Many Benefits of Waking Up Early (1st New Year Resolution)

Hello Everyone!

Hope you are all having happy holidays and beautiful lives wherever you are! 😏

Today I wanted to share one of my New Year resolutions for the upcoming year, which is to wake up earlier in the morning (between 6:00-7:00 AM 😮).
My typical time for waking up in the morning is around 8:30-9:30 AM, so this will be a bit of a change going into the new year!

I've decided to make this change mainly due to how much more productive I feel during the day whenever I rise early, and also due to many scientific benefits of rising earlier in the day.
Let me share some of those benefits with you!

1. Rising early gives you time to wake up fully before starting the day.

When you first wake up in the morning, your body goes through a phase called sleep inertia which is the transition from sleeping to being fully awake. In this phase there can be impairment and less alertness when performing tasks, so the more time you have to transition to being fully awake the easier it can be to start your day off great!

2. Early risers tend to be less stressed!

Have you ever slept past your alarm, or hit the snooze buttons one too many times and then had to rush around to get ready for work and felt super stressed out to be there on time? I know I have on occasion, but there have been many studies on early risers being less stressed when living out their daily lives.
When you wake up earlier, you typically have more time to enjoy your breakfast, exercise and stretch, get ready for the day-- or whatever your morning routine is. Having time to do your morning routine and not having to rush definitely helps in reducing stress first thing in the morning!

3. Early risers are more likely to have good habits, be more productive, and procrastinate less!

Waking up early means you have more time in the day to accomplish things, which means there are less reasons to procrastinate on things that need to be done.
There have been studies that early risers form better habits (I mean, forming the habit of disciplining yourself to wake up earlier is a pretty good start!) and use the extra time they have in the morning to be more productive and accomplish more.
I know for myself that I love to accomplish more in the early morning time and definitely feel more productive!

4. You might have an improved personality, better mental health, and feel happier throughout the day!

I recently read a study conducted on adolescents who took a Portrait Values Questionnaire where results showed that the morning oriented adolescents were more likely to demonstrate loving and selfless actions while the less morning oriented adolescents focused more on individual values and self-beneficial actions.
Essentially, getting adequate sleep and then rising earlier can balance the production of chemicals in the brain so that you have fewer mood swings, feel more rested and less stressed, and can give you a sense of contentment and happiness for the following day.

I am truly excited to try out this every day routine of waking up earlier and will share my results with you in a vlog soon! 😏 However, there are also a few things that need to be done if you want to gain all the benefits of rising early in the day!

1. Plan on going to bed earlier to get adequate sleep (between 6-8 hours).
2. Create a nighttime routine that helps you prepare for sleep and sleep well.
3. Set a bedtime alarm for yourself.
4. Take it slow and steady until your body adjusts to the new schedule.

So there are a few tips and benefits for waking up earlier in the day, and I'm looking forward to sharing my progress with you all as my body adjusts to this new schedule! 😊

Thanks for reading!
Sarah Nicole ❤