According to statistics, an average person in the United States gets up between 6:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. I was never an exception to that generally accepted routine of getting up at 7:45 a.m., going to work at 8 p.m. : 00 am, and take a big cup of coffee on the way.And suddenly I was on a long and boring trip, after which I would arrive at my office at 9:00 a.m. After work, I was so tired that my only wish was to go to bed and do nothing. So I did exactly that: no gym, no meditation, no planning, only a blurred mind and an endless sense of exhaustion.
One day I decided to change my life completely and do an experiment for a month: I started waking up at 5:30 a.m. every morning
I became more productive
Successful people get up early. I heard this everywhere I went. Steve Jobs used to wake up around 5:30 am and save enough extra time to have an advantage over Apple. There are also many other examples that are already well known. It never occurred to me that I could be one of them. I liked to consider myself a nocturnal bird, and I felt full and proud to achieve 1 or 2 projects a week.
When I started the experiment, I realized that the mornings were the most productive time of day for me. Now I get up with a clear mind, a well-rested body, and I can focus on important tasks and set goals for the next day. Then I check my emails and Facebook. I can do all this while my family members are still in their beds sound asleep.
Getting up at 5:30 a.m. every day gives you much more time to do things. I do so many tasks before I start my work in the morning that by nightfall, I have no work to do and I can spend more time with my family.
Going from being a night owl to an early riser produced in me a significant increase in productivity, both in my professional and personal life.
I can take my time
I used to start the day running because I was late for work, and rushing to get ready. But, even so, in general, it came out of time. He came into my office looking disheveled and grumpy, barely awake and already a total nuisance to everyone else. This is definitely not the best way to start the day.
Now I have more than two hours to prepare to go to work. And during that time I do not just organize myself, sometimes I can enjoy a hot cup of freshly ground coffee or read a couple of pages of my favorite book. Waking up early and not feeling pressured allows me to have a refreshing start in my day, and to feel much more calm and confident than I did before.
I have developed new habits
Developing new habits is crucial to evolve every day, and overtime in the morning is the perfect time to do that. Doing your own ritual in the morning, that is, planning a list of things you do every day in the same order, can help you adopt new habits naturally and not necessarily.
For example, my day begins by entering the bathroom, brushing my teeth, shaving and dressing.Then I drink a glass of warm water and go to my desk where I read a little, make plans for the day and so on. The same tasks must be done in the same way every day, including weekends.
The ritual of the morning is much more than a way to organize your daily routine; It helps us to easily adopt new habits in addition to the common tasks we do regularly.
I'm getting in shape
When you get up early, the extra time you get gives you the ability to exercise your body before you exhaust your brain at work: you can visit the gym in the morning or just take a walk in your neighborhood.
Of course, there are other times to exercise apart from the dawn. But I discovered that going to the gym immediately after work is likely to be canceled due to other things that usually go on that schedule: dinners and so on. The morning exercise, on the other hand, can never be canceled.Thanks to the extra time I gained, I started jogging for 30 minutes every morning and lost approximately 2 kilos after one month. And I'm not going to stop!
I enjoy the silence
This is perhaps what I like most about getting up early: no children screaming, no babies crying, no car horns, no television noise. The first hours of the morning are really calm. Nothing distracts me from important tasks, I can organize my thoughts, plan ahead and focus effectively on what I am doing at that moment.
Jeremy Korst, the former Microsoft general manager, wakes up between 3:30 a.m. - 4:00 a.m. for two reasons: clarity of thought and quiet time. During the next 2 hours in the morning, he usually does all his work, which requires greater concentration without distractions.
As Pascal said on occasion. "The unhappiness of man is based only on one thing: that he is unable to remain silent in his room." Now I firmly believe that peace and joy can be found in the morning hours.
I am saving time and energy when I move
. Nobody likes rush hour traffic, and starting your day earlier will also improve this part of your life.If you have to spend long times traveling in the morning to your work, you can take the bus or train that leaves first, which will surely be more unoccupied, it will be more pleasant to travel and it will make you arrive faster. If you drive, you can avoid traffic and significantly reduce travel time. Or better yet, you can start to transport yourself by bicycle, as I did during my experiment.
I am eating breakfast in a healthy way
We have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. According to the latest studies, we should consume between 15% and 25% of our daily energy intake in a morning meal.Without breakfast, we are usually so hungry at lunchtime that we eat a lot of unhealthy foods, but they are very pleasant.
Before the experiment, when I woke up I had to be somewhere else immediately, and that's why I almost always skipped breakfast. But now I do not have to be in a hurry and in fact I have enough time not only to prepare that first meal of the day, but also to sit down and enjoy it. I can assure you that it is much better than buying something on the way to work or directly on your desk.
I have improved the quality of my rest
People who sleep too often have a very light sleep, while those who get up early usually have established hours. Not having an established sleep routine can have negative consequences for your health, for example, high cholesterol, obesity, etc.
During this month, I realized that it is not necessary to stay in bed for 10-12 hours to get enough sleep like I did before. When I wake up at 5:30 am, I feel well rested and full of energy to start the new day. A regular schedule really improves the quality of sleep and makes us feel much better.
how to become an early riser
Here are some tips that will surely help you a lot in the transformation of a night owl to an early morning person:
Leave your curtain open before going to bed. In the morning, you will be forced to wake up by the first rays of the sun.
Establish a schedule in which you turn off all possible electronic devices. According to some studies, these devices make it difficult for you to fall asleep because its light slows down the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls sleep cycles. Therefore, it is not a bad idea to turn off your phone, tablet and TV one hour before bedtime if you want to improve the quality of your sleep.
Go to sleep early. If you decide to get up 2 hours early, you should go to bed at least 2 hours earlier than usual. Only then will you sleep enough. Do you have trouble falling asleep? You can read or listen to an audiobook for a while; both activities put me to sleep easily.
Put your alarm away from your bed. If it is right next to you, you will turn it off and go back to sleep again. But if it is out of your reach, it will not be easy to keep sleeping. When you reach the alarm, you will be awake.
Leave the room just after getting up. Just start doing your morning ritual as soon as possible: go to the bathroom and brush your teeth. By the time you've done this, you'll be awake enough to start the day.
Make plans. Having a plan to do in the morning is very important. This reason will motivate you to get up without problems.
Visualize Comedian Jerry Seinfeld uses a system to force himself to write his jokes. He has a great wall calendar and for every day he writes new material, he puts a big red "X" on it. Your goal is to create an uninterrupted chain of these brands for as long as possible. This is a great way to build a new lifestyle because it will give you a visual record of your progress and, therefore, of your success.
Give yourself rewards You must find something that is really pleasurable for you and do it as part of the morning routine. For me, it's taking a cup of herbal tea or reading a good book. The reward could be a delicious breakfast, watch the sunrise or meditate: whatever you enjoy.
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