5 REASONS WHY I STARTED WAKING UP EARLY IN THE MORNING

Its an undeniable fact that all of us work hard very hard on our weekdays to meet our targets, live up to the expectations of our employer, achieve workplace targets, etc. And to rejuvenate ourselves from the stress caused by performance pressure and timelines, we party hard, really hard. It starts as a makeshift destress plan for most of us, but gradually it becomes a loop.

Now you might think, What loop? What is she talking about? So let me explain it to you with an example:

You wake up in the morning, check you emails, get started for work, give your 100% at your workplace, come back home all tired. Now that you have given 100% at your workplace , you deserve some relaxation, so you go out with friends, or binge watch, or talk to your favorite person and then doze off. You wake up next morning and the same cycle continues. To break the monotony, weekends come into picture and you spend the entire weekend in bed, binge watching, or partying with your friends, because of course you deserve every piece of relaxation after a hectic work week. After the weekend, weekdays starts and so does the loop.

We have engrained the loop to very deep levels in our life, to an extent that this is something which appears to be normal. But here’s a question for you- In this monotony/loop, how much time do you spend on your personal growth? How much time do you spend on your goals? Do you actually have goals other than work? If your answer is No, then lets ponder over the situation together.

A few years back, I was stuck in the same loop, without realizing what exactly am I doing with my life. One fine day, I was pondering over my school and college days, how I used to be involved in multiple activities, both personally and in college, how I managed studies, extra curriculars and personal development, all at the same time. I started thinking about the state in which I was versus the state during school/college day. Upon much thinking and assessment, I realized that the root cause underlying the change in state was the amount of time I dedicated for myself in a day. I did not have personal goals in my life, because I was so occupied and overwhelmed by the professional goals. I never pondered over my personal growth because I was so contained in the monotonous loop. That’s when I realized, I need some significant changes in my daily life. The urge to identify and implement those changes lead me to adopt the habit of waking up early and this is how it helped:

Goal setting: I have always believed in the power of your thoughts. I am a big time fan of “The Secret” book and I firmly believe in the quote “Your thoughts become things”. Waking up early in the morning helped me take out time to visualize what I wanted my “Ideal Today” to look like. I call it “Imaginative way of Goal setting”. Visualizing you ideal day acts like a daily affirmation. Affirmation helps you challenge and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts and pushes you to define and accomplish your goals. When you repeat your affirmations often, and believe in them, you can start to make positive changes in the long term.

Taking out time for your goals: Initially I was stuck in the loop of monotony to the an extent where I could not take out time for myself. Waking up early in the morning helped me with extra time to perform some tangible work towards my goals consistently. I would specifically like to call out the keyword “Consistently” here. When you wake up early in the morning, you get the first few hours of the day for yourself. It ensures that you are at least 1 step closer to your goals. Consistent progress, no matter how small, is still progress and it brings you closer to the accomplishment of your goals

High Focus, less distraction hour: Early morning is a time of minimal distraction because most of the people are asleep, be it your kids, husband, wife, or any other person in the house. Not just people, in today’s digital era a major source of distraction is your phone too. During the ungodly early morning hours, you might also feel less distracted from your phone because no one is emailing or texting you. There is no sense of urgency in every minute of that hour. This entire package of minimal distraction and lower sense of urgency increases your focus and makes you mind extremely productive .

Sense of accomplishment: Have you ever heard people recommending you to make your bed in the morning before you head out for work? Do you know the reason why people say so? It’s because making your bed is an easy accomplishment to start your day with. It gives you the confidence and motivation to accomplish your goals throughout the day. If an activity, as trivial as making your bed, can motivate you to such an extent, imagine how an hour of goals setting and working towards those goals early in the morning could impact your life. Ponder over it.

Quietitute: How many of you are often stuck in the chaos of day to day life and find it extremely difficult to find that “Me Time”, those few minutes which are only for you, when you can either sit and ponder over your day, or perhaps just keep your mind blank and enjoy the moment. I believe none of us are privileged enough for it in this fast moving and competitive world. Waking up early in the morning provides you the privilege of having your “Me time”, away from all sorts of distraction and chaos. Trust me, once you get habituated to your “Me time” , there is no going back.

Hopefully I was able to summarize the key reasons why waking up early in the morning improves your daily productivity and the quality of your life. Lastly, I would just like to emphasize on the thought: “We are not here just to pay bills and die. Make sure you enjoy your journey”