What time do you wake up in the morning? Did you know that your productivity per day is determined by what you do in the first 3 hours after waking?

When I was young, my lolo would wake me up at 5:30 in the morning, so I can “wake up with the sun”. I never really understood why this was necessary, seeing that my classes began at 8:00 AM and my house was just 10 minutes away from school. My friends, too, experienced remonstrations if they failed to wake up at prescribed hours. Why was this practice so important for our elders?

It was only when I grew up and had my own child when I finally understood the importance of this training. With the rest of the world still asleep, the early morning hours became my “me” time because it was the quietest time of my day. During the early morning hours while I cook breakfast, I think of the most important tasks I need to complete for the day. While I sweep the floor, I think of what I want to accomplish in the current year, and how I can go about it. Turns out, the practice of waking early, is an important ingredient for having a successful day.

In the article linked below, Srinivas Rao explains why waking up early is important, and how you can take advantage of the early morning hours to up your productivity for the day.

Some Important Points

There are at least 5 reasons why you should wake up early. Srinivas Rao says that in the early morning hours:
- your willpower is at its highest,
- your mind is less scattered,
- you are less likely to be interrupted,
- you increase the availability of time, and
- you start your day with accomplishment.
Make it easy for yourself to succeed: make your goals simple. On the first few weeks, your goal can be to simply get out of bed. The morning routine can come in a bit later when your body has adjusted to the early waking hours.
Change your environment to support your goal. If you want to wake up earlier, the easiest way to do it is to set your alarm earlier. But if the problem with the alarm is that you can snooze it off (since the alarm is on the bedside table which you can reach easily), then you might want to put the alarm somewhere harder to reach. This way, you’ll be required to stand up (and awaken) before you can turn it off.

On its own, waking up early isn’t a superpower or anything special. It’s real power is that you gain access to the highest quality hours of the day.
Srinivas Rao

Why It Matters

Many of us are finding ways to be better people every day. We want to be productive, to become better at what we do. Srinivas Rao’s article provides us with the first step towards this goal. If our future could be determined by a simple act as waking up early, then why won’t we do it?

If you aren’t an early bird, this can be a difficult task because you will need to create a new habit. But remember the saying: “If you don’t develop a habit of waking up before the rest of the world, you won’t be able to change the world”? The learning and experience you will get in developing a new habit such as waking up early can prepare you for other things such as changing culture at work, going after your dreams, and taking part in social transformation!