Let’s face it, some of us don’t look forward to getting up in the morning especially if it’s during the winter when it's dark and cold which ends in you pressing the snooze button multiple times.
However, there are numerous benefits for getting up earlier in the day which will supercharge the rest of your day. It may be hard at first, but after your body gets used to it, you’ll be getting up early with ease.
Getting up early can have a significant influence on your day, and we’ll outline the main benefits that you’ll experience by sticking to an early rising routine.
Benefits Of Waking Up Earlier
Better Grades
Studies have taken place in the U.S which have revealed that students who experienced just 34 more minutes of sleep per night saw a rise in their test scores compared to students who didn’t get a longer sleeping duration.
So if you’re still a student or work in a results-based environment, then there’s the possibility that you’ll see an improvement in your work performance.
Time to Exercise
Most people leave exercise till the end of the day, but how many times have you got to the end of your work shift and you don’t feel like going to the gym? Or if a last minute family commitment comes up, then you can end missing the gym altogether.
When you exercise in the morning, you’re less likely to have an excuse to get you out of it, and you’ll also have more energy meaning you will have a more productive workout. When you work out in the morning endorphins are released which improves your overall mood for the day.
No Rushing Around
A typical morning occurrence is that you snooze multiple times and leave it until the very last minute to get out of bed which leads to you rushing around your home to get ready for the day.
This rush is the worse start to your day and doesn’t allow your body to wake up gradually.
When you wake up earlier, you have more time to start the day this improves your mood as you aren't worried about being late.
Better Commute
It’s surprising how in the space of just 5-10 minutes the roads on your commute can be crammed with vehicles creating mind-numbing traffic jams.
By rising earlier in the morning, you can skip through all this traffic and get to your destination in record time.
Sitting in endless traffic does nothing for your mental health and can lower your overall mood before your day has even properly begun.
More Time With Family
After a long day at work, the last thing you want to do is go to a gym and workout. If you exercise in the morning, then you can have a more relaxed evening where you can slowly wind down with your loved ones and spend uninterrupted quality time.
You’ll now never need to choose between exercising and family time as you can now do both by waking up earlier.
Healthier Diet
People who wake up earlier have more time to have a healthier breakfast compared to a later riser who has to rush around the house and may end up grabbing something more convenient and unhealthy or may not even have breakfast at all.
The main issue with skipping breakfast as it has a knock effect for the rest of your day and can often lead to poorer food decisions as the day progresses. Whereas if you’ve had a healthy breakfast, you’re more likely to continue making good food choices throughout the day.
Less Procrastination
Early morning risers are more proactive and ready to get to work, so It’s not too surprising to learn that they procrastinate less also.
Early morning risers are less likely to waste time procrastinating, and a study conducted by the researchers from DePaul University revealed that most procrastinators claim to be more productive at night.
However, the study showed that they are more likely to be late starters, which means that they will sleep late as they are working into the night.
Instead of resorting to working late into the night, try to take advantage of the morning peace and the fact that our brains are more alert at that time in the day.
Greater Productivity
It’s no secret that the most successful people in the world are early risers as this allows them to be more productive.
When the rest of the world is asleep, you have more time to complete essential tasks without being interrupted. The human brain is more alert during the morning so you have more focus and can maintain your concentration for longer periods.
This higher focus you can make better decisions especially compared to the afternoon and evening periods of the day.
No Distractions
When you start to wake up earlier, you’ll realise how quiet the world is at that time. There are almost zero distractions so you can enjoy the quietness meaning you need less time to complete your morning tasks.
This quiet time allows your body to ease into the day leading to an improved mood and wellbeing.
More Organised
We’ve all sat at home at night and made plans of all the positive things we’re going to do the next day, but once we wake up later in the morning, this can go out the window when you’re sat in mile-long traffic jams and by lunchtime you’ve written the day off.
When you wake up earlier, you can organise your day more effectively rather than having a frantic approach because you’re rushing around.
Improved Sleep Quality
Early risers generally have a better sleeping routine and pattern compared to traditional night owls. Having a better sleeping routine will give your body better rest, so you'll feel like you have more energy the following day.
This is all because when you sleep your body eventually falls into a deeper sleep cycle which is when your body tissues and muscles repair themselves, so it’s vital that you enter this state of sleep every single night.
How to Adapt to Getting Up Earlier
So if you’ve decided to start waking up early suddenly, this can be difficult to start doing this straight away because your body probably isn’t used to waking up several hours earlier. But luckily there are many things you can do to ease into this.
Use an Alarm
Unless you’re in the minority that can consistently wake up naturally then, you’ll need to use an alarm clock. To make sure you get up you should place the alarm clock on the other side of the room or at least out of arms reach length, so you have to get out of bed to switch it off.
Get Out Of Bed Straight Away
Even if your alarm is on the other side of the room, we all know how easy it is to get straight back into bed and go back to sleep. The first thing you need to do is get out of bed and stay out of bed.
Have a task that you need to complete straight away whether this is going to the bathroom or going to switch the kettle on in the kitchen. This will make you feel more awake for the day and curb your desire to go back to sleep.
Go To Sleep Earlier
Sounds like common sense but if you want to wake up earlier, then you need to go to bed earlier. One of the main reasons you find it hard to get out of bed is because you feel tired, but if you get enough rest, then you’re more likely to get up.
If you’re waking up two hours earlier than usual, then it’s advised that you go to sleep two hours earlier, so you get adequate rest.
Start Gradually
If for example you usually wake up at, but you now want to wake up at 5 am, it will be incredibly difficult to start getting up at 5 am straight away suddenly. The best way to transition is to slowly begin waking up 15-30 minutes earlier each day until you reach your goal time.
If you start at your goal time straight away, you may find that you begin to crash towards the end of the afternoon because your body isn’t used to it.
Have A Plan For The Extra Time
The best way to ensure that you get out of bed when your alarm goes is to have a plan of how you want to utilise the extra time you have whether this is exercise, work or even just reading a book.
If you’re getting up to do nothing, then this will give you the excuse to turn off your alarm and go back to sleep.
If you don’t have a specific reason to get up early then identify a skill that you want to learn and use this as the time to develop it.
Stick To It On Weekends
Your body has a circadian rhythm which is essentially an internal natural body clock which makes you feel tired and night and what triggers you to wake up in the morning. To maintain an efficient rhythm, it's advised that you stick to the same sleeping routine throughout the week.
If you start waking up 3 hours later than usual on the weekend then when it comes to Sunday night you’ll have trouble getting to sleep at your designated time, and on Monday you’re going to feel exhausted.