How Productive Is Early Rising Really?

We’ve all read inspiring articles or books or heard stories about how some of the world’s most successful people get up earlier than the rest of us mere mortals. This includes business leaders such as Tim Cook, Richard Branson and Jack Dorsey, but the phenomenon is not limited solely to success in the business sphere. No less than former First Lady Michelle Obama has confessed to getting up as early as 4.30 am, in some cases, to start her day.

Rising early is heralded as one of the keys to success. It’s all about productivity and creating the time to achieve more. The question, how productive is it really?

How does it work?

It’s simple, really. The idea is that between 5.00 and 8.00 in the morning we’ll experience the fewest interruptions and it’s in this window of time that you can get the most done. You don’t have to respond to messages, although you can choose to catch up on emails if that’s how you wish to use the time. You can focus solely on the important tasks and complete them.

Your health is important, too. Waking up early gives you the time to exercise before you start your working day. You’ll feel energised, whereas if you decide to exercise at the end of the day you could feel more tempted to skip the gym, your evening jog, etc. and just go home. That or you may give it a miss because you have to work extra hours or you’ve accepted an invitation to some spontaneous event or other.

You can have breakfast (now there’s a concept in today’s hectic working world!), the most important meal of the day, as well. Rather than gulp it down before you leave the house or grab it on the go and then throw it down your throat when you arrive at the office, you have the time to really savour your breakfast. Not only that, you have the option to prepare a healthier alternative if you wish to and not something that’s quicker to prepare but less fantastic for your health.

Generally, you can do the things that you need to do or which you wish to do but never have the time to.

How do you get up early?

Of course, when the alarm goes off, your eyelids will be heavy with sleep. It’ll be all too easy to switch it off, roll over and then go back to sleep — but not if you place your alarm clock on the other side of the room. Ideally, you should be using an alarm clock instead of setting the alarm on your phone.

Supporters of ‘rise early to be productive’ have also suggested you should reward yourself for getting up early. Jumping out of a nice, comfortable bed — like one from Bedstar, for instance — at sunrise takes some real willpower. In any case, there’s got to be something more in it for your gargantuan effort than just a little extra productivity.

Naturally, one of other other tricks is that old classic of going to bed early — or getting enough sleep, at least. Part of this include switching off devices an hour before you go to bed or leaving them in another room so that nothing interrupts your sleep. A lot of believers in rising early to enhance productivity suggest (and adhere to) a tech ban between certain hours.

Does it actually make you more productive, though?

It’s important to remember just how important sleep is. Donald Trump might boast of how he’s able to get by on just three hours of sleep per night,but he won’t be doing himself any favours. We need sleep to be able to function effectively.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep helps us to retain information easier, which makes it indispensable for learning. Having a clear mind and an alert brain help us to focus. How can we become better versions of ourselves if we can barely stay awake? By the same token, how can we perform successfully if all we can think about is how much we’re looking forward to climbing into bed?

Then there’s our health to consider. The NHS tell us, as a rule, we need 8 hours of sleep per night. Not sleeping enough could be catastrophic for health. Heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes are just some of the nasty effects not bedding down for long enough could have on you.

We need to sleep. It’s as simple as that.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.