Tim Powell is not a “morning person.” This may come as a surprise, as he usually gets up before 6 a.m.
On weekdays, while most people are still asleep, he rises at 5:45 a.m. He exercises at home, gets ready for work, and then drives to the office. Before entering the building, he takes a walk in the nearby park to clear his mind, then sits down at his desk around 9 a.m. to start the day. On Thursdays, he even gets up at 5:20 a.m. to carve out extra time for a German lesson before work.
As a patent attorney in Nottingham, England, Powell works 70 hours a week. The demanding schedule forces him to organize his mornings meticulously. He says that having a consistent early-rising routine enables him to accomplish more throughout the day.
However, Powell wasn’t born an early riser. He admits that without the help of an alarm clock, he might sleep in later. “It’s something I’ve gradually developed,” he says. “You’re not going to turn into a superhero on your first day at the office.”
Powell is not alone. Many busy, successful individuals are early risers who enjoy focusing on tasks at dawn. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, is well-known for this habit: she wakes up at 5:45 a.m., plays tennis for an hour, and then starts her workday. Experts also believe that the time between waking up and starting work is ideal for personal or disciplined activities, though not necessarily job-related. Some use this time to exercise, others to spend quality time with family, or to focus on writing a novel. But how exactly can you develop the habit of waking up early?
Handling important personal matters before breakfast requires strong willpower
Develop healthy habits
“Regular routines are closely linked to healthy habits,” says Martin Hagger, professor at the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin University in Australia. Hagger specializes in self-regulation—how people control their own habits. His research shows that having a structured routine helps develop healthy habits because it reduces the mental effort required to make decisions.
“Once a routine is established, even those who prefer to sleep in can form the habit of waking up early to tackle challenging tasks in the morning.”
Hagger practices what he preaches. Most days, he wakes up at 6 a.m. to work out, eats a healthy breakfast, and starts his workday at 8 a.m. He says that if he postpones exercise until after work, he might feel too tired or get distracted by other things. So, he sets out his workout gear before bed and programs his alarm clock to wake up early.
If you struggle to get out of bed, try moving your alarm clock forward a little bit each day until you truly establish the habit of rising early.
But there’s no one-size-fits-all rule. Experts say there’s no strict guideline for when the best time to start the day is—everyone has different goals, schedules, and life circumstances—the key is to carve out a consistent block of usable time in the morning. If you struggle to get up, try moving your alarm clock forward a little each day until the habit sticks.
“That time tends to be less encumbered,” says Laura Vanderkam, author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. “Other parts of the day may be devoted to serving others, but the morning is all yours.”
Personal Matters
After documenting the daily lives of busy professionals, Vanderkam found that they use their mornings for personally meaningful or disciplined activities. “If there’s something you want to do but feel you don’t have enough time for in your regular schedule, I suggest getting up earlier,” she says. She adds that waking up early makes it easier to go to bed earlier, helping avoid wasting evenings on unproductive activities like browsing the internet or watching TV.
Preparing your workout gear the night before makes it easier to get up and exercise the next morning
The people she profiles in her book use their mornings to exercise, reflect quietly, or spend time with children and partners. One woman she interviewed dedicates her mornings to pursuing personal interests. “She explained, ‘I have a job during the day, but I have a career in the morning,’” Vanderkam says.
Mareike Wieth, associate professor of psychology at Albion College in Michigan, studies how different times of day affect problem-solving abilities. She says that “night owls” can gain just as much from waking up early as “morning larks.” She found that people often perform creative tasks better during non-optimal hours—so “night owls” should tackle such work in the morning, and vice versa.
She explains that during optimal hours, people have greater focus and are better at filtering out distractions. “But for creative tasks, you need more spontaneous thinking,” she says. “That’s when you’re more likely to come up with ideas you wouldn’t normally think of.”
Roy Baumeister, psychology professor at Florida State University and co-author of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, says that developing an early rising habit can also help people tackle work challenges. Baumeister’s research shows that willpower is a limited resource that depletes over the course of the day.
“Willpower is essential for resisting temptation, adapting to external demands, and making decisions—all of which are key elements of success,” Baumeister said.
Establishing a routine in the morning can help people reserve their willpower for more complex tasks. He explained that you don’t need to waste energy deciding between a doughnut or oatmeal for breakfast, or whether and how you should exercise—thus conserving willpower for more important decisions later in the day.
“Having a well-organized morning is a highly efficient approach.”