Waking Up Early is Like Cheating

Waking Up Early is Like Cheating

July 1, 2019

Good Morning! I am writing this at 5:00 AM while on the bus to work. ( Yes! I still have a 9-5 job…Actually, it is more like a 7-7 :/ Hoping to change that and run my own business full-time in the future!)

Waking up early allows me to take some time in the morning at my own speed. Like commute at my own pace (stress free!), workout (healthy!), and get to the office early (career building!).

It is kinda like cheating, because every minute earlier you consistently wake up will compound for the rest of your life. Personally, I could wake up at 6am and probably still make it to the office at the same time I normally do. But lets calculate what waking up at 4:45 AM every morning does to my life.

That 1 hour and 15 minutes extra is a 1.25/24 or 5.21% increase in the amount of time I have in a day versus someone who wakes up at 6am and goes to sleep around the same time as I do (11pm).

If you only calculate the waking hours (removing the time we are asleep), I have an extra 7.35% of time per day.

That’s almost 1/10 MORE time of my life I get to use to be productive, work on my own goals, passions, side hustles (like this blog!), etc.

Without taking this time for myself, you can see how easy it is to live a repetitive, normal life:

• Wake up at 6am
• Shower, get dressed, go to work
• Work 9a-5p
• Get home by 6p
• Eat dinner and watch Netflix from 6p-11p (5 extra hours wasted!!!!!!!!!)
• Repeat

It is SO easy to just continue to do the minimum at work or in your life. It is so easy to turn on the tv or lay in bed on your computer watching Netflix.

If right now you are thinking, “Wow, netflix is probably a good stock to buy… read this blog article on analyzing investments first. If you are STILL interested, you can sign up for Robinhood (link here) and buy some NFLX stock for free!

I think that the problem most people have with waking up early is that you may think you have nothing to work towards, or nothing worthwhile to do. I felt that way at times!

But now I can firmly say that waking up early every morning has changed my life for the better and here is why I do it and how you can leverage your time waking up earlier.

Here are some tips to help you do it too!

1. Set your morning in motion the night before

Take five - ten extra minutes at night to prep your lunch, bag, clothes, etc for the morning. This will save your brain the effort in the morning and will make it much less stressful to get up out of the sheets knowing everything is ready to roll. Reduce friction!

Personally, I have my gym clothes right next to the bed (I sleep sparsely clothed!) but I know some that sleep IN their gym clothes to reduce the friction even further.

This allows me to get up, immediately slap on some clothes, brush my teeth, grab my bag (with my professional clothes and lunch already packed up in it), and catch the bus! (The bus is much cheaper than commuting into NYC by car)

2. Just Get up and execute the plan

If I had to do all of the minutia like picking an outfit for the gym and for work, packing lunch, etc. it would be much more difficult to wake up in the morning and be effective.

By being able to just DO what I want, it makes waking up much easier. That all starts with the preparation!

Great author and former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink says,

"Don't think. Just execute the plan. The plan is the alarm clock goes off, you get up, you go work out. Get some."

Jocko has an awesome book that I will link HERE and in my “favorites” bar called Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win. I highly recommend checking that one out if you are looking for a drill sergeant type of book to get you fired up!

3. Go to bed earlier

This one could start wars. Some people are so attached to their schedule that the thought of getting out of bed earlier is spooky, but getting to sleep earlier is nearly unacceptable.

Here’s the thing: we need sleep. It is vital to our cognitive and physical functions. The exact amount of sleep you need to be effective is different for everyone - I shoot for about 5-6 hours. I feel like that is the sweet spot for me.

But everyone is different! So if you want to wake up at 5 AM too but your body needs 8 hours of sleep, there is only one thing you can do! Go to sleep earlier.

Here is an awesome quote from Ben Franklin:

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”

What will you do with the extra time from waking up earlier? Like I said, I personally like to use that time to write blog posts during my bus ride into Manhattan, work out at the gym in my building, hit the sauna, and take my time getting to my desk to start work (around 7AM).

Once you start waking up earlier, I think you will find a valuable use for your time, you just have to START. As Jocko would say - GET SOME!

And remember - There is no traffic on the extra mile.

MDAS

If you thought this was helpful, terrible, or somewhere in the middle, please leave me feedback in the form of a Direct Message on instagram @MakeDollarsAndSense, or feel free to send me an e-mail/text to the information on my Home Page. I truly appreciate constructive criticism and opposing views, so bring em on!

P.S. New blog posts coming your way every Monday!

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