Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! The sound of your alarm clock rocks you out of your sound sleep. Your first thought is to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep.
Lately, I’ve found myself doing this more often than I should. I’d rather stay in bed than get up and be productive in the mornings.
I know I shouldn’t, yet I do. Why? Because I’ve let myself get out of the valuable habit of rising early.
I’ve been working at reforming the habit of becoming an early riser. And I think it’s valuable to every leader to rise early and get out of bed.
Image via Creative Commons
Everyone can make excuses as to why they want to sleep in. Maybe it’s the fact you had a late night. Or you’re just not feeling well rested. Or it could be you don’t want to face the reality there’s a new day that’s ready to greet you.
Whatever our excuses, we need to get rid of them. Early rising is a contributing factor to great leadership.
Why should you get out of bed early? Here’s 4 reasons that I hope will help you to stop hitting the snooze button and get your morning started right.
1. You gain extra time: By getting up early, say even 30 minutes early, you’re able to add that much time to your day. This extra time might not seem like much until you see the cumulative effect.
30 minutes a day becomes 3.5 hours a week becomes 14 hours a month becomes 168 hours a year.
Do you know how many days 168 hours is? 7 days! Holy cow! That’s a lot of days you can gain by starting your day even a little earlier than most.
2. You get a quiet time: Most people wake up when the rest of their family wakes up. Having everyone up and going when you’re getting up as well can cause quite the distraction.
You’re getting ready. You have to help your son pack his backpack and get ready for school. You have to negotiate the bathroom usage. You have to give your wife attention.
There’s a lot going on shortly after you wake up with everyone else.
Yet, if you wake up earlier, you’re able to gain quiet time. This is time you can use for whatever you like.
You could:
Get your Bible reading done
Create a blog post
Exercise
Or more…
It’s amazing what you can get done when there’s no one else awake. Don’t miss this benefit of waking up early!
3. You can improve your brainpower: Texas University conducted a study in 2008 to discover the difference between early risers and night owls. The results were a bit shocking to me.
Those who considered themselves night owls earned a full point less on their GPAs than those who were early to rise.
I’m not sure what causes this increase in GPA for those who choose not to sleep in but it’s enough for me to take notice.
4. You increase your energy: Whenever I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock in the morning, I wind up regretting it later in the day. Why? My energy levels seem to dip more when I’ve take multiple snoozes in the morning.
The extra sleep you gain from hitting the snooze button isn’t quality sleep. Our bodies have a sleep rhythm and it likes to hit the REM cycle.
By snoozing, your body won’t get to that deep state of sleep in the five extra minutes you’re trying to give it. Doing so will actually make you feel more tired throughout the day.
With a quickly decreasing energy level, you won’t be able to lead well. Let’s give our snooze buttons the heave-ho!
Armed with this information, you can see why waking early can be a big boost to your leadership. You increase the amount of time in your day. You can have a quiet time. Your brainpower increases. And you’re able to be more energetic.
Who wouldn’t want this for their life? If it’s something you want, why not give it a shot for 2 weeks.
Question: Do you wake up early? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.