10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It | Zen Habits

25 Dec 09

leslie joy

happiness motivation health productivity zenhabits sleep

10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It
However, there are a ton of other great benefits.

Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I think that’s great. There’s no reason to change, especially if you’re happy with it. But for me, switching from being a night owl to an early riser (and yes, it is possible) has been a godsend. It has helped me in so many ways that I’d never go back. Here are just a few:
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- Greet the day.
- Amazing start.
- Now, I have a renewing morning ritual, I’ve gotten so much done before 8 a.m., my kids are early and so am I, and by the time everyone else gets in to work, I’ve already gotten a head start. There is no better way to start off your day than to wake early, in my experience.
- Quietude
- Sunrise. People who wake late miss one of the greatest feats of nature, repeated in full stereovision each and every day — the rise of the sun.
- Breakfast. Rise early and you actually have time for breakfast. I’m told it’s one of the most important meals of the day. Without breakfast, your body is running on fumes until you are so hungry at lunchtime that you eat whatever unhealthy thing you can find. The fattier and sugarier, the betterier. But eat breakfast, and you are sated until later.
- Exercise. There are other times to exercise besides the early morning, of course, but I’ve found that while exercising right after work is also very enjoyable, it’s also liable to be canceled because of other things that come up
- Productivity.
- when evening rolls around, I have no work that I need to do, and I can spend it with family.
- Goal time. Got goals? Well, you should. And there’s no better time to review them and plan for them and do your goal tasks than first thing. You should have one goal that you want to accomplish this week. And every morning, you should decide what one thing you can do today to move yourself further towards that goal. And then, if possible, do that first thing in the morning.
- Appointments. It’s much easier to make those early appointments on time if you get up early. Showing up late for those appointments is a bad signal to the person you’re meeting.
- How to Become an Early Riser
  
  Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days.
- Allow yourself to sleep earlier.
- Put your alarm clock far from you bed. If it’s right next to your bed, you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it’s far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just have to stay up.
  Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the room.
- Have a good reason. Set something to do early in the morning that’s important. This reason will motivate you to get up.
- Make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early
- Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to read your blogs, unless that’s a major goal of yours. Don’t wake up early and waste that extra time. Get a jump start on your day!

24 Nov 09

mukti mukti

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” –
Make waking up early a reward

16 Sep 09

Gerrit Appel

productivity

30 Jun 09

Shane Brewer

lifehacks sleep productivity

29 Jan 09

Jacob Fan

Rise early and you actually have time for breakfast.
Morning exercise is virtually never canceled
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- Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.
- I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll sleep, and read while in bed.

27 Jan 09

Juliano Rocha

17 Jan 09

C. S. Soares

zenhabits

10 Benefits of Rising Early
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”
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- waking at 4:30 a.m. each day
- health benefits of rising early
- Unfortunately, there are none, that I know of.
- However, there are a ton of other great benefits.
- let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I think that’s great
- switching from being a night owl to an early riser (and yes, it is possible) has been a godsend
- Greet the day.
- get up, and greet a wonderful new day. I suggest creating a morning ritual that includes saying thanks for your blessings
- Dalai Lama, who said, ” Everyday, think as you wake up, ‘today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.’ “
- Amazing start
- rushing to get myself and the kids ready
- used to start my day by jumping out of bed, late as usual
- rushing to drop them to school and come in to work late
- Now, I have a renewing morning ritual, I’ve gotten so much done before 8 a.m., my kids are early and so am I, and by the time everyone else gets in to work, I’ve already gotten a head start.
- Quietude
- early morning hours are so peaceful
- Sunrise
- one of the most important meals of the day
- Breakfast
- Rise early and you actually have time for breakfast
- Plus, eating breakfast while reading my book and drinking my coffee in the quiet of the morning is eminently more enjoyable than scarfing something down on the way to work, or at your desk
- Exercise
- Morning exercise is virtually never canceled
- do some writing in the morning, when there are no distractions, before I check my email or blog stats
- Productivity. Mornings, for me at least, are the most productive time of day.
- Then, when evening rolls around, I have no work that I need to do, and I can spend it with family
- Goal time.
- And there’s no better time to review them and plan for them and do your goal tasks than first thing
- You should have one goal that you want to accomplish this week.
- every morning, you should decide what one thing you can do today to move yourself further towards that goal
- do that first thing in the morning.
- Commute early, and the traffic is much lighter, and you get to work faster, and thus save yourself more time
- Commute
- commute by bike
- Appointments
- easier to make those early appointments on time
- Showing up early will impress them
- late for those appointments is a bad signal to the person you’re meeting
- How to Become an Early Riser
- Start slowly
- Don’t make drastic changes
- waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual
- gradually until you get to your goal time.
- Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes
- Allow yourself to sleep earlier
- I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll sleep, and read while in bed
- Put your alarm clock far from you bed
- Never hit snooze
- Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm
- My habit is to stumble into the bathroom and go pee
- Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it.
- Have a good reason. Set something to do early in the morning that’s important
- I like to write in the morning, so that’s my reason.
- Make waking up early a reward.
- if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early
- A good reward is to make a hot cup of coffee or tea and read a book
- Find something that’s pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of your morning routine.
- Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to read your blogs, unless that’s a major goal of yours.
- Take advantage of all that extra time.
- Get a jump start on your day!
- get a head start on preparing my kids’ lunches, on planning for the rest of the day
- exercising or meditating, and on reading
- when I set my MITs
- By the time 6:30 rolls around, I’ve done more than many people do the entire day.

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Recently, reader Rob asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. Unfortunately, there are none, that I know of.

However, there are a ton of other great benefits.

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dope priest

I used to start my day by jumping out of bed, late as usual, and rushing to get myself and the kids ready, and rushing to drop them to school and come in to work late. I would walk into work, looking rumpled and barely awake, grumpy and behind everyone

lifehacks sleep howto health

I used to start my day by jumping out of bed, late as usual, and rushing to get myself and the kids ready, and rushing to drop them to school and come in to work late. I would walk into work, looking rumpled and barely awake, grumpy and behind everyone else. Not a great start to your day.
Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.
3 more annotations...
- Put your alarm clock far from you bed.
- Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the room. My habit is to stumble into the bathroom and go pee. By the time I’ve done that, and flushed the toilet and washed my hands and looked at my ugly mug in the mirror, I’m awake enough to face the day.
- Don’t make getting back in bed an option.

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10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It

26 May 07

Khaled Al-Sebaei

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Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
2 more annotations...
- Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
- Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.