Be a Morning Bird: How Freelancers Can Become Early Risers

Most freelancers are night owls especially for those who have day jobs at the same time. Freelancers can sleep late and wake up late because they do not have a boss who would check their time in and time out. They take hold of their time and can work on any time they are comfortable with. But there are also freelancers who are morning owls. They sleep early and wake up early, too. Same as night owls, these freelancers also have much work to do but are more productive than night owls. Believe it or not.

Like some freelancers, I have experienced how it is to be a night owl and a morning bird. Being a morning bird feels much healthier and it also allows me to be more productive. Working in the morning feels better than working late at night. Well, that is how I felt when I tried waking up early but maybe you have different point of view for this matter. For those freelancers who would like to experience the benefits of being a morning owl, take a look at the tips below on how you can be an early riser. Read on and say bye to night owl and hello to morning bird.

1. Start slow.

If you want to become an early riser, you have to take it slowly. Drastic changes won’t do you any good. Start slowly by waking up 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Do that for a few days. Then if you could already wake up on an earlier time, add another 15 minutes earlier than the time you wake up. This way, you can gradually change your wake up time. You will soon be able to wake up on a time you want.

2. Sleep earlier.

Having the intention to wake up early means that you also need to sleep early. If you have work to do, leave your work for tomorrow. This can motivate you to wake up early since you still have some work to finish. Do not be hooked in doing other stuff like watching television or surfing the internet or playing games. Go to bed early and if you cannot sleep yet, you can read a book. At least that way, you might be able to doze off at once.

3. Place the alarm away from bed.

Set your alarm on a time when you want to wake up. Place it far from your bed so that you cannot just reach it to turn it off. The tendency of placing the alarm near your bed is that it’s either you will just turn it off or you will snooze it. Placing it far could force you to stand up. Well, some will just stand up to turn it off and then go back to bed again! But that depends on you now on how determined you are to wake up early. If that happens, think about the work you need to do, for sure, you would get out of bed if you realized that you have so much work that needs to be done.

4. Think of all the extra time.

When you are up early, you have lots of time available. Make this as one of your motivating factor to get out of bed. You won’t be rushing to do things. Instead, you will even have time to meditate, read books, exercise, check emails, interact in social media and many more. Set a time for those things before you finally get to work. You will be more motivated and inspired to work after that. If you also have extra time on other parts of the day, you can check Interesting Things Designers Can Do With Extra Time.

5. Set a good reason.

Think of a good reason to wake up. It could be an unfinished work, deadlines and other work related stuff. It could also be the morning sunrise, fresh air, a nice walk on the park with your special someone and others. Set something that can really urge you and motivate you to wake up early. It can surely be effective.

6. Consider rising early as a reward.

In truth, nothing can be better than being able to wake up early. Look at it as a reward. Think of the benefits you get from waking up early. Doing that is enough reason to be able to rise at an early hour. Even a mere delicious breakfast can make you feel good in the morning. Look for activities that could please you and could make your day’s beginning happy.

7. Leave your bedroom.

As soon as you have shut off your alarm, leave your bedroom so that you will not be tempted to go back to bed. Force yourself to stand up coz if you don’t, you will end up snoring in bed again and you will not be able to finish your work. You don’t want that to happen. You can also try invigorating yourself with water. Take a drink and wet your face.

8. Establish a schedule.

This can be helpful because if you have a list of things to do, you will really wake up to start doing them. But if you will not have a list of scheduled work, you might get bored and just jump back to bed. You can actually do a lot of things in the morning. You can include exercise, reading, cleaning and other tasks you want to do. After all those things, you can begin working already.

9. Look into having a delicious breakfast.

Breakfast being the most important meal of the day could be skipped when you wake up late. When you go to bed at night, think of how yummy your breakfast would be. Think of what you can cook in the morning that will not merely fill in your stomach but can also improve your cooking skills. This can also sound exciting for you and would inspire you to get up early.

10. Be discipline.

No matter what you do if you do not have self-discipline, you will not be able to wake up early. Like any other habit, one really needs to be disciplined in order to break his habit of sleeping late and waking up late. No one else can help you with this but yourself.

It’s Your Turn Now

At first, it would really be hard to wake up early. You can even see yourself turning off the alarm a couple of times. Or you might also go back to sleep sometimes. But when you try waking up early, you will notice that it do great things to your body. It can also make your work even better. You could be happy with being a night owl but you will see that you can actually be happier when you become a morning bird. Have you tried this? What ere the benefits you acquired for your freelance job?