Ben Franklin conveyed the concept of hitting the hay early and hitting the morning even earlier. Craig Ballantyne, editor of Early to Rise, derived a Perfect Day Formula that provides a framework for winning the morning early and productively. Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning, promotes the use of morning rituals to optimize the morning.
Why is it so important to wake up early? Why does waking up early allow you to “win” the day and boost your productivity? Why am I still asking questions? Let’s get to the answers:
1) You control the day.
Waking up early, and getting up the first time the alarm rings (and AVOIDING snooze), signals immediately that you control the day. You’re taking the initiative to “beat” the morning and claim ownership over your response to the morning – an immediate jump out of bed and start to your day.
2) You “create” more time.
Waking up early gives you uninterrupted time to engage in activities that benefit you immensely but may be ignored during the distractions of the day. Whether it’s reading/writing a book, meditating, or exercising, you can ignite your day with activities that spark your creativity and productivity.
3) You optimize your productivity.
Waking up early can not only spark your productivity, but maximize it daily. Craig Ballantyne discusses the concept of a “productivity window.” That is, everyone has a period of time each day where productivity is at its peak. When you wake up early, you allot yourself time right after waking up (and before the tedious tasks of the day call your attention) to totally focus on tasks and goals that will add the most value to your day, to your life, and to your purpose. In the chance that your productivity window is some time later in the day (based off your self-awareness and experience), take advantage of the new morning time to knock out distractors that would take away from your productivity peak later in the day.
There you have it – three simple, hopefully persuasive, reasons to wake up early. When you wake up early, you can control the day more effectively, create more time, and optimize your productivity window. Commit to waking up early for a month and reflect on how waking up early influences your discipline, mood, and productivity.
We’ve covered WHY waking up early is impactful for you. Naturally, we may ask ourselves HOW to wake up early. Don’t your fear, we’ll be covering this in a proceeding post.
If you currently do wake up early, leave a comment and convey your reasons for doing so!
If you are working on waking up early, keep me updated with your progress and let me know how waking up early benefits you!
