Becoming An Early Riser
Around 6:15 every morning the alarm goes off. On a good day, I hear the CD spin up in the CD/Radio alarm clock that I have used for the past 4 years. I am often wide awake, but reluctant to start my day. I push the snooze button and then snuggle down under the covers for a few more minutes of sleep. “Just this one time.” I say to myself. Inevitably, “Just this once” is a lie I tell myself pretty much every morning. I keep pushing snooze until an hour has passed and the alarm turns off automatically. Then I lay in bed for another 15 minutes. At 7:30 I tell Brenton that he has to get up now or he will be late for work. So begins another day
In multiple books and studies such as The Millionaire Next Door it is shown that most highly successful people are early risers. In my own life experience, I get more done when I get up and get going early. On top of being more successful, there is now evidence that the people who live the longest sleep on average 6-7 hours per night instead of the 8 hours that has been drilled in as necessary. Since I want to be successful and have a long life, I am forced to reckon with my waking habits.
I am inspired by Steve Pavalina’s Post How to Become an Early Riser. When he started waking up early, he found that he gained 10-15 hours per week! That’s like having an extra day each week. Steve’s plan is pretty simple. Only go to bed when you are tired, and wake up at the same time every day (that means 7 days a week). I’m not sure how SP did it, but I usually take 15 in the afternoon to keep me going until bed time.
There are a few things I know though. The snooze alarm makes me tired. I can get more done early in the morning. Successful people are early risers. I think I could take that one step further and say that successful people are very self disciplined and that is what allows them to be not only early risers, but also successful people.
It takes about one month to develop a habit, so I have decided to spend June becoming an early riser. My goal is to develop the habit of waking at 5:30 every morning so I can get some early morning work in and then free up my afternoons for playing. I used to be able to run rings around people when I was working. I am determined to get that determination back.
Tags: Personal Development
September 9th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
I really wanted to comment on your blog about being a non-conformist, but I couldn’t figure out how …
September 9th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Go Sunny Go! I am actually thinking about trying the same thing…just not sure how to develop any mental thought of this when the alarm actually does go off.