10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It

MacroJ

Every Thursday is Happiness Day on Zen Habits.

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” - Ben Franklin, famously

“Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated Franklin …” - Mark Twain

Recently, reader Rob asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. Unfortunately, there are none, that I know of.

However, there are a ton of other great benefits.

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

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. My habit is to stumble into the bathroom and go pee. By the time I’ve done that, and flushed the toilet and washed my hands and looked at my ugly mug in the mirror, I’m awake enough to face the day.

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.

MacroJ

“早睡早起使人健康，幸福和聪明。” —— 本·富兰克林

“不要相信昏头的富兰克林所宣称的，可以从早起中获得益处。”—— 马克·吐温

        最近，读者Rob问及我每天早晨4:30起床的习惯，要求我写一下早起对健康的益处。我认为这是一个很好的问题，但是不凑巧，据我所知对健康毫无益处。

不过，早起的确有很多别的益处。

如果你是个夜猫子，你很习惯于这种生活，这也很好。如果你觉得这样不错，就没有必要去改变它。不过对我来说，从一个夜猫子变成一个早起的人（这是完全可能的）简直是天赐的。它给我带来很多我过去所没有的益处。这里是一些：

感谢这一天。我很高兴能够早起，感谢这美好的新的一天。我建议在清晨做个祷告来感谢和祝福。我很喜欢达赖喇嘛所说：“每天，在醒来之时思考。”今天我很幸运能够醒来，我还活着，享受这宝贵的人生，我不能去浪费它。我要尽我最大努力去提高自己，用我的真心对待他人，让每一个人都能获得有益的启迪。我要和蔼地对待别人，不要对别人发怒或者埋怨。我要尽我所能给他人带来帮助。

令人惊讶的开始。我以前每一天的开始就是很晚从床上蹦起，心急火燎地准备好出门，匆忙的把孩子送到学校后赶去上班。当我走进办公室，我看上去蓬头垢发，睡眼惺忪，心情烦躁并且工作拉在了大家的后面。这不是一个好的开端。现在，我重新开始做清晨的祷告，并在8点之前准备好了一切，我的孩子也和我一样。当别人刚来上班的时候，我已经比他们领先了。我的经验是，没有什么比早起更好地来开始这一天。

安静。没有孩子的喧闹，没有婴儿的啼哭，没有足球赛，没有汽车，没有电视的噪音。清晨是那么的安静祥和。这是我一天中最美好的时间，我可以尽情享受这属于我的平静时光。我可以用来思考，阅读，呼吸。

日出。晚起的人都会错过自然界中每天周而复始的奇迹之一——日出。我喜欢看那天空渐渐亮起来，从深蓝变成浅蓝，光辉从天际渗出，大自然被涂上了绚丽的色彩。我喜欢在这个时候晨跑，仰望天空告诉这个世界：“多么美妙的一天！”我真的这样做了。有点傻，我知道。

早餐。早起让你有足够时间吃早餐。早餐是一天中最重要的一顿饭。不吃早餐，你的身体都在勉强运作直到中午你饿得饥不择食吃下许多更油腻更甜的不健康食品。但是吃了早饭，你就不会这样。此外，吃着早餐，喝着咖啡，读着书真是一种享受，而不像在你的办公桌前边工作边把早餐塞进肚子。

锻炼。当然有很多其他时间一样可以用来锻炼，比如下班后也是个很好的锻炼时间，但这也很容易因为其他计划之外的事件而取消。而晨练几乎不会因为这样而被取消。

效率。至少对我来说，早晨是一天中最有效率的时间。我喜欢在早晨检查邮箱和blog之前写点东西，因为这个时候没有什么让我分心。当我在一天清晨就开始工作，我能做好更多的事情。这样到了晚上，我就没有工作再要处理，能空出更多的时间和我的家人共度。

制定目标。达到目标？是的，你需要。没有比早晨更好的时间来回顾你的目标，指定计划并且作为最首要的事情来执行。你必须有一个你想要在这一周完成的目标。每天早晨你要有个计划来做什么达到这个目标。然后，最好你在早晨就开始动手做起来。

通勤。没有人喜欢堵车，除了石油公司。早些上路，交通会畅通很多，这样你会更快地到达公司，给你节省下来更多的时间。更好的是，你可以骑自行车上班。（当然，在家办公是最好的。）

约会。早起让你更加容易准时赴约，迟到会给你的约会对象一个糟糕的印象。而早到则会给他们带来一个好的印象，并且你也会有更多的时间准备约会。


如何让你早起。

别想一口吃成个胖子。循序渐进，每次比之前早起15到30分钟。当你习惯了这15到30分钟的早起，则再往前提早15分钟。一步步来直到达到你的目标。

允许你自己早睡。你可能已经习惯熬夜看电视或者上网。但是如果你继续熬夜，并且试着去早起，那么早晚你会放弃两者之一。如果你不坚持早起，则你会越睡越晚最后不得不放弃。我建议早点上床，即使你不觉得困，可以在床上读会儿书。如果你真的累了，你会比你想象的更快进入梦乡。

把闹钟放远。如果它就在你枕边，你会关了它并且再赖会儿床。不，让闹钟离你的床远一些，这样你就不得不爬起来关了它。这样，你就起床了。现在你要做的只是不要再躺下。
马上离开卧室。不要纵容你自己回到你的床上，强迫自己离开卧室。我的习惯是到厕所解个手，冲水，洗手，然后看一下镜中丑陋的我。这时候我已经足够清醒来面对一天。

不要给自己找借口。如果你允许你的大脑告诉自己再睡一会儿，你永远都不可能早起。不要把回到床上作为一个选择。

给自己一个好理由。让早上有些事情可做很重有，它会成为你早起的动力。我喜欢早起在blog上写点东西，这就是我的理由。并且，当我写完后，我会读你们的留言。

给自己奖励。一开始你一定会强迫自己早起，但当你觉得这是一件快乐的事情时，你会主动的起床。给自己的奖励可以是喝着一杯热咖啡或者茶读会儿书，也可以是做一顿可口的早餐，或者看一次日出，或者只是冥想些什么。找一些让你快乐的事情作为你早起的一部分来享受。

利用额外的时间。不要早起一两个小时只是用来看看blog，除非这是你主要的目的。不要浪费你早起节省下来的时间，尽快开始你的一天。我喜欢利用这个时间来准备我孩子的早餐，计划我余下的一天，锻炼，思考，阅读。到6:30，我已经比别人多做了很多事了。

MacroJ

今天五点多起床，的确感觉很好～～

清晨的阳光特别舒服～～

采薇子

不好意思，我来晚了……

  谢谢分享！