Why You Should Be A Morning Person
“I want to be a morning person, but I just can’t seem to wake up.”
Does this sound like you? Have you been trying your hardest to become a morning person, but fail every time you hit snooze?
That used to be me. I was not a morning person for the majority of my life. The only reason I woke up early in elementary, middle, and high school was because school started at 7:45am. In college, I purposefully scheduled my classes later in the day so I could wake up whenever I wanted. I’m not going to lie, it felt pretty awesome to have that freedom.
But then I got older, received more responsibilities, adopted more goals, and had even bigger ambitions. I needed to find a way to juggle work, graduate school, my business, my social life, running, and everything else life threw at me. I quickly realized that sleeping in until noon every day wasn’t going to help me one bit.
Image via channelfit.fooyoh.com
Training myself to wake up early was rough. Incredibly rough. It was always a battle between me and my snooze button or a battle to stay awake after waking up at 5am to exercise. And then there were the excuses:
“I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“I deserve to sleep in.”
“I’ll just do everything I need to do tonight.”
After months of trying, I finally got the hang of it. My morning routine is now:
-Wake up between 5-5:30am,
-Squeeze in a 3 mile run and a short session of yoga on my Wii fit,
-Shower & get ready,
-Eat breakfast, drink coffee, turn on the TODAY show,
-Review my to do list for the day, check work/school emails, review goals, and
-get to work or school (depending on the day) by 8:30 or 9am.
In my opinion, I’ve never felt more alive, more productive, or happier than I do now that I wake up early. (If you’re wondering, I go to sleep at midnight every night. I’m one of those strange people that can function off of 5 hours of sleep. Please note that not everyone can do this! You should ALWAYS get the amount of sleep that YOU require to function every night, whether it’s 4 or 8 hours).
If you’re struggling to wake up early or swore that you will be a night owl forever, read on. The following reasons may help you to finally make the switch!
1. Heightened sense of productivity.
You start chipping away at your daily tasks and look up at the clock. “Oh, it’s only 8am? And I’ve already gotten this many things done?” I think it’s probably one of the best feelings ever.
Image via foxnews.com
2. Successful business people wake up early.
As an entrepreneur, I look up to other successful business people and model my habits after theirs. One trait the majority seem to share is waking up early in the morning. Obviously they have a very heavy workload and sometimes waking up early is the only option they have. Still, their morning routine is intriguing (and envious!). Here are some examples:
Image via gawker.com
Gerry Laybourne (former Oxygen Channel CEO)*: wakes up by 6 AM and is out of the house a half hour later.
Image via talkincloud.com
Padmasree Warrior (Cisco CTO)*: wakes up at 4:30am, spends an hour on email, reads the news, exercises, and then gets her son ready for school. She gets to the office by 8:30.
Image via listedium.com
Andrea Jung (former Avon CEO)*: woke up at 5am to go to the gym. She got to her office by 8am.
Image via legalpronews.findlaw.com
Michelle Gass (Starbucks’ President)**: wakes up at 4:30 to go running.
Image via abcnews.go.com
Anna Wintour (Vogue editor)**: wakes up and is on the tennis court by 6am.
Image via yumsugar.com
Rachael Ray (Chef, talk show host)***: wakes up at 5:45am or earlier to exercise.
Image via popsugar.com
Rachel McAdams (actress)***: wakes up at 4:30am for yoga.
Image via bet.com
Condoleeza Rice (former US Secretary of State)***: woke up at 4:30am and went straight to the gym.
3. The competition’s doing it.
Whether you’re an athlete, an entrepreneur who is working to make it to the top, working for that promotion at work, or if you’re competing for just about anything, you know that in order to win you have to do MORE than what your competition is doing. Click here to see what I mean.
4. Morning people tend to be happier.
A recent study suggests that morning people tend to be happier and healthier. Makes sense. To read more about it, click here.
5. Extra time to do something you actually want to do.
You know that book you’ve been wanting to read? Or the DIY project you’ve been dying to start but haven’t had the time? Extra time in the mornings allows you to focus on the things you actually want to do. Instead of waking up early to check emails, try starting your day with something you really enjoy.
6. Exercise.
By exercising in the morning, you feel energized and ready to tackle on the day. You won’t have to exercise when you get home from work, either. Because let’s be honest, all we want to do after work is lay down on the couch and do nothing.
7. No rush.
Being in a hurry is a bad way to start your day. An early start allows you to do the things you need and want to do at your own pace. Go ahead and make that omelet, read some articles you find interesting, turn on the weather channel to see if it’s cool enough to finally wear your brand new Chanel blazer…just relax for a bit. Ahhhhh.
8. It feels super awesome.
Seriously though, just imagine getting a chunk of your to do list done before the sun rises. It feels AH-MAZ-ING. You’re practically Wonder Woman!
9. Focus on your goals.
Something every Career Girl should have is a goals journal. This is where you write down all of your long term goals (what you want to accomplish in the next year and beyond), short term goals (what you want to accomplish today, this week, and this month), and how you’re going to accomplish these goals. Mornings are a great time to review your goals and update yourself on your progress. What’s a better way to start the day than to immerse yourself in your biggest dreams and fullest potential?
10. Quiet time.
No loud traffic. No boyfriend or husband bugging you. No kids. Just you, your thoughts, and the rising sun. Talk about peaceful, calm, and refreshing!
Are you a morning person? What time do you wake up? What is your morning routine?
*: information from businessinsider.com
**: information from Forbes.com
***: information from thegrindstone.com
