Wake Up Earlier

By Lev Novak

I’m a night person, and I found a great life-hack. It makes you happier, makes places stay open later, gives you more warmth and sunlight,y and it’s the last thing you want to do.

Wake up earlier.

I know. Waking up late is the best. Especially when waking up early is the worst. No matter how easy it is in theory to wake up early, it’s important to remember in practice that the whole early wake-up situation is awful. You’re going to oversleep and even if you don’t, the missing sleep is going to haunt you all day.

It’s not worth it.

That’s why, very carefully, you have to find ways to go to sleep earlier. After the gym sleep is easier. Lie in bed before you’re tired. Turn your laptop off earlier. Get into your bed and start sleeping earlier and you’re going to wake up earlier without the terrible tax that early wake-ups bring.

So, why would you do it?

1. More Sunlight

This has been a brutal winter.

The cold has been bad, and it’s kept us inside, even more than usual. Things in this weather are just harder, and with the cold and dreary season extending in severity, it can be easy to get a little depressed, even if you don’t notice. Consider, by comparison, how much better you felt during the one not-awful day this winter. A lot better, right?

Well, unfortunately we can’t change the weather. Still, waking up earlier is the next best thing. The more sunlight you get in your day, the brighter you’ll feel. We get something from the sun; people used to worship it. Maximizing, or at least utilizing the amount of sun you see in a day is’t a bad idea at all. Plus, the sun comes with warmth, and late winter nights can feel more dramatic then sunny Winter 10:05 A.M’s.

2. More Stuff

Look; you’re not going to do winter-morning jogs, and that’s okay. But, think about it. You are marginally more likely to do those things in the morning than you are at night.

I’m a night person, and I like to stay up late. But the day-time simply has more possibility. I know you’re stoked that the late-night pizza place is open until 3, but if you work within a new schedule, you’ll find a lot more places are open until midnight or so, and those places tend to be much better. Your late-night eats will improve, and isn’t that reason enough.

3. Practice

Look. Waking up at a decent hour is a bummer, but it gives you practice, should you ever need it. Hopefully we’ll all have super flexible schedules doing whatever we want, but sometimes things overlap. What about a fantastic job that actually starts in an office at nine?

Get ready just in case. The real world can be what you make of it.

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