Blogging for Change

The miraculous benefits of waking up earlier

by Jesse Campbell on
1/19/2015
in Personal Finance

Feel like you’re in a little bit of a rut? Do the days seem to blend together? Are you dissatisfied with what you make of each day?

Wake up earlier.

An hour earlier. Maybe 90 minutes. The point is to simply give yourself more time in the morning. And why do you want more time in the morning?

Breakfast

Breakfast is an important meal – dare I say the most important meal of the day. But when you’re short on time in the morning, what’s the first thing to go? Usually breakfast. If you’re in a rush, breakfast is almost always something quick, highly processed, or insubstantial.

Don’t shortchange yourself first thing in the morning! Make a real breakfast. Have some fruits, a grain, and some eggs if you’re so inclined. Physically, you’ll feel better (better fuel makes the engine run smoother). You’ll also be less inclined to snack or spend money on a big, unplanned lunch. Speaking of which…

Lunch

It’s hard to pack a lunch when you’re always rushing out the door. Waking up earlier gives you time to prepare and pack a nice, nutritional lunch. Packing a lunch saves you from having to run out and buy a lunch during the day. That saves you on the cost of food, travel, and time. That’s better for your body and better for your wallet.

Exercise

Exercise keeps you healthy. It also improves your mood and saves you money in potential health care costs. If you’re having a hard time working exercise into your daily routine, get up earlier and do it then. Per WebMD, research shows that it’s easier to create an exercise habit when you do your exercising in the morning.

Peace of mind

When you wake up 15 minutes before you need to be out the door, you’re generally not creating the best mental headspace from which to start the day. The immediate transition from waking up to going to work creates a negative bridge of sorts between both activities. You don’t want to wake up because it means you have to go to work. You’re already irritated at work because it took you away from such a wonderful sleep.

To start the morning off right, fill the space between sleep and work with something more pleasant. Besides eating a good breakfast and getting some exercise, use the time before work to do something you enjoy. Read the newspaper. Play a game. Watch some TV.

If the only time “fun things” can happen during the week is after you finish work, then you may find yourself subconsciously dreading work and getting stressed out before you’ve even left the house. Building an element of free time into the morning can do a lot to reduce your starting stress point.

Being up bright and early also gives you a chance to really consider what you want from the day ahead. That’s especially valuable if you’re feeling stuck in a rut.

If today wasn’t the day you wished it could be, try getting up a little earlier tomorrow. In a worst case scenario, you’ll at least have a better breakfast. In a best case scenario, however, it will change everything about how you live, work, and feel. That seems a lot better than whatever you might get from pressing the snooze button.

Jesse Campbell photo.

Jesse Campbell is the Content Manager at MMI, with over ten years of experience creating valuable educational materials that help families through everyday and extraordinary financial challenges.

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