10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How

to Do It
“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
By Leo Babauta
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:

1. 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.’ “
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.)
10. 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.
Life-changing training program.