Even when you work from home, there’s a plethora of benefits to waking up early.
“But I can work at any time of day, why would I wanna put myself through that?”
Because, once you know how to do it right, you’ll realise, waking up early, really isn’t all that bad.
Once you start, you’ll find there’s really something magical about the early hours
- Watching the sunrise whilst working at your desk,
- hearing absolute silence,
- tasting a warm, waking coffee
- getting your productive juices flowing, while others are still in bed
There really is nothing better than waking up early before the rest of your world. And here’s why…
Why you should start waking up early:
“Wake up an hour early to live an hour more”
Sleeping in leads to wasted hours.
If you’ve been spending your evenings unproductively watching the television, scrolling through social media, bored, just waiting for something to happen.
Hate to break it to you,
but, you’re spending valuable hours of your life, achieving nothing.
The average life consists of 657,450 hours, 28,000 days or 75 years. When you subtract the number of hours you spend sleeping, working, scrolling or watching TV, you really don’t have much time for anything else.
Now, I’m not suggesting we stop sleeping.
Far from it. Sleep is ridiculously important for your health, mind, spirit and body. But how much we need varies from person to person.
I’ve discovered that I roughly need around 6-8 hours of sleep per night. Although, sometimes I can survive on less than 3 and other times I’ve slept more than 12.
What I am suggesting:
Is we prioritise our time around sleep better. Instead of spending every evening scrolling the web waiting to see what your Insta-friends are doing that evening,
go to bed.
Early.
Start waking up early.
And get shit done.
It’s easier saying it than doing it
Believe me, I know.
My husband calls me sleepy Brie, thanks to my love of naps!. My laziness is the reason I wrote the lazy girls guide to productivity (which you should definitely check out).
But, just think about it, your morning sets the tone for the rest of your day.
Have a bad morning?
You’ll probably have a bad day.
When you start waking up early, with almost zero distractions, it’s kinda hard to be pissed off. You’ve got nobody there to annoy you and ruin your day.
Effectively, you’re free from life’s chaos, and in control of your day.
You can control everything you do when you wake up earlier than everyone else.
By controlling your mornings, you have the ability to spend time doing exactly what you want.
- No more rushing around getting ready for work
- Less chaotic mornings getting the kids ready for school
- No shoving breakfast in your mouth as you’re packing up the car
- No more odd socks and unbrushed locks.
Instead of rushing around, you have the ability to set your intentions for the day in peace.
What’s so great about the morning anyway?
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Silence:
If you live in a populated town or city, the chances are you associate waking up with cars accelerating, buses tooting and school kids shouting.
It’s not an ideal way to wake. Even, your own family can be a source of stress and noise. But, by getting up before these distractions begin, you can enjoy the calm and peacefulness of nothing (except possibly a few tweeting birds…)
If you struggle to find a quiet time in your day, a time you can relax, meditate or just enjoy alone, then early mornings are for you. Waking up early is the perfect answer to your noisy life issues.
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Mental wellbeing:
It’s a fact that morning people are happier than night owls.
In fact, being a morning person means you are less likely to suffer from depression during your life.
By waking up earlier, before the morning rush, you are eliminating significant pressure from your day.
Rushing around, trying to get organised in a small space of time is stressful.
Really stressful.
Especially if you’re trying to get other people in order, or preparing yourself for a big meeting. By waking up an hour or so earlier you are eradicating that stress factor and giving yourself extra time to take the needed action. You already know that the first hour of the day sets the tone for the rest.
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Time:
You’re not necessarily gaining time by waking up earlier as you’re probably sleeping earlier.
But, (and it’s a big but)
you’re changing the way in which you manage your time.
By switching your free time from the evenings to the mornings there’s a higher probability that you’ll be spending it more productively.
“An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening” so they say…
How will your early morning make you more productive?
- Lack of distractions
- Brain is recharged and energised
- Positive mental attitude
- More time to plan out your day
- extra time for goal setting
- More prepared for the day
10 tips to help you get to sleep earlier
If struggling to sleep is one of your biggest issues, like it is for me. Then here’s some handy tips to help you nod off earlier.
- Drink chamomile tea before bed
- Avoid watching TV or scrolling your phone half hour before bed
- If you must scroll use a red light filter app like twilight
- Avoid conversations that mentally engage your thoughts too much
- Read a book
- No caffeine after 4.30
- Exercise regularly but not just before bed. Morning workouts are desirable for a good night sleep
- Avoid over-eating in the evening, bloated sleep is never fun
- Be more mindful, try some calming meditation and observe your breathing
- Only use your bed for two things, sleep & well, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you. Associating your bed with other brain fueled activities will leave you struggling to sleep.
These aren’t foolproof. If you find yourself tossing and turning in bed, trying to sleep with a wide awake mind, you should try a “brain dump”. Grab a pen and paper and write everything your mind is racing through.
Brain dumping helps empty your overthinking mind, and let it fall asleep.
How to actually start waking up earlier
Struggling to wake up in the morning is rarely due to a lack of energy and more to do with your mentality.
Having a reason to wake and giving your mind something to think about is the best way to rouse yourself. Waking up without a reason and without a plan will likely send you drifting straight back off.
So your first step to waking up earlier is to have a plan, a routine. After reading the Miracle morning by Hal Elrod I started integrating many of his suggestions into my morning routine.
If you’re having doubts about starting your day early, or struggling to motivate yourself, then definitely give the book a read, or even a listen on Audible.
Elrods morning uses a routine which he has abbreviated the “savers”
It stands for:
- Silence
- Affirmations
- Visualisations
- Exercise
- Reading
- Scribing
However, I don’t follow it exclusively. My morning routine is centred around my own personal goals, achievements and journey.
Which is exactly how you should create your morning routine. Develop your morning routine in a way that benefits you.
If you do want suggestions, then below is an example of my morning, to get you started.
First things first, I drink a glass of water. Drinking a glass of water first thing after waking up not only rehydrates you after hours without liquid, but it also kick-starts your metabolism and helps to wake you up – some even suggest it’s better than coffee, but I’ll leave that for you to decide.
After drinking water I like spending around 5-10 minutes meditating. I’m no pro but, I’m trying. I think it’s a great way to start the morning positively, with a clear mind.
After meditating, I start reading a couple of chapters from whichever personal development book I’m currently studying while drinking my coffee.
Then, before heading to the gym, I like journaling about the previous day and spending around 15-30 minutes on Duolingo studying French.
My morning routine is all about self care:
- spending time working on myself.
- Paying attention to myself
- Treating myself
Don’t overfill your routine.
- Keep it short
- keep it concise
- keep it relevant to your goals.
Finding your routine will be the ultimate wake up
However, if you don’t have one yet there are a few other things you can do to help.
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Set an alarm and stick to it
NEVER EVER SNOOZE IT.
If you believe you’re not a morning person and you hate waking up. Why the hell would you snooze your alarm so you have to wake up over and over again? You’re basically torturing yourself repeatedly with something you hate.
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Go to bed with good mental thoughts
instead of sleeping with the thought of how much you “hate” mornings, start exciting yourself about the prospect of waking early and about all the stuff you’ll be doing.
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Make the change gradual
I’m not saying you should start waking up at 4.30 like I do. Start with an extra 15 minutes. Eventually, you’ll find it turns into half-hour and then maybe an hour. When sleep starts to feel inconvenient, you know your life’s changing for the better.
During winter months, it seems like ages before you start to see sunlight. Sometimes, you can go days without seeing any. Driving to work at 8 and finishing at 5 during the darkest months can completely deplete you of the vital vitamin D you need. But not only that, it can be so much harder to rise. A daylight alarm clock can really help to wake you up naturally.
- Coffee.
If in doubt and these tips don’t work, then there’s always coffee.
Take home message
Every day is a new day to make a fresh start. Using these hints and tips, you can make a real change in your daily life and your attitude.
It’s not easy, there are still some days when I struggle getting up early, but if you want something bad enough, you’ll be able to do it.
and once you start, you’ll realise it’s so ridiculously worth it – you’ll never be able to lie in again!
Do you have any other hints and tips you want to share? Let me know in my Facebook group or on Twitter…
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