10 Benefits of Waking Up 10 Minutes Earlier
The “early bird may catch the worm”…but if you’re not a bird, and don’t care about worms, well what’s the appeal?
Rising early is a great way to put your brain and body to good work and address your personal goals because you may…
1) Beat The Crowd
It can be really really challenging to get everything done in your day that you need in order for your life to feel like it's running smoothly.
Places like the grocery store, the bank, picking up dry-cleaning, etc can be a real nightmare to get to when everyone else is there at the SAME time!
Stop waiting in line, struggling to find parking and choose to save yourself frustration.
This early morning errand process may ALSO reduce the amount of stuff you need to maintain in your head because you won’t have to remember to take care of it later. It’s done!
2) You Get Some Alone Time
For some people, finding healthy, uninterrupted alone time can be challenging. Between work + family commitments, people can go all day long, or days with little to no attention to themselves.
Don’t think being up early is only designed to help people be more productive, but perhaps also more calm and centered.
3) Have Time For Self-Care
Whatever that special thing you enjoy for yourself, whether it be a facial cleansing routine, time to foam roll, stretch, meal-prep, or even a short workout, waking up earlier gives you more time to fit this in!
4) Will Make Better Decisions
Regardless if we like to admit it, behaviors that we are not full proud of arise.
It could show up in the form of drinking too much, overeating, or vegging out in front of a screen, but these behaviors are often the result of being exhausted from making decisions or better known as “decision fatigue”.
For example - instead of grocery shopping when you are sleepy and exhausted, and end up buying things you don’t need because you think that they may make you feel better, try going earlier in the day right after a healthy breakfast!
You’re brain doesn’t do well when it is slow and groggy from oversleeping either!
5) You Keep Things Simple
You can begin to start to incorporate a routine and structure by acknowledging what helps run things smoothly from the very start of your day. For example, - if you wanted to work out more, you may set your clothes out the night prior, and now ensure you efficiently are ready to leave earlier for that workout, without risking extra decisions that have to be made, which may slow you down!
6) You Have Time To Eat Smart
Regardless if you believe it to be the “most important meal of the day” or not, breakfast is essential! When you give yourself an extra 10 minutes, you have time to make whole foods into energy!
These extra 10 minutes can give you just the amount of time you need make a piece of toast, grab a yogurt, or even blend a smoothie.
7) Beat The Traffic
If your daily commute gets you wrapped around the axle and all stressed out before work, you just can’t do your best. Try getting on the road 15 minutes early.
In addition to avoiding road rage and stop and go traffic, getting up early may make you a good candidate for public transport or carpool. Let somebody else drive while you read or listen to a great book! This can save you money, reduce your stress level and help the planet.
8) You Learn To Cut Back On Caffeine
Because you know you are now trying to get up earlier, you will be tempted to consume caffeine less later in the day.
That is definitely a good thing for us as it is reported that every cup of coffee after 3 PM can risk you up to an hours worth of sleep per night!
9) Get Uninterrupted Time
Now, if you do this correctly - you may just blow your own mind with what you can get done with 10 minutes.
Phone down, no screen-time, perhaps even on Do No Disturb, the tasks around the house that seem the most daunting and frustrating can often get banged out in no-time flat!
Pull out a timer perhaps, and unload the dishwasher, fold the laundry, clean a room in the house, etc. and see just how long it takes.
Moving forward, once you have realized just how quickly these annoying tasks can be finished, you may have less resistance to getting it over and done with in the future - and be willing to bang it out faster so you can move on to more things you ENJOY!
10) You Can Make Others Feel Better
How many people do you know who hate mornings? Complain and whine about how hard it is to start their days, and it just carries over?
Go against the grain and learn how to share support and not seek sympathy for a very common issue (being “tired”).
You can begin building a better life for yourself with those extra minutes when used consistently and in a way that only benefits you (i.e. not to wake up early and then screen scroll).
If someone asks how you are achieving so much, share with them your new secret formula for productivity and inspire someone to get more out of their OWN life!