What is the most common excuse for not doing something? Right, it’s a lack of time. All people complain about being unable to accomplish everything, yet some people accomplish way more than others. And it’s not only because of talents, connections or money they have. Very often what makes the difference is how they manage their time.
There are many time management techniques and systems (GTD being my favorite), but in this post I’d like to focus on one technique that many people underestimate. Yes, it’s not an easy one, it requires commitment and discipline (remember, a habit takes about 3 weeks to form), but the result is well worth it. I’m talking about waking up early.
Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t talking here about waking up at 4 a.m. But just one additional hour in the morning can make a huge difference in your life. Putting aside a whole big topic on how to do it, let’s see what you are missing and what you could add to your life if you acquire this habit.
Before you start working on this habit, it’s very important for you to understand what you are going to spend your gained extra time on. If you have good enough goals and reasons to wake up early, they alone may be enough to keep you committed and motivated. Consider creating a reward that makes the effort worthwhile.
Here are 12 most practical reasons for you to wake up early and things to do.
1. Work on yourself
Early morning is an excellent time for personal development. How many times have you complained you don’t have time to read that self-improvement book, learn a new language or try a new idea? Get up early and work on it in the morning! Quiet morning time is a god sent gift which you should use for growing yourself - professionally, emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. Use this time to “sharpen the saw”. Even 30 minutes a day adds up to over 180 hours a year — that’s more than four full work weeks dedicated entirely to becoming a better version of yourself. The people who seem to “have it all together” are often simply the ones who protect this time fiercely.
2. Exercise your body
Do I really need to comment on this reason? Body is the only thing you have in your control in this universe. So exercise at home, go jogging or go to gym (they open early), practice yoga training… The earlier you wake up, the more calories you can burn over the day and the better you will feel. Morning exercise also sets a positive tone for the rest of the day — it’s very hard to feel lazy and unproductive after you’ve already done a workout before 8am. And unlike evening exercise, it won’t interfere with your sleep.
3. Get ready for big stuff
Clean up small stuff to take it from your way to big things you plan to do during the day. Jump on that bunch of emails sitting in your inbox so it doesn’t drag your attention later in the day. Do those tasks you keep procrastinating on, and put a plan in advance of what and when you are going to do on this day. When you arrive at work already organized and clear-headed, you operate from a position of control rather than constantly reacting to what lands in your inbox. That mental headstart is something your colleagues who slept in simply don’t have.
4. Increase your productivity
If you start early, you make your day longer, you can do much more in one day than you usually do. The key is to start your day well. Got a lot of work pressing on you? Wake up earlier, jump to work, you may be done by the afternoon… Early morning hours are also free of the interruptions — meetings, calls, messages — that fragment the rest of the day. Many people report that one focused hour in the morning is worth two or three hours of fragmented afternoon work.
5. Use morning time for thinking
Jim Citrin wrote in one of his articles: “The quiet of the morning is often the time when your mind is at its clearest and most well-suited to solving important problems. Don’t let lazy thoughts derail you — use that clarity.” After interviewing multiple CEOs Jim reports that 80% of executives he questioned wake up at 5:30am or earlier. I believe it’s what made them executives, though I know few occasions when it worked in the opposite way. Use this window for your hardest thinking — strategic decisions, creative work, complex problems — before the noise of the day crowds it out. Your brain after a good night’s sleep is literally running at peak capacity.
6. Go with the nature
Nature wakes up every day when the sun goes up. So should you because your body is a part of nature! Waking up with the sun is one of the most natural ways to start your day. Of course it depends at what time sun goes up in your area (in some areas, it doesn’t go down for half a year :-), but you have got the idea… You can double the effect if you go out and spend some morning time with nature surrounding you. Morning light also resets your internal clock, making it easier to fall asleep at a consistent time each night — which in turn makes waking up early feel more natural and less of a battle.
7. Meditate
Meditation induces well-being and emotional balance. If you start your day with meditation as part of your morning ritual you will carry that balance through the day, improving your life. Morning is a better time for meditation because you are fresh, your brain is relaxed and mind is much sharper. The article from Healthline is a good source of information on why you should meditate and how to get started. Check this article from Peter Bregman on meditation, too.
8. Beat the traffic
If you spend too much time commuting to and from work every day, you can actually save time if you wake up and drive to work earlier. Even if you work fixed hours, by arriving to work earlier you can spend the extra time you’ve got on things listed above - reading, exercising, planning, and so on. It’s free time for you, which otherwise you would waste in traffic jams.
9. Do something for others
We all love surprises and you can spend this morning time preparing surprises for other people or just doing something for them. Try to live this extra morning hour for others, not for yourself. Remember, what is given freely with the best of intentions will return in abundance to the giver.
10. Protect your mental health
Something that often gets overlooked: waking up early can genuinely improve how you feel — not just physically, but emotionally. Early risers tend to experience lower rates of depression and anxiety. One reason is straightforward — you get more exposure to natural daylight, which is a powerful mood booster. Waking up with the sun and getting that morning light exposure is one of the simplest things you can do for your mood. But there’s another side to it. When you wake up late and rushed, you start your day in a reactive, stressed-out mode. When you wake up early, you start from a place of calm. You ease into the day instead of being thrown into it. That shift — from reactive to proactive — compounds over time. It’s not a magic cure, but it’s a meaningful change that’s entirely within your control.
11. Eat a proper breakfast
Think about it: how often do you skip breakfast or grab something unhealthy on the go because you’re running late? Most people do. When you wake up early, you actually have time to prepare and enjoy a real meal — eggs, oatmeal, fruit, a smoothie, whatever works for you. Your body has been fasting overnight and needs to replenish its energy. People who eat a proper breakfast tend to have more stable energy levels, better concentration and fewer cravings for junk food later on. And here’s a bonus: the ritual of making breakfast can become a small daily pleasure, something you look forward to in the morning — especially when it’s part of a morning ritual you’ve built around it. That alone can make getting out of bed a little easier. You can listen to a podcast or an audiobook while you cook — this is what I usually do.
12. Build your confidence and self-discipline
There’s a powerful psychological effect that comes from waking up early that goes beyond any specific activity. It’s the simple fact that you said you would do something difficult — and you did it. This action alone puts you probably into the top 5–10% of people, which is very powerful. Every morning that you get up when your alarm goes off, you build trust with yourself. And that trust spills over into other areas of your life. If you can beat the comfort of a warm bed at 5:30 in the morning, that difficult conversation at work doesn’t feel so intimidating. That project you’ve been putting off seems more doable. Admiral William McRaven famously said that if you want to change the world, start by making your bed. We’d take it one step further — start by getting out of it when you said you would. No snooze, ever. Discipline is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Track your progress so you can see how far you’ve come. Over time, you stop seeing yourself as someone who “isn’t a morning person” and start seeing yourself as someone who gets things done. And remember — a habit takes about 3 weeks to form, so give yourself that runway.
