Be an Early Riser

I hear people complaining that they don’t have the time to do the things they want. Yet there is a simple technique that will allow them to add a month to their year. The math is simple. A 40-hour workweek means we will work around 2000 hours annually (assuming a two week vacation), or around 166 hours a month.

Getting up an hour early five days a week will add 260 hours of available time. That still leaves two days a week to sleep in. What could you do with an extra 260 hours?

According to Julia Cameron, author of “The Right to Write,” lawyer Scott Turow wrote his novel “Presumed Innocent” on his daily commuter train, while his fellow passengers slept, read the newspaper or talked among themselves.

The trick is not finding the time. It is taking the time to do what you want. It’s a choice: the Wheel of Fortune or a 30 minute walk. You make similar choices all day.

Some people use their extra hour to run. That never looked like fun. Most runners I see never smile. I have used my extra hour to walk. That is one activity I really enjoy. I also use my hour to meditate, to study and to write. After reading Julia’s Cameron book “The Right to Write” I started writing morning pages. She recommends three pages in longhand.
For some this early morning hour is their most productive time of day. There are no telephones, no interruptions, and no distractions.

Dale Carnegie, in his book “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” takes a different approach to adding an hour to every day of your waking life. His recommendation is taking breaks throughout the day. His theory is that you should rest before you get tired. “If you are over fifty and feel you are too rushed to do it, then buy immediately all the insurance you can get. …Your spouse may want to take your insurance money and marry a younger person.”

Just imagine what you could accomplish both being an early riser and taking breaks throughout the day.