Editorial

Wake up earlier to accomplish more

Rising early not only gives you adequate time to prepare for your day, but also enables you accomplish more as you have additional time. It also gives you time to

  • PublishedApril 16, 2014

Rising early not only gives you adequate time to prepare for your day, but also enables you accomplish more as you have additional time.

It also gives you time to meditate, read, exercise, and helps you to save time by beating traffic if you commute to work. The benefits of getting an extra hour or two in your day are numerous.

Waking up early is however not a favourite for many, as it often requires effort and denies you the luxury of sleeping in. There’s also the notion that most of us hold to convince ourselves why we can get up early: “I’m just not a morning person.” While this may be true for some who are productive in the later hours of the day, it could be that many have used the wrong methods to get up early, failed and concluded that they are not morning people.

Here are a few tried and true tips to help you wake up earlier.

Start gradually. Don’t suddenly wake up at 4 a.m. if you usually wake up at 6 a.m. Start gradually, waking up 15 to 20 minutes earlier for four days to about a week as you work towards the time you would like to wake up, until you achieve your goal. Sudden changes are difficult and less likely to last.

Go to be earlier. Waking up early without getting enough sleep will lead to tiredness and lethargy during the day. Ensure that you get at least seven to eight hours of quality sleep everyday. Set an alarm that reminds you what time to go to bed, if you find yourself overwhelmed by the day’s activities. Avoid eating, exercising or watching TV or movies just before going to bed.

Don’t snooze! It’s very tempting to hit the snooze button and get five or 10 more minutes of sleep after your alarm goes off. However, this has potential to slow down your productivity and energy. You won’t get any quality sleep for those five or 10 minutes and once you hit the snooze button, you’ll be tempted to do it twice, three times and so on. I’m sure you can attest to being late severally because of hitting your snooze button. It helps to have your alarm clock at the other end of your room where you’ll have to get out of bed to turn it off. This reduces your chances of going back to sleep.

Make waking up exciting. Think of something exciting that you’ll do in the morning before you sleep and let it motivate you to wake up early. Literally jump out of bed when you alarm clock goes off. Be thankful for the gift of life for yet another day and use this as the motivator to get up and make use of your life. Use your newly found time for something constructive. Meditate, exercise or journal, as you prepare for the day ahead.

Published on April 2013

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