April 10, 2014
Sandy Smith
Snap out of it? We can all rise and shine, some say. Photo: Justin Horrocks
forget about sleep deprivation and get out of bed - morning people are
happier and more successful than night owls.
Laura Vanderkam, the US author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, says getting up early can hold the key to improving your health, career and personal life.
“Mornings are a great time for getting things done,
particularly the personal priorities that life has a way of crowding
out,” she says. “There's some research finding that our supply of
willpower is strongest in the morning (diets are broken at night, not at
breakfast). Choosing to devote early morning hours to things that are
important to us - exercise, strategic thinking, creative work, nurturing
relationships - means you devote your most focused hours to these
things, before other people's priorities invade.”
It's no coincidence that early risers have a reputation for
being successful. “It is a common trait found in many CEOs, government
officials, and other influential people,” says Jennifer Cohen in Forbes.
“Margaret Thatcher was up every day at 5am; Frank Lloyd Wright at 4am
and Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, wakes at 4.30am just to name a few."
But what if your natural state is to stay horizontal and hit the snooze button till the last possible moment?
Anyone can become a morning person says Zoë B, a Sydney-based
life coach and author of the Simple Life Strategies blog. It's just a
case of redefining yourself. “If we keep telling ourselves that we're
not a morning person then guess what happens? We don't get up early.
This is a habit that we just need to snap out of. Anyone can become a
morning person, it's simply a matter of taking action.”
“People who get up early often report feelings of positivity
and achievement that continue throughout the day” she says. “If we begin
on a positive note, then this positive mood state is much more likely
to continue as the day progresses.”
The evidence is not just anecdotal. Research at the
University of Roehampton in Britain highlighted the benefits of getting
up early. Dr Jürg Huber told the British Daily Telegraph:
"There are morning people and evening people, and morning people tend to
be healthier and happier as well as having lower body mass indices."
In 2010, Christoph Randler, a biology professor at the
University of Education at Heidelberg, found that early risers were more
proactive and more likely to spend time identifying long-term goals.
“This research also found that this proactivity leads to a feeling of
being more in control, which can aid feelings of confidence,” says Zoë
B.
What steps can you take to ensure a 5am start?
Get to bed early
“The biggest obstacle to rising early is that people haven't
gone to bed on time the night before,” says Vanderkam. “So at 5am or 6am
we are still tired. Chronic sleep deprivation just doesn't work. Try
moving your bedtime and wake-up time by about 15 minutes each week until
you reach the desired time. If you have trouble getting into bed on
time, try setting a 'bedtime alarm' about 30 minutes before you need to
be asleep, so you can turn off the screens, relax, connect with your
spouse/partner and hit the pillow when you intend to.”
Stay calm
“Inability to get to sleep – stimulants and over-thinking are
two of the biggest culprits for drifting off to sleep peacefully,” says
Zoë B. “No caffeine after lunch and make the bedroom a 'no worry' zone.
This means that as soon as you get into bed, you do not allow yourself
to worry or think about what you need to do tomorrow. Practice gratitude
and think of three things that you were grateful for from the day. It's
really important to be in a positive state before we go to sleep so
that we can then wake up early feeling refreshed.”
Work out your morning goals
“Get 100% clear about why you want to get up early,” says Zoë
B. “Take two minutes to note down exactly what you want to achieve the
next morning and in what order you will complete each task or activity.
Then immediately before you go to sleep, remind yourself why you will
be getting up early the next morning. If you do this, you'll notice that
when you do wake up - you're more likely to remember what your 'morning
schedule' is and this will motivate you to get up instead of going back
to sleep.”
