Productivity Benefits of Waking Up Early

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told us 1,400 years ago, that the early mornings are the best time of the day for work. Sakhr Al-Ghamidi narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “O Allah, bless my people in their early mornings.”

When he sent out a detachment or an army, he sent them at the beginning of the day. Sakhr was a merchant, and he used to send off his merchandise at the beginning of the day; and he became rich and had much wealth (Book #14, Hadith #2600 in Abudawud translation).

“Bless” here is translated from the Arabic word “Baraka”. To have Baraka in anything, would mean that you would generally be able to achieve more, or get more out of it, than what would have been expected otherwise; both in quantity and quality.

Additionally, Jim Citrin, a best-selling author and careers expert, conducted a limited survey among CEOs, about their tips for being successful. Guess what came out as their number 1 tip? Waking up early!

According to Citrin, “The latest any of the surveyed executives wake up is 6 a.m., and almost 80 percent wake up at 5:30 or earlier.”  That is hardly a surprise, waking up early has been echoed by numerous successful individuals throughout history as the secret to their success.

Interestingly, Ben Franklin was the one who coined the famous quote “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

According to Robert Bal of Fortune Watch, “Early-risers have more productive mornings, get more done, and report less stress on average than “late-risers.”

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Tips to Help You Wake Up Early

1. Wake up at a set time every single morning, even on weekends and holidays(WebMD, 2007). Don’t train your body during weekdays, only to confuse it over the weekend and start all over again on Sunday/Monday. Afterward, take a queue from the signs God created that are consistent day-in and day-out. Even Eid prayers, which mark the start of a holiday for Muslims, are performed right after sunrise!
2. In fact, sleep when your body, not your clock, tells you to. Whenever your eyelids droop, head to bed. Neither earlier nor later (Pavlina, 2005).
3. Take baby steps. Also, try to wake up only 15 minutes earlier first, then gradually build up to your desired timing (zen habits).
4. Then, Allow exceptions every now and then to your bedtime rule, but beset about your waking time. If you stay up late occasionally, resist the urge to sleep in. You’ll find yourself sleeping earlier than usual the following day; catching up on that lost sleep without upsetting your body clock (Pavlina, 2005).
5. Visualize waking up early or actually practice it! (Pavlina, 2006). In addition, set aside a slot in your day to visualize or practice what you would do when you hear the alarm clock in the morning. Be detailed and vivid. This trains your subconscious to cooperate more willingly when it is actually time to get up. Do this until your body automatically responds when your alarm sounds.
6. Jump out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off. Don’t give in to your thought of sleeping just a few more minutes (zen habits).
7. Have a morning-energizing routine. Try splashing your face with cold water, dressing up and opening the curtains to let the natural light fill your house. Try taking a hot shower to raise your body temperature and help you wake up (Norman).
8. Reward yourself. Hence, set a reward for waking up early, something you love to do, or something you haven’t been able to do regularly such as; eating a delicious wholesome breakfast, reading your favorite magazine or blog, catching up on your mail or beating rush hour traffic. Thus, find some good motivation for you to get up! (zen habits)
9. Keep your alarm clock out of arm’s reach. This way you’ll have to get out of bed to turn it off (zen habits).
10. Frequently change your alarm tune. That way your body won’t have time to adjust to the sound and ignore it (TechCrunch).
11. Thus, don’t waste your extra time. If you happen to wake up early one day and waste your time doing nothing you’ll be less motivated to wake up early the next day (zen habits).
12. In fact, a habit takes 21 days to form. After that, your subconscious takes over and waking up should no longer be a struggle. Now, rise and shine!

This article is from our archive, originally published on an earlier date.

References:

• Bal, Robert. “Wake Up Early and Boost Your Productivity.” Fortune Watch. 19 May 2007. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• Citrin, Jim. “Tapping the Power of Your Morning Routine.” Yahoo! Finance. 30 Jan 2007. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• “Cortisol in Blood.” WebMD. 21 Aug 2006. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• Hamdan, Hosny. “Prayer Timings and the Biological Clock.” The Qur’an Miracles Encyclopedia. Accessed 15 Oct 2008. (Arabic)
• “IARC Monographs Programme Finds Cancer Hazards Associated with Shiftwork, Painting and Firefighting.” International Agency for Research on Cancer. Press Release, No 180. 12 May 2007. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• “In Brief: Good Morning.” Psychology Today Magazine. Jul/Aug 2007. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• Norman, S. “How to Wake up Early When You Don’t Really Want To.” eHow. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• Pavlina, Steve. “How to Become an Early Riser.” Steve Pavlina. 23 May 2005. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• Pavlina, Steve. “How to Get Up Right Away When Your Alarm Goes Off.” Steve Pavlina. April 25, 2006. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• “Rest Assured.” WebMD. 1 Dec 2007. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• “Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Disorders.” WebMD. September 14, 2008. Accessed October 15, 2008.
• “What are Circadian Rhythms?” Light Therapy. Accessed 15 Oct, 2008.
• “9 Benefits of Rising Early and How to Do It.” TechoCrunch. 5 March 2008. Accessed 15 Oct 2008.
• “10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It.” zenhabits. 25 May 2007. Accessed October 15, 2008.