Why get up early?

I’m usually averse to simplistic sayings and adages that attempt to summarise life into a few words, but I’m really a strong believer in this one: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise”.

Leading an extremely busy lifestyle of heavy tertiary study, part-time work, a relationship, family and friends like me and many others, it’s no wonder many people choose to go to bed early. Exhausted both mentally and physically, sleep beckons at the end of a long day.

Theoretically, going to bed early should then allow you to get up early too. But this is very often not the case. We sleep through the alarm clock, we fight the cold and often fall back to sleep. The solution here is to get to bed even earlier. I’m in bed by 10.30pm at the latest every night, except for some weekends. But then what are the benefits that flow from rising early?

The mental health factor is a big one. Early in the morning, you’ve got the time to manage everything and you eliminate the need to rush, setting the tone for a day of feeling “on top” of everything and achieving. This keeps stress and often depression at bay.

Going to bed and then getting up at the same time every night and every day respectively also improves your quality of sleep. Your internal biological clock is regimented and after having risen early you’re actually tired when your head hits the pillow.

The establishment of an early morning routine furthermore allows us that small bit of quiet time that so many of us crave. Whether its reading the paper, enjoying a hot cup of tea, doing some personal yoga practice or simply sitting enjoying the day as it comes to life, we’re afforded more of this when we’re up to see the beginning of each day.

There are many more benefits both physical and mental that stem from waking up early. These are simply a few incentives to get you on the right track. I personally will be up between 6.00 and 6.30am every morning, including weekends.