“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
Benjamin Franklin Poor Richard’s Almanac (1735)
Getting up early in the morning, even on days off, has many benefits that can translate into being more productive. Who doesn’t want to have better mental performance at the beginning of their day? An early morning means you’ll be happier and healthier.
People who rise early have time in the morning that is quiet with little to no interruptions. Early risers can go over schedules, make plans, study for school, and do reading or writing that is done undisturbed.
For students, this translates to better grades. On average, one study showed that early birds got a full point higher in their GPA than the night owls ‒ the difference between 3.5 and 2.5 (1).
Extra time in the morning is the perfect opportunity to make a healthy breakfast, which can decrease the habit of unhealthy snacking and overeating later in the day. It can also be a good window to exercise before the busy day begins and drains your energy and desire to work out.
Waking up early has a large impact on a person’s mental alertness, mood, and job performance throughout the day. Sleep inertia, the feeling of drowsiness, can last up to 2 hours. Waking early allows people to become sharp and ready for their day at their full mental capacity.
For example, “a study by Christoph Randler found people whose performance peaks in the morning are better positioned for career success because they’re more proactive than people who are at their best in the evening … Morning people anticipate problems and try to minimize them … A number of studies have linked this trait, proactivity, with better job performance, greater career success, and higher wages” (2).
Mental health is also greatly improved with getting up early. Research published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research revealed that women who get up earlier, especially those middle to older aged, are far less likely to develop mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders than those who sleep later (3). In fact, “morning types report greater overall experience of emotions associated with positive activation, including excitement, cheerfulness, and alertness, compared with individuals that wake up later (4).
Getting up early will lengthen your day, resulting in getting sleepy earlier in the evening. And that means getting into your sleep cycle more quickly. Going to bed early improves your chances of completing all four stages of sleep and cycling through them four to six times, making you feel well rested and rejuvenated the next morning.
It is clear waking up early can make an immediate positive impact in people’s lives. However, pulling yourself out of bed is easier said than done. Light Awake understands the difficulty of waking up early and has designed an effective alarm clock to help waking up early a healthy habit that you can stick with.
Light Awake uses pulsating light to gently rouse you from sleep. There are no sharp, piercing noises that startle you awake. Its flashing light is designed to stimulate your circadian system and comfortably move your mind from slumber to consciousness. This is the only wakeup system that is based on the physiology of our eyes and brain. 