Research studies point to early birds having an edge over night owls in several areas of personal effectiveness. Is it possible – or even desirable – for midnight oil burners to change?
Although genetic factors may influence our leanings, it is possible to bring our day forward. And there are benefits to be had.
Early birds are inclined to:
- be more proactive
- focus better on long term goals
- anticipate and minimise problems
- perform better and get ahead at work
During my student days and earlier in my career, I was definitely in the night owl camp. These days, I’m more of an intermediate (I can’t think of a type of bird for that) – able to get up early when it’s important and less inclined to stay up late.
How do we change our routine and get off to an earlier start? Here are some suggested steps:
Pray about it
At the start, commit your intention to get up earlier to God and ask for His help. Reflect on scripture references to rising early (good examples are Psalm 5:3, Psalm 63:1 and Mark 1:35).
Change the label
Check how you label yourself. Chances are, if you keep saying: “I’m a night owl and I’ll never change,” this will remain true. Rewrite your ‘script’ along the lines of: “I’m used to staying up late, but I can and will take steps to change this.”
Earlier to bed
Everyone needs a certain amount of sleep – normally seven or eight hours. I may be stating the blindingly obvious, but if you want to get up at 6.30am, and you know you need seven and a half hours sleep, this means being in bed and asleep by 11pm.
Evening cool down
Adjust your evening routine so that you’re not over-stimulating your brain after mid-evening. As a keyboard player, for example, I try to avoid playing too much up tempo music as the evening wears on as I know it psyches me up.
Curb the caffeine
A big contributor to getting off to sleep late is excessive caffeine. If you drink a lot of caffeinated drinks throughout the day, try switching to decaf tea of coffee after lunchtime and you’ll see a difference.
Morning quiet time
If you don’t already do so, build a quite time with God into your early morning routine. For more tips on this, see my recent post ‘The best time investment you could ever make.’
If at first you don’t succeed…
If you do feel the need to make the switch to being an earlier bird and you don’t quite catch the worm first time, don’t give up. With persistence and by the power of God, you can make the change.
Question: what steps have worked best for you if you have made some positive moves in bringing forward your daily routine?
True Vine Time 