About Steven AitchisonBefore I go on to share with the benefits of being an early riser let me share with you a typical day for me:
4.30 – 5.00 – Get up looking forward to the day ahead, in fact really excited about the day ahead. No alarm clock to rudely awaken me out of a good nights sleep as I get up naturally.
5.00 – 5.15 – Check in with important emails, prioritising what needs to be answered now and saving other emails for later replies.
5.15 – 5.45 – Check in with connections on SU, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I have recently become the Guest Post editor at TheDailyBrainstorm and linking with new exciting people is one of the remits here so this part of the day is now important.
5.45 – 6.00 – Cup of coffee and walking around the kitchen (I do all my thinking and come up with some ideas whilst walking around), put notes in my ideas book.
6.00 – 6.30 – walk for two miles or some other form of exercise.
6.30 – 6.40 – Meditation or relaxation
6.40 – 7.00 – Write for new ebooks or work on the blog, follow up with connections.
7.00 – 7.15 – Get the boys up for school and wake Sharon up to get ready for work
7.15 – 7.30 – Shower, brush teeth. Make sure the boys are actually up
7.30 – 8.00 – Spend time with my wife just talking about the day ahead, dreams, chilling. Having breakfast with Sharon, toast and tea whilst boys watch a little TV (if they are ready 
)
8.00 – 8.15 – Last minute preparations to get house in order, school bags, lunches for the boys etc, kiss Sharon goodbye (very important )
8.15 – 8.30 – Take boys to school
8.30 – 8.45 – drive to work whilst listening to a business or personal development book on my ipod
8.45 – 12.00 – work as addiction worker
12.00 – 13.00 – Go home for lunch and check in with connections, have a 10 minute Micronap. Grab a coffee, open letters.
13.00 – 16.45 – work as addiction worker
16.45 – 18.00 – Spend time with Sharon talking about our day, chilling, cup of coffee and talking with boys if they are around. Take them to clubs if necessary.
18.00 – 19.00 – Write, emails, connect, put dinner on if I am making it, otherwise Sharon will do it.
19.00 – 20.00 – Sit down to dinner with Sharon and the boys and talk about day
20.00 – 22.00 – Coaching calls, write some more, deal with more emails,
22.00 – 22.15 – Get the boys ready for bed and hug goodnight
22.15 – 11.30 – Chat with Sharon, watch TV, read
11.30 – 04.30 – Great nights sleep
This routine obviously changes at the weekend. Friday night is movie night and we sit in to all watch a movie together or go to the cinema if there a good movie we all want to see (Looking forward to seeing Inception)
I still get up at 4.30 – 5.00 on Saturday and Sunday and work a little longer as Sharon doesn’t get up until around 9am and the boys around 10am. So weekends are family time and I’ll do a little work when Sharon and the boys are watching TV, later on.
5 Benefits of Getting up Early
1. Start the day excited
I honestly wake up feeling excited about the day ahead and getting up early makes it all the more special as I love the solitude of me being the only person up at that time. I value my alone time and this is the great time to start whilst I have no distractions.
2. Productivity
You can see a large part of my day and a lot of my work is done from when I get up at 4.30 to 6.30 and it’s within these hours I get a lot of my online work completed or started. Without getting up early there is no way I would have the time to fit these important tasks into my life without it eating into my family time and work time, so the family/work balance is totally balanced out.
I also get time to exercise and relax with meditation or relaxation, and there is no way I would do this if I was getting up at 7.00 and rushing around getting myself and the boys ready.
3. Get time to chill out
I actually enjoy my half hours with Sharon in the morning, just chilling and talking about the day ahead and it relaxes me before going to employed work as it’s quite a mentally draining job.
4. Prepared mind
My mind is not all over the place in the mornings. It’s actually a serene time, I’m chilled, relaxed, and happy. This is the time I am mentally preparing for the day ahead and before I go to work later on I know exactly what I have to do for the day ahead which means I can cope with unexpected events which happen at work much better.
5. Work on my life goals
I have to admit to being extremely lucky in that I have a job I love doing in the addiction work field and I love, even more, my online work: coaching, writing, blogging etc If I hated my job it would be a lot harder to cope and I think I would feel more anxious, but for now I have time to work on my goals of doing my online work full time.
There are many more small benefits to being an early riser but for me the 5 above shine above the rest.
There are ways to train yourself to become an early riser and my research has shown I unconsciously meet all the right conditions to help me become an early riser.
How do you feel in the mornings, are you an early riser or do you dread getting up out of your warm, cosy bed ? Would love to hear your thoughts on this, leave a comment below.
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But what about the compulsory 7 hours and a half of sleep per night? Aren’t you feeling dizzy and tired?
This is totally fascinating to me. I have always ‘needed’ a lot of sleep. But over the last 6 years I have been living with ME/CFS, which has complicated my relationship with sleep. I’ve been feeling a bit better recently and I am currently sleeping from 10 pm to 8 am. I have tried to have less but it just makes me feel AWFUL. But for me this is a major step forward. A year ago, if you can possibly believe it, I was sleeping more. So at the moment, I am happy that I am moving forward and make the most of the time when I am awake!!
The way you describe your day is my fantasy life!! It’s like a text book answer for how life should be lived. It’s very impressive and inspirational. Please tell me you have moments when you do something wild, like slob on the sofa for an hour!!
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Hi Karen, that’s great that you are moving forward. I think illness will definitely have an impact on our sleeping pattern, as sleep is a major repairer of our bodies, which is why we sleep more when we are ill.
Slobbing out is a luxury
however I do lie on the couch on a friday night when it’s movie night, unless we are going to the movies like tonight.
Must admit – I hate mornings. (Probably because I don’t particularly like where I do the work I love.) My mornings start at 6:30am and I putz around the house, listening to music and debating if I want to make coffee or stop by the gas station/convienence store/cafe to buy coffee. At 7:15, I realize that I need to take a shower and get ready, but sometimes I still don’t feel like it. At 7:30, I panic and rush to get ready so I can arrive at my job (usually 5-10 minutes late if I stop for coffee or left late). Occassionally, I walk at lunch (13:00 – 14:00). After work (17:00), I go home and make dinner for myself.
Usually work for my weekend job or something else I need to do and finally crawl into bed around 22:00 – 23:00. Repeat next day (usually 6 to 7 days a week).
Weekends are change of locale (my weekend job is an hour from my home), but the time spent is about the same except usually involves connecting with various people or dealing with inane problems.
Am working on changing it, but some days, I wonder if it is even possible. Yet – I still try – there has to be more to life than this.
Hi Carrie, I have totally been where you are just now and you can and will change it. Know what you want to change it to and never take your eye of the dream ahead of you, soon the dream slowly fades into reality.
I very much enjoy your blogs. I have improved my quality of life and those around by implementing your ideas. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Thanks you for your kind words Joan I appreciate them.
Hey Steven,
Thank you for sharing this, it really gives us a great blueprint in how and what to do with our day.
The most memorable list out of them all to me would be: 7.15 – 7.30 – Shower, brush teeth. Make sure the boys are actually up”
reading that really takes me back to when I would have to make sure my younger siblings woke and got to school on time. I was in charge of that task each morning growing up.
It would usually take 4-5 tries, the 5th one ended in me yelling my lungs out–every, morning.
Cheers!
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Hi Parker, I forgot to mention the part where I yelled at them
However the boys are much better at getting up now than they used to be and I think the oldest is following in my footsteps, he jumps out of bed in the mornings.
Hi Steve,
Being an early riser can help to set the tempo for the rest of the day. I do agree with you that the early hours of the day can help us to get some serious work done.
If anyone is complaining about the lack of time to get important things done (tasks that bring you nearer to your goals), just wake up an hour earlier may be the solution that you need.
Cheers,
Vincent
Vincent recently posted..If You Don’t Track The Numbers In Your Life Now- You Will Regret It Later
Hi Vincent, Thanks for your comments on this.
I can empathise with others who say they need their sleep and couldn’t get up, but it’s all about setting up the right conditions and a bit of self belief and of course motivation: no point in waking up early if there’s nothing exciting to get up for
Hi- I just love reading your blog, so I had to leave a comment to let you know so. Anyway, I have to admit that I love my sleep, but I’ve come to realize that I feel so manic and out of control when I try to get as much sleep as possible waking up at 7am and having to rush around to get out of the house and to work on time. In such a state every unexpected thing seems like the biggest disaster in the world and feels hard to cope with. Recently, after having twins and returning to work 2 months earlier than planned due to HR’s miscalculation, I’ve been forced to get up early before everyone else to prepare. It makes a world of difference. Sure, I’m tired, but I now feel as if I’ve accomplished a lot before the day really gets going. I also feel as if that early alone time while preparing uninterrupted kind of gives a bird’s eye of my day… who I need to call , what needs to be done, who needs to be dropped off where, what appointments etc.. I love how you outlined your day. I know I can do a better job of actually plotting my day to maximize my time. Thank you for this post!
Hi Latoya, thank you so much, it means a lot when someone leaves a comment for the first time.
Once your body got used to getting up at that time I am sure you wouldn’t be quite as tired. it’s all about resetting your body clock which then resets your body temperature (very important).
Thanks again Latoya, I appreciate your comments.
Steve,
What a wonderful post. As I read your morning routine I was sensing how calm it must be to be the first one up and to experience that delicious solitude that we creative types need and crave.
How fascinating to learn that you work as an addiction counselor. Now I see and understand why you’re so passionate about personal development. What a great insight into your personality you’ve given us.
I think not having to wake up with an alarm clock is one of the greatest benefits of all of being an early riser. I do intuitive work and many of my insights come from my dreams. On the occasions that I do set the alarm clock I always find that the alarm interrupts an important dream and causes my memory of the dream to completely evaporate!
Thank you so much for this inspiring post!
Hi Angela, it’s a very serene time in the morning, I just love it.
Not having to wake up with the alarm clock is one of the best few weeks training I gave myself all those years ago. when you do this your body’s sleep cycle automatically sets itself and you get the right amount of sleep and wake up after a sleeping cycle. With an alarm clock you are often interrupting a sleeping cycle, which last for around 90 minutes, that’s why we are often tired and groggy when we get up with n alarm clock.
Thanks for your comments Angela.
Steve,
I have a passion for enjoying the mornings and making the most of your day as well! Often times, my problem is staying up way too late working then I miss out on the early wake up.
Vincent has a good point too – sometimes its that one extra hour of time to focus and that’s all you need to get everything done that you need.
Best,
Mike
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Hi Mike,
I sometimes fall into the trap of working too late and ended up missing the early morning. I find that I feel more lethargic for the day when I slept late.
Vincent
Vincent recently posted..If You Don’t Track The Numbers In Your Life Now- You Will Regret It Later
Hi Michael. I’ve done that a lot in the past when I was single. The key to that is sticking to a daily routine and your body gets used to it and can self regulate itself.
I’m personally more creative during the night hours. If I found an idea for a blogpost during the night, either I write the whole post on paper immediately or I wait the morning to write it.
It is nice to write a post in the morning based on ideas I had the day before because I’m not that creative in the early hours as I said.
When I finish to write the posts in the morning I like do some meditations, jogging, yoga or energy medicine.
Hi Louis, thanks for your comments. the night time can also be an inspiring time for creativity and there’s a lot of night owls about
I think exercise is one of the keys to being en early riser for a lot of reasons.
I just find that there isnt enough hours in the day not to get up early. When you wake up early you get more hours to play with and if you maximise those hours you can get more things done and be more productive just like steve said.
I once read somewhere that the rich and the poor have one thing in common and that is that they both get 24 hours in a day and what seperates the rich from the poor is what they do with their 24 hours.
I really like your blog steve, how do I go about submitting a guest post?
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I think a lot of of the most successful people in life sleep very little. A lot of that has to do with the excitement of doing something they love and make money at the same time.
I have sent an email to you re a guest post.
Dear Steve!! I am sitting here laughing! You blow my mind. Geeez! Just last night while writing the guest post for you (with my dear husband sticking in his 2 cents worth, which was brilliant) we got talking about you, and I said to him I don’t know how Steve does it all, writes all those books (my agent is nudging me to finish my second one, which I REEEEALLY want to do and am doing), and do all you do with your blog, work, family, kids, and so on. And then (believe it or not) I said to my sweetie, I sure would LOVE to see Steve’s schedule!!!! I KID YOU NOT! And then I wake this AM and here is your schedule. I laughed my face off, right out loud. Okay!!! I too am an early riser. So you are REALLY inspiring me. This is GREAT!!! I am going to make a schedule for myself. And really map it out. The saddest part of all this LOL!! is that I’ll have to start leaving shorter comments both on my own blog and others. ((((Sigh))) LOLOL!! And will need to learn the art of brevity.
(I’ll start after this comment. 
Was glad to hear you walk or exercise in the AM. You and our dear kind “Mr.JWells” both inspire me to stay fit and exercise. Like Jonathan, I want to be the most fit I’ve ever been by 60. I know it’s possible. Lance is another one who inspires in the same ways. I think you know him. He’s a dynamo too.
Anyway dear friend I am forever grateful for being part of your life and work, and look forward to all we both are doing. You are one heck of a role model. And I am very very grateful! Hugs to you, Sharon and the boys. Robin
I read your thoughts Robin and said, what Robin wants Robin gets and voila
I laughed when I read this picturing you speaking with your husband about and then seeing your face this morning.
I thought you might be an early riser, to catch natures glory and do your hillwalking.
You are not going to leave any long comments
It must take up a lot of your time as I have seen your comments on others blogs and they are certainly detailed. One of the best things in writing a post is seeing one of your comments as they are always so positive and encouraging.
I know Lance, although I haven’t visited his blog for a while. A Jonathan is doing great just now with his writing and his fitness stuff.
If this is the last long comment Robin, I want to thank you for everything you have done for me, my blog and my personal development. You are a true inspiration and I wish you and your ‘sweetheart’ everything you wish for yourselves in life.
Hi Steven,
I find the old saying to be unfailingly true: “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.” When we are marvelously obsessed with our passion time will accommodate us.
Hi Rob, never a truer word spoken my friend.
Steve,
I strongly dislike mornings. Recently I have been doing a lot of reading on the benefits of starting your day earlier and I am convinced it would make me have a much more proactive day. It is just so, so, so, hard to get out of bed in the morning. I am curious about when you made the transition. How did you do it? Did you go cold turkey or gradually wake up earlier and earlier until it became habit?
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Hi Frank. The biggest factor in getting up early is excitement. I cannot think of a better reason to get up than being excited about writing, about connecting with readers, about making money and about being one step closer to my goals.
Hey Steven,
I’m a really early riser myself. I tend to get up at 6am and usually I tend to get the largest chunk of my work done early in the morning. There’s no doubt that rising early has played an integral role in everything I work on. Waking up free of distractions when everything is a bit quiet allows for a very productive day.
Hi Srivinas. Being distraction free is fantastic so I know where you’re coming from. I know for a fact that this blog would have been languishing in the wild if I wasn’t an early riser.
I’m surprised that you called this ‘benefits of being an early riser’ as opposed to ‘benefits of being a natural riser’
The benefits of waking of waking up naturally trump waking up at a specific time. Even if you wake up at 8am the benefits of doing it naturally are so much powerful than anything else.
It’s amazing that you do wake up naturally only after 5 hours of sleep. Naturally I sleep around 7 hours but when I used to use alarm clocks I did do about 10 years of about 6 hours sleep or less. I don’t believe the experts when they say we need 8 hours of sleep. The quality of sleep IS so much more important than how much.
Great post Steve and I say this, that it takes something special to be able to able to what you do so kudos to you and it’s wonderful that you’re spreading that message.
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Hi Amit.
you’ve made a fantastic point there about waking up naturally and I think that is one of the key points about waking up early. When we wake up naturally our sleep clock takes care of itself and gives us just the right amount of deep sleep that we need to replenish our bodies. The key here is to set up the right conditions for a great sleep. if we are busy thought the day we will naturally get a great nights sleep with more deep sleep than someone who is not so busy and sleeping way too long.
I too don’t believe that we all need 8 hours of sleep and honestly do not understand how research has shown this. How can a scientist know if the mortality rates are higher for people who sleep less – it would involve the scientists following thousands of people for years and years to know this, it’s just not possible. however, nobody seems to question this ‘research’.
thanks for a great comment Amit.
I always love your input Steven and this post is no different. Thanks.
We are all different — with different ways of organizing our days — which is probably a good thing. JoAnn and I get up early too, what I think of as early anyway, 6am. or so. But we wake up at least half-hour before that, because we enjoy half-an-hour hugging each other before we get up. I hug JoAnn for 15 minutes or so then I turn over and she hugs me….
I may be biased, but it’s my sense this gives us a wonderful start to the day. Whales…horses…all the natural world enjoys touching and hugging and we should find time in our schedules to do the same don’t you think???
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Hi Christopher. I am a huge fan of ‘spooning’, for me it’s always a great ‘spoon’ at night as I am falling asleep. I am a huggy person and hug my wife and kids at least 10 times a day, so I totally agree with you
Hi Steven,
I became an early-riser after my Son was born and it became clear I had no choice in the matter! Anyway the habit stuck and I am always awake before 6am now (including weekends). I actually wish that I COULD sleep in at the weekend and have a lazy morning but I just can’t seem to do it. Incidentally, I am typing this comment at 5am on Saturday morning over here in Perth!
I do love being out of bed before the sun comes up. You get some really dramatic “red sky at mornning” sunrises in Australia and, I don’t know, you feel like you are experiencing something special and a bit secret. I wouldn’t swap that for another hour in bed….
Hi Gareth, that would be amazing to see the red skies of Australia in the morning. Our skies in Scotland are not quite as dramatic, but nonetheless are still beautiful and calming.
It’s great to meet a fellow ‘lève-tôt’
Fascinating, Steven. I’m just the opposite. I’ve realized recently that I was sleeping far too little, and was quite sleep deprived. Now, with more sleep, I’m feeling so much better, and although I may have less hours in the day, I’m more productive. Sounds like you are among the 5% of the population who is a natural short sleeper. For those of us who really do need the requisite 7 to 9 hours, though, it can be pretty hazardous to our health if we try to stint ourselves.
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Hi Patty. I honestly believe with training and the right conditions we can all be early risers and still feel good physically. I wasn’t born an early riser and like the previous commenter we trained ourselves either consciously or out of necessity.
Dear Steven,
I love this post and the balance of your life. Cool photo too!
I’m on the “opposite” side of the spectrum. Although I sometimes get up fairly early, late night is my most productive time. Oddly, it’s for some of the same reasons.
While the world is asleep, I can reflect quietly and feel so “alive”. Thoughts flow readily. It feels like a “magical” time to me.
I feel good in the morning when I awaken – happy to have a new day. Yet, my brain clicks into high gear at night. Do you think it has something to do with our body rhythms? Interestingly, my maternal grandmother and mother are similar in this regard.
It was fun to see what you do in a day. I love my other job as well and agree it makes it so much better that I do.
Incidentally, I worked a lot in the addictions with Terry Kellogg for quite some time and enjoyed that as well.
Warm regards,
Lauren
Hi Lauren. Having a day job you love is great, only thing is it it puts you in the nice position of having to choose which job you love more.
I didn’t know you worked in addictions.
Our body rhythms, or more specifically, our body temparature rhythms are different from person to person. Our core body temperature does not stay the same throughout the day and usually starts to drop at night, in preparation for your falling asleep. When our core temparatures are higher, usually in the morning, we are much more awake, then it dips in the middle of the day, picks back up in the afternoon and has a slow dip up until night time. It’s actually fascinating how the body regualtes itself. So your temperature rhythm must be slightly different. there’s also other factors such as the amount of light you get, melatonin levels, exercise etc.
sorry for going on a bit there
Steven Aitchison recently posted..The 5 Benefits of Being an Early Riser
Thanks for post. Very inspiring.
I am early riser, but i need lot of sleep, so my schedule is some kind of difrent, but if you can sleep 5 h so can I
Steven Aitchison recently posted..The 5 Benefits of Being an Early Riser
Great post, Steven. Now i understand what it takes to accomplish so many tasks during a day-sleep less:) and organize time better. But it somehow feels you are not doing anything spontaneous, like all your life is booked. is this true?
Hi Oana. No, life is not fully booked, this is just a typical day, this is not so much a schedule just an outline of how I spend a lot of my time. Just like being at work, that time is pretty inflexible as you know you have to be at work every week day, you just work the best way you can. thanks for your comment, much appreciated.
Steven Aitchison recently posted..The 5 Benefits of Being an Early Riser
I believe you become very productive as one begins to wake up before the sun rises. I think its a great way to enjoy life and be grateful for what you have. It’s something we should all investigate. Try it for a week and see how much you get done. I think you’ll be amazed.
Hi Jonathan, I would agree that a lot of work can be done before the sun rises and it’s good to give it a try in a structured way.
Steven Aitchison recently posted..The 5 Benefits of Being an Early Riser
Steven, I am very impressed – Very nice to read through your entire day’s happenings. I have been working hard at getting up at 4:30am but if that doesn’t work, 6am is my next best time to get up – I have yet to make it a habit, although I do it a few times a week and it is still a huge struggle to do it all the time. I think the benefits of getting up early are enormous – too many to even list in a book – and you have inspired me again to commit to my early rising. I am also thrilled you are part of the Daily Brainstorm team. Thank you for writing about early rising, one of my favorite topics
!!
!
Question: Do you feel you ever lack sleep? If you do, do you take naps beyond the 10minute one?
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Hi Farnoosh, thanks for your comments on this. We sleep in roughly 90 minute cycles which is why 6am might be good for you instead of 4.30.
I do feel tired around 12pm and take a nap when I get home at lunch, if I miss that I will take another one about 3pm, in the bathroom
which perks me up for the rest of the day.
It’s great to know you are part of TheDB as well, we have a great team going there.
I cherish that quiet time before the house wakes up. It seems in those hours I can get so much more done than I do at any other time of the day. For one, it tends to be uninterrupted but also because it is like everything is fresh then, how I think and feel, my writing, my intent. I am going to bd earlier lately to ensure I get that morning time for me. Very nice post. I love getting spoiled with a peek into the lives of others.
Hi CC, thanks for your comments on this I really appreciate it.
Hi Steve,
Growing up on a farm required rising early. Haven’t stopped. I love what Rob writes about time accommodating us. It’s so true!
Hi Tess, I know some farmers from where I used to stay and they are some of the hardest workers around. Rob is a wise man
Great Stuff!!!
Thanks Dani.
Thanks a lot, Steven, wonderful post. I’m thinking now to become an early riser. These are really a good thing!
Thanks for your comments Roman, much appreciated.
I’m visiting from The Daily Brainstorm.. and it’s 6:22am
I love to rise early without an alarm clock. I’ve done this for years, even when I worked I didn’t use one. I wish I got up earlier when I worked, though. I didn’t realize the benefits until I started staying-at-home. My morning are are my solitude time where I can read, blog, plan the day and get so much done. Now.. I’m off to mow the lawn before the kids wake up. Thanks for the inspiration 
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Hi Sarah, I think it’s an amazing benefit to waking without an alarm clock, that way your sleep cycle is not interrrupted.
Hope the lawn looks good
Hello,
What a great article! I admire you for your schedule, i personally don’t sleep a lot and enjoy waking up early to make the most of my day. Unfortunately, the lask of focus makes me lose a lot of time and I’m not as efficient as I could be, but that’s another problem!
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Lucie, you’ve hit upon an important point about having a lack of focus. I think if you have a goal or something you need to do then being an early riser is great, but without a focus it becomes a little harder. Great point.
I really enjoyed your article, as I just began reworking my own daily routine this week, in an attempt to get up earlier (5AM instead of 6:30AM). So thank you!! Like you, I find the early mornings to be very peaceful and creative … I spend the time meditating and journaling, reading inspirational material, then planning out my day, and I find that I feel much more relaxed and productive. My boyfriend usually joins me, and this is nice quiet time together.
Most mornings, I have the luxury of waking up without an alarm clock, but I don’t know how to start getting up earlier without one … Going to bed earlier hasn’t seemed to do the trick. It seems from one of your comments that you went through a transition period … Did you use an alarm clock for a certain number of days, until your body got into the routine? How long did it take? Did you take it in increments (ie. a half hour earlier every month, until you reached 4:30AM)? I’m thinking of buying one of those zen alarm clocks for the re-training period, as the rude awakening from a normal alarm has not been enjoyable this week … Cheers!
Hi Victoria, you’ve done the right thing there, maybe unconsciously. You body sleep clock sleeps in cycles of 90 minutes so going from getting up at 5am instead of 6.30am was a good move.
I wouldn’t use an alarm clock at all. If there is not going to be a consequence to you sleeping past the 5am, learn to trust your body and mind. Just before you go to sleep, take a look at the clock and tell yourself you will rise at 5am. Trust me, after a few days of this your body and mind will oblige and wake you, naturally, at 5am. When you trust your mind to awaken you you body will adjust it’s sleep clock naturally as well, the alarm clock often wakes you up in the middle of a sleep cycle which is why we feel so groggy sometimes.
hope that helps Victoria, let us know how you get on.
I wake up everyday at around 6:30 to 7:00 am, and what I normally do is to think of the good things I plan to do for the day (e.g. I’ll enjoy my tasks, I’ll be more patient, I’ll enjoy walking after work). This helps me start the day in a very positive manner.
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Hi Julius, that’s a great start to the day and a good tactic for life in general. Thanks for your input.
My husband and I are early risers as well. One huge benefit is we walk together every morning. We not only connect, but get in a little exercise. We do a lot of planning during that walk as well.
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Hi Colleen, that’s great that you do that with your husband, sounds like you are very connected.
Interesting and also hard to believe the daily routine of the author but definitely I just can’t ignore the importance of ealy rising in one’s life. It should be copmulsory to start your day early .EARLY TO BED AND EARLY TO RISE , MAKES A MAN HEALTHY ,WEALTHY AND WISE…………
Hi Nanncy, this is a typical routine, not set in stone. Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.
Dear Steven
Do you really sleep only 5 hrs a day? won’t you feel stressed in the office ? I mean are you following any other techiniques like Reiki or something ,to cope up with this ?
Regards
Rajesh
Hi Rajesh, yes I sleep 5 hours per day and have done for a number of years. As I get relaxation time during the day, I get more than enough ‘brain rest’ so don’t really feel stressed out.
Thanks for this post. My husband is an early riser too but I am more normal. I do like being productive though and am diligent to do that. Found your daily schedule interesting too. Blessings, Amy
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Hi Amy, thanks for your comment. I presume because you are normal people who get up early are abnormal
thanks Amy, appreciate your comment.
Dear Mr. Aitchison,
Maybe the following research conducted by the University of West-Virginia could be of interest to you:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hWunXgSv1HSFpl-vpz7RiYZ4BbCA
Kind regards,
Seporana
Hi Seperonna, this article might be of interest to you:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1182327/
I don’t have a lot of faith in studies like the ones above, while i find them interesting and useful, we are all different and I believe we can train our bodies and mind to do extraordinary things.
Thanks Steve. I bet it feels amazing getting up so early. You have the world at your fingertips when you wake while everyone is still asleep. So nice to have that calm before the day really gets cranking. Great points and very fun to hear a slice out of the life of Steve A!
Scott
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Hi Scott, it’s brilliant getting up at that time and it does feel amazing. Glad you enjoyed the post Scott
Thanks for your advice Steven. I’m a Law student. Most of the time I need to get up early to read lots of books, you know. This year, I feel that I have lack of motivation to do so. But now, reading your article , it made me think of changing everything to start over
.
Catherine
Hi Catherine, I am so glad this post helped you a little. Let us know how you get on.
Interesting post. I’m my most productive in the morning too – but I think 7am is early enough for me :p
Thanks for your thoughts on this Craig
I’m going to try and wake up at 6am and fit more in my day. Sometimes it’s easier to do things when you’re accountable to someone. I live alone so perhaps the people reading your site and yourself could be my internet mentors. Hope to be able to do it.
Also if anyone else would like me to mentor them just let me know.
I hope also to fit in more exercise (early morning is best)
6 – 7 am walk/jog around park
7- 8 am Shower, breakfast, read/meditation
8 – 8.30 am leave for work
9 – 5.30 pm work
6 – 7 pm dinner, read,
7 – 8pm walk/jog around park
8 – 9pm cook food for next day (lunch dinner) other chores
9 – 10 pm read relax meditate
10 – 11 pm
Good luck Lucy, let us know how you get on.
Wonderful…
I know this is the ONE thing that will alter my course of life – getting up early.
5 hours is enough for you!
My eyes itch and kill me if I just sleep for 5. I’ve decided to sleep for 7 hours. My body wakes me up on the dot after 8.
It’s a confusing phase Steve…
Hi Sridhar. Your body needs time to adjust and there’s lots of other things you can do to help you get a better quality of sleep so you won’t need as much. Give your body time to adjust it’s natural circadian cycle and you could get 5 hours and not have the itching etc.
I’m 24.6 years old. If I slept 1 hour less each day until I died, presuming I lived until the average life expectancy of a male in the UK (77.2), I would have added 2 years and 2 months of awake time to my life. If I sleep for 5 hours rather than 8 hours (more like 10 hours while I’m on Summer break from Uni) I will increase my awake time by 6 years and 7 months.
Wow.
Steven,
A friend just pointed me to your blog, and this and your post on how to get by on 5 hours of sleep a night are the first posts that caught my eye.
There’s about 100 years of research on sleep, and in the past decade a great deal more work using new technologies of functional MRIs and other tools of neuroscientists. There is a greater and greater understanding of how sleep functions, and on our individual needs for sleep.
I am far from an expert on sleep, but everything I have read is quite clear–there is natural and generic variation in our sleep patterns and habits. Most people are neither morning nor night people, but a significant percentage of the population are. There’s an important evolutionary reason for having people in a community with a variety of sleep patterns: having someone awake most of the night means that someone can look out for predators. (John Medina in “Brain Rules” talks about early and late chronotypes as well as the neurological significance of sleep to healthy brain function.)
I think it’s brilliant that you’ve found what works for you, and I am a huge, huge believer in our ability to shape our thoughts (that’s what my work is about). I also believe that creating an optimal environment and set of habits for sleep is important, and notice a big difference when I do that.
But, the more researchers explore the function and biology of sleep, the more important following our individual and natural rhythms becomes, as Amit says. It’s not about mortality rate. It’s about cognitive function, physical function, mood and more. There are clear variations in what works for different people, both for quantity and timing of sleep. It sounds like you’re a genetic outlier, the 6’8″ basketball player of sleep.
This is a great opportunity for people to get curious about what really does work for them when it comes to sleep, and if they’re a person who has a great deal of flexibility (it sounds like you do) or has hard-wired genetic programs that point to a certain amount or timing of sleep. I’ve played with this myself, and am clear that I’m a night owl, and need a clear eight hours. This is how I’m most productive and creative, clear and simple.
My two favorite snippets about sleep come from very different sources. One was an interview I heard with a University of Washington sleep researcher a couple of years ago (I’m paraphrasing here):
“How many hours of sleep you need is genetically driven. Trying to change how much sleep you need is like trying to become taller.”
And from a brilliant co-worker who, like me, started to function at high levels after lunch and peaked very late in the day:
“Many years ago the early birds took the moral high ground, and we’ve got to get it back!”
I’m looking forward to exploring more of your posts!
Barak
hai steve,this early rising stuff always attracted me as i am finding it very difficult to follow up.i m fed up with the ruh in the morning.but ur schedule definitely inspired me.than a lot.
sruthi
Thats such a lovely post! Really enjoyed reading it. I am usually a nocturnal person and I get most of my work done during late nights. However, at times, it leaves me a drowsy and not-so-fresh person during the daytime. Hence, I would like to change my habits.
I want to try being an early riser and would love it if I can get much of my work done in the early mornings. This is indeed an inspiration – I am certainly going to give it a try! Thanks a lot!
Dear Mr. Steven,
Getting up at that time (bet. 4.30 to 5.00) is always a challenge to me. Now I am 49 years old. I know not what to do. Am I lazy or behind lame excuses? But Mr.Steven I do know the big benefits of getting up early. Agree with you 100%
OK… I will try to improve….God help me…
Thanks >….Hari
The Five Benefits to Being an Early Riser is a good concept. It confirms some of my thoughts and provides a good outline. My day starts at 5:00 am, and I arrive at the gym by 5:30 am. I have to agree with you, being alone in with no distractions allows me to “Free My Mind” and focus on my goals. I value my alone time. In my line of work as a Basketball Skills Coach, I just need my sleep after training 5 or 6 clients.
I also appreciate the balance of meditation time & family time that this outline offers…Good Job, you hit a half-court shot with this post.
I really admire you for this Steven. I’ve been thinking on this over the last few days and have a bit of an ambition to get up earlier than I do. My wife wakes early. I got up a little earlier today. It’s easier now that spring is approaching.
Compared to you I lose quite a bit of time travelling. It’s 45 minutes to an hour for me to get to work and the same returning. I’m hoping to get back to working closer to home soon now that the pilot project I’m working on with my organisation is drawing to a close.
I think I need to buy your book and will look at sorting this by the weekend.
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