“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” – Ben Franklin, famously
“Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated Franklin …” – Mark Twain
Recently, reader Rob asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. Unfortunately, there are none, that I know of.
However, there are a ton of other great benefits.
Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I think that’s great. There’s no reason to change, especially if you’re happy with it. But for me, switching from being a night owl to an early riser (and yes, it is possible) has been a godsend. It has helped me in so many ways that I’d never go back. Here are just a few:
- Greet the day. I love being able to get up, and greet a wonderful new day. I suggest creating a morning ritual that includes saying thanks for your blessings. I’m inspired by the Dalai Lama, who said, ” Everyday, think as you wake up, ‘today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.’ “
- Amazing start. I used to start my day by jumping out of bed, late as usual, and rushing to get myself and the kids ready, and rushing to drop them to school and come in to work late. I would walk into work, looking rumpled and barely awake, grumpy and behind everyone else. Not a great start to your day. Now, I have a renewing morning ritual, I’ve gotten so much done before 8 a.m., my kids are early and so am I, and by the time everyone else gets in to work, I’ve already gotten a head start. There is no better way to start off your day than to wake early, in my experience.
- Quietude. No kids yelling, no babies crying, no soccer balls, no cars, no television noise. The early morning hours are so peaceful, so quiet. It’s my favorite time of day. I truly enjoy that time of peace, that time to myself, when I can think, when I can read, when I can breathe.
- Sunrise. People who wake late miss one of the greatest feats of nature, repeated in full stereovision each and every day — the rise of the sun. I love how the day slowly gets brighter, when the midnight blue turns to lighter blue, when the brilliant colors start to seep into the sky, when nature is painted in incredible colors. I like doing my early morning run during this time, and I look up at the sky as I run and say to the world, “What a glorious day!” Really. I really do that. Corny, I know.
- Breakfast. Rise early and you actually have time for breakfast. I’m told it’s one of the most important meals of the day. Without breakfast, your body is running on fumes until you are so hungry at lunchtime that you eat whatever unhealthy thing you can find. The fattier and sugarier, the betterier. But eat breakfast, and you are sated until later. Plus, eating breakfast while reading my book and drinking my coffee in the quiet of the morning is eminently more enjoyable than scarfing something down on the way to work, or at your desk.
- Exercise. There are other times to exercise besides the early morning, of course, but I’ve found that while exercising right after work is also very enjoyable, it’s also liable to be canceled because of other things that come up. Morning exercise is virtually never canceled.
- Productivity. Mornings, for me at least, are the most productive time of day. I like to do some writing in the morning, when there are no distractions, before I check my email or blog stats. I get so much more done by starting on my work in the morning. Then, when evening rolls around, I have no work that I need to do, and I can spend it with family.
- Goal time. Got goals? Well, you should. And there’s no better time to review them and plan for them and do your goal tasks than first thing. You should have
How to Become an Early Riser
- Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.
- Allow yourself to sleep earlier. You might be used to staying up late, perhaps watching TV or surfing the Internet. But if you continue this habit, while trying to get up earlier, sooner or later one is going to give. And if it is the early rising that gives, then you will crash and sleep late and have to start over. I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll sleep, and read while in bed. If you’re really tired, you just might fall asleep much sooner than you think.
- Put your alarm clock far from you bed. If it’s right next to your bed, you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it’s far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just have to stay up.
- Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the room. My habit is to stumble into the bathroom and go pee. By the time I’ve done that, and flushed the toilet and washed my hands and looked at my ugly mug in the mirror, I’m awake enough to face the day.
- Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
- Have a good reason. Set something to do early in the morning that’s important. This reason will motivate you to get up. I like to write in the morning, so that’s my reason. Also, when I’m done with that, I like to read all of your comments!
- Make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early. A good reward is to make a hot cup of coffee or tea and read a book. Other rewards might be a tasty treat for breakfast (smoothies! yum!) or watching the sunrise, or meditating. Find something that’s pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of your morning routine.
- Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to read your blogs, unless that’s a major goal of yours. Don’t wake up early and waste that extra time. Get a jump start on your day! I like to use that time to get a head start on preparing my kids’ lunches, on planning for the rest of the day (when I set my MITs), on exercising or meditating, and on reading. By the time 6:30 rolls around, I’ve done more than many people do the entire day.
--------------------------------------------------------
尹思哲的中文版本：
早起床的8個貼士 by 尹思哲
踏入冬天，我的早起（早睡）大計受到嚴峻的考驗，但可以肯定，維持早起習慣的好處數之不盡。
﹣ 迎接新的一天。
﹣ 他他調調。不再趕頭趕命地返工，輕鬆、慢慢地到達辦公室，在其他人趕返公司之前，你已有一個好的開始。
﹣ 寧靜的工作環境。大清早沒有惱人的噪音騷擾，可以專心做自己的事。
﹣ 日出。只有早起的人，才會看到天空由漆黑逐漸變亮、旭日初升的壯麗畫面。
﹣ 豐富的早餐：有時間吃早餐，就不會因為捱肚餓而浪費早上的生產力。
﹣ 運動。與其他時間相比，早上做運動的好處是不會因為別的事情而取消，比較能持之以恆。
﹣ 生產力。因為沒有令人分心的事情，早上的生產力通常較高。
﹣ 目標：利用早上的時間去檢討自己的定下今日目標或工作清單。
如何成為「有蟲吃的早起鳥兒」？
1. 循序漸進：頭幾天先嘗試早起15-30分鐘，習慣之後再以每15分鐘為單位，慢慢加上去，直至找到你的黃金起床時間。
2. 不要合理化（自欺欺人）：如果你的大腦將不願早起的習慣一再合理化，那麼你永遠也早起不了。
3. 提早上床。看電視或上網之類的活動是令人晚睡的元兇。如果怕太早上床會眼光光，嘗試坐在床上看書，可能你會在不知不覺間入睡。
4. 鬧鐘勿近。把鬧鐘放在遠離床邊的地方，就會逼到自己要起床才能把它熄掉。記著不要用貪睡（snooze）功能！
5. 走出睡房。逼自己盡快走出睡房，當你迷迷糊糊地撞進浴室，放個水，照一照鏡，保證你馬上清醒。
6. 找個好理由：將一些重要和喜歡做的事安排在早上做，無形中鼓勵自己早點起床。
7. 獎勵自己：成功早起的話，去嘆一杯熱咖啡、看一本好書、吃一頓豐富早餐…… 找方法獎勵一下自己。
8. 善用時間：不要早起一兩小時，但卻只是用來做些無聊事情。例如可以利用那段時間來計劃當日要做的事、做運動、默想、看書等。
另外，我將會在睡房添置一部正在百貨公司熱賣的暖霧放濕機，希望可以助我對抗早上的嚴寒。也希望大家都可以有個更有效率和充實的2011年。
沒有留言:
張貼留言