4 Incredible Changes I’ve Experienced Since I Started Waking Up Early
It turns out that the morning people are onto something great.
I’ve always gone to bed late. Working in nightclubs until 2 or 5 a.m. made it impossible to become a morning person. Things have changed recently though.
My primary work hours are during the day and I finally can wake up early.
This meant that I could get a lot of tasks done before going to work, and that resulted in me feeling accomplished before I even “got my day started.
I started waking up at 8 am, and then 7, and now I wake up at 6 am nearly every day of the week.
Thanks to my new schedule, I’ve noticed some incredible changes.
I’m less stressed than ever.
Although I’m usually done working by 530 p.m., sometimes I end up having work later if we have an important project coming up, or a big event.
I’m someone who likes to read, work out, and do additional learning every day. When I worked late though, I would get stressed out about not being able to complete my daily tasks.
I realized the best solution was to shift my schedule to start waking up early.
By waking up at 6 a.m. every day, I now have 2-3 hours to do additional tasks before going to work.
That means I can do my Chinese lessons, read a bit, go for a walk and quite often even have time to write.
So, by the time I go to work, I don’t have to stress all day about whether or not I will have time to finish all of my daily tasks.
My routine has improved
Waking up early has created a way of solidifying my routine. It gives me the time to meditate, get my mind straight, and feel energetic at all the right times.
Thanks to the reduction in stress, I am now more productive and can think better at work.
And, because I’m doing tasks before going to work, it allows me to time block my routine far more accurately. Now, everything I do after work tends to just be a bonus.
If I get home at 7 pm, then I have 3 hours to work on a course and write.
If I get home at 530, I now have time to play chess too!
Humans thrive in routines, and waking up early helps add structure to our routines.
My sleep is far better.
Switching to an earlier sleep schedule has improved the quality of my sleep. I barely ever wake up in the middle of my sleep and get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep every single night.
Because I wake up early and work hard all day, I pass out almost immediately when I get in bed.
And then since I still get 7-8 hours of sleep, I can wake up early with no problem and get my day started with a bang.
This has resulted in more energy, better focus, and an increased mood.
My mind is sharper at work
I used to get up and go straight to work. This meant the first hour or two of working was spent trying to fully wake up my mind.
Now, since I have already been awake doing some tasks for a few hours when I get there, my mind is already sharp and ready to go.
The result: I’m far more productive and attentive at work.
So, what happened since you started waking up early?
To answer the question that is the whole point of this article, this is what changed when I started waking up early:
I now read 50+ pages a day, instead of 30-40
I have time to do whatever course I’m working on daily
I complete 2 extra Chinese lessons on average per day
I added playing an hour of chess to my daily schedule
Pretty much, it feels like there are more hours in my day - I just have more useful hours.
Conclusion
Waking up early is the best change I’ve made to my recent life aside from cutting alcohol.
I’m far more productive, energetic, happy, and focused.
If you haven’t tried it, I recommend slowly easing your schedule earlier over time. That also means you will have to go to sleep early of course because you don’t want to be running on 4 hours of sleep.
Make sure to give yourself a few weeks to adjust before you make a final decision on whether it works or not for you.
Thanks for reading!
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