The Ultimate Guide to Waking Up Early for Maximum Productivity

Discover how waking up early can transform your productivity and well-being, and learn practical tips to make it a habit.

Why Waking Up Early Boosts Productivity

When I decided to become a writer, I called a number of people to ask them about their writing habits. Every writer I talked to said the same thing: Get up early and write. Each of the people who provided advice lowered the time down. 6:00 AM became 5:00 AM until the last person said 3:30 AM was the right time to write. The people who were nice enough to share their habits explained that no one wants your time at this early hour, even if your rescue cat insists you feed him before you get to your coffee and keyboard.

I started at 5:00 AM. If you have children, you can spend your time writing while they are asleep. Because you have done your writing early in the morning, you can spend time with your children or your spouse. Eventually, I found that 4:00 AM is the perfect time to write. Most days something has triggered me to write and write whatever needs correcting.

Maximize Your Morning Routine

You might tell yourself that you don’t have time to do important things like exercising, journaling, meditating, or reading something that will start your day with some intention. If you were to wake up as little as 30 minutes early, you could do one of these ways to improve your attitude and your physical or mental fitness. Your day will be much better should you do one or more of the things that most people will tell you they can’t do it because they don’t have the time. The truth is that time is all you have, now what you do with that time is something different. Making good choices about how you spend your time is important enough that you should plan your weeks and days.

The more you are alone, the more your time is yours. I spend my time writing, but you might decide to work on a passion project or some important work project that deserves your best energy. By accomplishing a large part of that project early, you have already made progress while the rest of the world is sound asleep.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise: A Discipline Worth Cultivating

A few times my mom called me at 8:30 PM, asking me what I was doing. I told her I was getting ready to go to sleep. She responded: “This is the time a toddler goes to sleep.” If you wake up early, you will need good sleep. There are other reasons to wake up early, starting with the discipline to stay on a routine. The greater your fidelity to your routine, the better your sleep. It also provides you the discipline to get out of bed when your alarm alerts you that it’s time to get started. I live in Ohio, where winters are cold, and you will want to stay under the blankets, but if you have burned in the habit of waking up and getting up when it is cold and dark, you get used to it.

When I interview people, one of the first questions I ask is “What time do you wake up each day?” No matter your answer, I have an idea about how disciplined you are, as how you do one thing is how you do everything. The later the time, the more I would worry about your habits. However, if you wake up early and lift weights or run or row, you will have provided that you have a certain set of habits that suggest you have a routine you do early in your day.

Avoid Common Pitfalls of Early Risers

What you should not do with your time when you wake up early: Do not open your email. Email is where other people give you tasks and questions, and all kinds of things that you should not touch before you take care of yourself. Unless you are on a treadmill, don’t watch television, especially political news, unless your goal is to be more negative and less positive.

A Note to Night Owls

You may find that your energy is better later at night. The upside for staying up while us early birds are asleep is that you are also likely to find the solitude that would allow you to do the same things that those of us who wake up early.

How to Wake Up Early

If you want to build the habit of waking up early, set your alarm for 5:00 AM. No matter how tired you are or how much you tell yourself that you need more sleep, get out of bed and get started doing something. You will be tired. When you get home, you will want to go to sleep early. Repeat the 5:00 AM alarm. By the third day, you will be tired enough that you will go to sleep very early, allowing you to wake up at 5:00 AM with no trouble.