting on my work in the morning. Then,
when evening rolls around, I have no work that I need to do, and I can
spend it with family.
- Goal time.
Got goals? Well, you should. And
there’s no better time to review them and plan for them and do your
goal tasks than first thing. You should have goal that you want to
accomplish this week. And every morning, you should decide what one
thing you can do today to move yourself further towards that goal. And then, if possible, do that first thing in the morning.
- Commute.
No one likes rush-hour traffic, except for Big Oil. Commute early, and
the traffic is much lighter, and you get to work faster, and thus save
yourself more time. Or better yet, commute by bike. (Or even better
yet, work from home.)
- Appointments. It’s much easier to make those early
appointments on time if you get up early. Showing up late for those
appointments is a bad signal to the person you’re meeting. Showing up
early will impress them. Plus, you get time to prepare.
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. 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 you 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.
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