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Benefits of Waking Up Early
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Inspiring/Motivation I
toastmasters
Columnists:
Sangeetha
Sridhar,
Dr.Rajan Philips,
Hasan Kamoonpuri,
Dr.Ramesh Kamath
Early to bed and early to rise
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. - Benjamin Franklin
By
Leo Babauta,
http://zenhabits.net/:
Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I
think that’s great. There’s no reason to change, especially if you’re happy with
it. But for me, switching from being a night owl to an early riser (and yes, it
is possible) has been a godsend. It has helped me in so many ways that I’d never
go back. Here are just a few:
Greet the day. I love being able to get
up, and greet a wonderful new day. I suggest creating a morning ritual that
includes saying thanks for your blessings. I’m inspired by the Dalai Lama, who
said, ” Everyday, think as you wake up, ‘today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going
to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to
achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind
thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about
others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.’ “
Amazing start. I used to start my day by jumping out of bed, late as
usual, and rushing to get myself and the kids ready, and rushing to drop them to
school and come in to work late. I would walk into work, looking rumpled and
barely awake, grumpy and behind everyone else. Not a great start to your day.
Now, I have a renewing morning ritual, I’ve gotten so much done before 8 a.m.,
my kids are early and so am I, and by the time everyone else gets in to work,
I’ve already gotten a head start. There is no better way to start off your day
than to wake early, in my experience.
Quietude. No kids yelling, no babies crying, no soccer balls, no cars, no
television noise. The early morning hours are so peaceful, so quiet. It’s my
favorite time of day. I truly enjoy that time of peace, that time to myself,
when I can think, when I can read, when I can breathe.
Sunrise. People who wake late miss one of the greatest feats of nature,
repeated in full stereovision each and every day — the rise of the sun. I love
how the day slowly gets brighter, when the midnight blue turns to lighter blue,
when the brilliant colors start to seep into the sky, when nature is painted in
incredible colors. I like doing my early morning run during this time, and I
look up at the sky as I run and say to the world, “What a glorious day!” Really.
I really do that. Corny, I know.
Breakfast. Rise early and you actually have time for breakfast. I’m told
it’s one of the most important meals of the day. Without breakfast, your body is
running on fumes until you are so hungry at lunchtime that you eat whatever
unhealthy thing you can find. The fattier and sugarier, the betterier. But eat
breakfast, and you are sated until later. Plus, eating breakfast while reading
my book and drinking my coffee in the quiet of the morning is eminently more
enjoyable than scarfing something down on the way to work, or at your desk.
Exercise. There are other times to exercise besides the early morning, of
course, but I’ve found that while exercising right after work is also very
enjoyable, it’s also liable to be canceled because of other things that come up.
Morning exercise is virtually never canceled.
Productivity. Mornings, for me at least, are the most productive time of
day. I like to do some writing in the morning, when there are no distractions,
before I check my email or blog stats. I get so much more done by starting on my
work in the morning. Then, when evening rolls around, I have no work that I need
to do, and I can spend it with family.
Goal time. Got goals? Well, you should. And there’s no better time to
review them and plan for them and do your goal tasks than first thing. You
should have one goal that you want to accomplish this week. And every morning,
you should decide what one thing you can do today to move yourself further
towards that goal. And then, if possible, do that first thing in the morning.
Commute. No one likes rush-hour traffic, except for Big Oil. Commute
early, and the traffic is much lighter, and you get to work faster, and thus
save yourself more time. Or better yet, commute by bike. (Or even better yet,
work from home.)
Appointments. It’s much easier to make those early appointments on time
if you get up early. Showing up late for those appointments is a bad signal to
the person you’re meeting. Showing up early will impress them. Plus, you get
time to prepare.
How to Become an Early Riser
Go to bed earlier.
Your body needs adequate sleep in order to function on all four cylinders.
There’s no point in waking up an hour earlier if you’re dragging physically and
mentally the rest of the day. If you’re waking up an hour earlier, go to bed an
hour earlier. If your body is used to staying up late so you can watch Jimmy
Kimmel, go to bed even if you’re not tired. Read until you start to feel sleepy.
You need to train your mind and body to adjust to your new sleeping schedule.
Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes
earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15
minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.
Allow yourself to sleep earlier. You might be used to staying up late,
perhaps watching TV or surfing the Internet. But if you continue this habit,
while trying to get up earlier, sooner or later one is going to give. And if it
is the early rising that gives, then you will crash and sleep late and have to
start over. I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll
sleep, and read while in bed. If you’re really tired, you just might fall asleep
much sooner than you think.
Put your alarm clock far from you bed. If it’s right next to your bed,
you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it’s far from your bed,
you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just
have to stay up.
Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow
yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the
room.
Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up
early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
Have a good reason. Set something to do early in the morning that’s
important. This reason will motivate you to get up. I like to write in the
morning, so that’s my reason. Also, when I’m done with that, I like to read all
of your comments!
Make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re
forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you
will look forward to waking up early. A good reward is to make a hot cup of
coffee or tea and read a book. Other rewards might be a tasty treat for
breakfast (smoothies! yum!) or watching the sunrise, or meditating. Find
something that’s pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of
your morning routine.
Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early
just to read your blogs, unless that’s a major goal of yours. Don’t wake up
early and waste that extra time. Get a jump start on your day! I like to use
that time to get a head start on preparing my kids’ lunches, on planning for the
rest of the day (when I set my MITs), on exercising or meditating, and on
reading. By the time 6:30 rolls around, I’ve done more than many people do the
entire day.
( Courtesy:
By
Leo Babauta,
http://zenhabits.net/: )
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