Ever since I began waking up early, my life has changed!
Hello guys and gals, welcome to another blog post!
Today, I’ll be sharing with you some of the ways waking up earlier has changed my life and can change yours as well.
This is something that I have always tried (struggled) to incorporate into my life because I love sleeping! I think sleeping is one of the best gifts in this life, and it’s so hard to get up from your warm bed to go out there and hustle. We can’t sleep forever though, we got things to do, right?
It can be really hard to incorporate this particular habit, and I hope that the benefits on the other side after mastering this habit can be enticing enough for you to give it a try.
The eventual life-changing benefits will far outweigh the discomfort building this discipline will bring.
1. You will get SO MUCH done
Why? Because you have more time! We always say that we have so much to do and so little time. Well, waking up a bit earlier can help you to buy more time to do those things you need to do. For example, when I wake up early like at 5 am, I’ll get so much done that it surprises me! By the time it reaches 3 pm, I am done with everything and I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want! haha.
2. It will help you become more disciplined in other areas of your life
It takes discipline to eliminate time wasters and choose to do the things you’re supposed to do. It takes discipline to turn off Netflix, or put your phone away so that you can sleep early. It takes discipline to get up from bed instead of hitting the snooze button and turning on the other side of the bed.
As you can see, when you are building the discipline of being an early riser, it will ripple effect into other areas of your life in a positive and wholesome way. This will eventually lead to you being more confident. You may ask, how? Well, have you ever set a goal and made a promise to yourself to get something done and eventually end up doing it? How did it make you feel? Confident yea? Well, the same process applies here too.
3. You’ll have more time for play
As mentioned in point no.1, you not only have more time to do those important things that are a priority, but also those things that you find fun to do. After getting the most important to-dos out of your way, you have the freedom to do something fun, something that fills your soul, something that makes you, you. It may be writing, reading, cooking, baking, hanging out with your friends, etc.
4. It will pay off in the long run
See it like planting a good seed. When you plant a good seed and take care of it, it will flourish and bear fruit. The sooner you build this habit in your life, the better it will be for you in the long run.
I like to see it as a long-term investment. At the moment, I am 23, I am studying ACCA and working from home. I don’t have that many responsibilities right now, but in the future, and the older I get, the more responsibilities will come. Let’s say God willing I get married and have kids. I will have less time to myself to do those things I like to do, like chillaxing and watching Netflix. But, if I build that discipline of waking up early as soon as now, I can have about an hour to myself in the morning before my other responsibilities begin calling my name. That sounds like a good deal to me!
Alright, after all that, you may still be scratching your head on what practical steps you can begin to build this discipline. Well, it starts from the night before.
To wake up early, you need to have adequate and good quality sleep. Here are some tips that can help you with that!
· Get enough hours of sleep – if you are sleep-deprived, you will find it difficult to get up early, right? So, ensure that you sleep at a reasonable time. 7-9 hours of sleep per night is sufficient. I try to get to bed between 9-10 pm so that I have 7-8 hours of sleep before I wake up at 5 am the next day.
· Put that phone away- it’s hard, but have a personal system downtime when all devices go off. Turn off the wi-fi and notifications, and put your phone in another room so that you won’t be tempted to scroll. Also, our bodies produce a sleep hormone called melatonin. This hormone ‘tells’ the body that it’s time to sleep. The blue light from our devices’ screens inhibits the production of this hormone. That’s why you may have trouble falling asleep if you’ve been on the screen for long before going to bed.
· Do something relaxing before bed- take a warm bath/shower, have some tea, listen to relaxing music, or stretch. These activities calm you down and set you in the mood for adequate sleep so that you wake up the next day, bright, early, energized, and fresh.
· Try to create an ambiance in your room, convenient for sleep – you don’t have to spend a fortune on scented candles, oil diffusers, or whatever else people use these days to create a restful vibe in your room. You can do all that, but start with some basics. For example, keep your room or sleeping area tidy. Make your bed after you wake up. Change your sheets and pillowcases at least once a week!!! Knowing you are coming back to a clean and organized bed after a long day will motivate you more to sleep earlier.
· Keep it dark and silent – For elite quality sleep, keep your room as dark as possible during bedtime. Close the curtains and turn off the lights. You could also invest in a sleeping mask, the one that goes over your eyes. I have one and whoa! My sleep quality shot up after I started wearing it. Also, keeping the room silent can help tremendously.
That’s all I’ve got for today’s post! Thank you for reading through and I hope you’ve learned something. Let’s build this discipline and become early risers!
Remember to like, share and comment under this post if you’d like to. I changed the comment section settings to allow anyone to comment, without them having to sign up and all, so feel free. I’ll see you on the next one!
Xoxo,
BK.
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