Why Waking Up Early Is a Habit You Need to Develop

As the saying goes, „the early bird catches the worm,” there might be truth in it after all, no matter how much you’re fond of sleep. Sure, everyone likes dozing until noon, and, yes, our beds are probably the most comfortable places in the world, yet the benefits of waking up at 5 or 6 AM could easily make up for the pleasure we’d get from napping.

Developing a morning routine where the day starts with the sun rising comes more easily to some people than to others. However, if you succeed in it, setting your alarm clock to ring just after dawn might help you turn your life around in a jiffy. Here are some of the biggest perks to being a so-called ’day lark’.

Having More Time on Your Hands

Subjectively speaking, we’ll always feel as if we have more time left in the day when it starts earlier. If we wake up at 9 AM, it’s already noon before we get to blink twice. Especially in the winter, when the sunlight is by default much scarcer, to most of us 7 PM already seems like nighttime. So why not prolong it?

By waking up as early as we can, we’ll get the most use out of the time we have in our numbered days. Whether it be doing chores, making plans, or prepping food, by adding a few extra hours in the morning to get it all done beforehand, we’ll have a much better grip on what the rest of our schedule looks like and we’ll simply feel like the day is longer than it seems.

Increased Productivity and Better Organization

It’s no myth that morning people usually are more productive and have a better grip on the organization. There are numerous studies that prove how waking up at sunrise is beneficial to handling your time and your chores in a much more advantageous way. If you spend the hour between 6 and 7 AM planning out your day, finishing what was left undone the previous night or simply focusing on achieving your goals, you’ll find it much easier than doing the same kind of thing after a tiring and busy day.

By focusing your energy on being productive in the morning, the habit will stick soon enough and the problems of chaotic timetables, being late for everything or not knowing what the day will bring will disappear by themselves. Set your alarm for tomorrow and try it out for yourself. You might surprise yourself with how much you like it.

A Better Sleep Schedule

In order to be an early bird, you’ll first need to give up your night owl tendencies. You can’t expect yourself to get up sharp and bright at sunrise if you fell asleep sometime after midnight. No matter how hard you try, you’ll always feel sleepy and find it hard to get out of bed.

However, no matter how appealing your nightlife is to you (whether you spend it in the comfort of your home or by going out and having a blast), with a regular nine-to-five job it simply isn’t practical. It might be better to shift it all around and focus on going to bed at a reasonable time so you’ll be rested and alert the following day. By making yourself go to bed before the clock chimes 12 AM, your sleep schedule will fix itself, you’ll be more rested in general, and you’ll also have the mornings for yourself.

Morning Workouts

Having a fitness routine is difficult with a busy daily schedule. It’s especially hard to incorporate into our lives if the only time we can exercise is after work or other tasks. It’s not uncommon to feel sluggish and exhausted in the evening, whereas some people don’t click well with pumping up their adrenaline shortly before going to bed.

With an early start to your day, you could easily dedicate some time for a quick workout and a shower. Not only will you feel less tense when everyday stress eventually starts kicking in, but you’ll also be much healthier and in a better physical shape due to not skipping your trips to the gym. Your evenings will finally be free for your social life and hobbies and you’ll get rid of the guilty conscience for avoiding exercise.

Extra Time to Eat Breakfast

There are many of us whose jobs, school or other activities start early in the morning. It goes thus without saying that eating breakfast might be out of the question unless we dedicate some extra time to having a proper meal before our obligations are due to begin.

Waking up early, especially if that means that we’ll have a bonus hour (or two, or three) before we have to leave the house, leaves a lot of space for a nourishing meal. If you train yourself to become a morning person, you’ll never have to skip breakfast again, which in turn will mean better cognitive functions, more energy and a good start to your day.

Peaceful Mornings

There’s hardly a better feeling in the world than starting your morning exactly the way you like it. No matter if that means drinking your first cup of coffee in peace, reading a book, or scrolling through the news — having the beginning of your day to yourself is almost a guarantee of being in a good mood.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to be more productive if you wake up at 6 AM. Sometimes, the biggest benefit of them all when it comes to waking up at dawn is having some peace and quiet for yourself which you might not be able to get otherwise.

It’s your choice how you’d like to spend your mornings, but spending them in a way that makes you feel good is the biggest luxury of all. By developing a good routine and by dedicating yourself to being as productive as possible, you’ll feel more well-rounded and have a tighter grip on reality. Setting the alarm for sunrise might just help you in doing that quicker and easier.

Photo: polinaloves/Shutterstock

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