Getting Up Early

We are bombarded by stories about how successful people get up early and that is why we should do it too if we want to be successful. So, will getting up early make you a millionaire? Here’s a shocker: No!!!

It can be a first step to reaching your dream life or just another experiment you tried and quit after a few weeks because you got bored. As usual, it depends on your mindset.

The Facts

Here are some facts about getting up early:

1. Early risers can better plan their day and organize themselves.

2. You will sleep better.

3. It reduces stress and makes you more stable.

4. If you get up early, you can do your training in the morning and start your day on a high note. After work you can be really tired, something can come up, your commitments can swamp you and you won’t make it. So morning workout sounds like a good option.

5. Getting up early makes you more proactive and productive/less procrastinate.

Defend Your Research: The Early Bird Really Does Get the Worm; Indecision and avoidant procrastination: the role of morningness-eveningness and time perspective in chronic delay lifestyles

You need a goal

Guess what?

It is not about getting up early. You can get up early and watch movies, play video games or stare at the wall. This act means nothing by itself.

It is about setting the goal. Then getting up early is just the first step on your journey.

When you set the goal, when you really decide about something, only then you can reach your destination.

I started getting up early about two years ago. It wasn’t nice; it wasn’t pretty, but it was necessary. I get up around 6 o’clock, on average.

So, what did I learn so far?

Getting up early is just a means to an end.

When you have less time than you did in the past, you value your time more. To reach your goal, you have to “carve the time”, as they say. That means finding the time usually in the morning or late in the evening. Very often, in the evening you will be too tired and not able to do some intellectual, high-quality work. So, the early morning seems like a much better solution.

Routines

There is one problem here, though. A lot of self-help advisers or life strategists will tell you that when you get up, you should first do your morning routines. Those are many: writing morning pages, meditation, doing your affirmations and/or visualizations, exercising, drinking green tea, making breakfast, being mindful, etc. This list could go on forever. If you did all of them, it would occupy most of your day!

So, you need to find which one of these routines works for you and do it every day. I like most of them but had to choose only a few morning pages, affirmations, review of the previous day, and plan for that day. Add there some breakfast and coffee and I am ready to be productive. But whatever works for you is fine. The point is: this is a time for yourself, so use it wisely, and your day will be better in so many ways.

Takeaway

• Getting up early does not work for everyone. For many professions or lifestyles, this is not an option. But most times, it can help you a lot to improve your daily rhythm, organization, and productivity.
• This will work only if you have a clear goal that you want to accomplish. If you do it as an experiment, it may interest you for a while, but it will not stick.
• Choose a morning routine that is right for you, so your day starts with peace, clarity, and focus. Then you will be ready to seize the day and move mountains.
• Here is the sequence of the process: get up early > Me time: peace, relaxation, focus, slowly waking up and setting the tone for a successful day > get productive. This differs completely from: waking up, having breakfast on the go or none, and being stressed already before even working.

If you own your morning, your day will be a lot different. If not, you are already behind and trying to catch up with all the things that are coming. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to start my day the right way. Try it, you might like it!