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Subscribe to RSSThe urge to press snooze for just a few more minutes of sleep can be strong, but experts like author Laura Vanderkam say the most successful people get a lot done while the rest of the world is still sleeping. NBC's Matt Lauer reports and speaks with Vanderkam, author of "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast."
If you’re partying the night away and then hitting the snooze button endlessly the next day, you may be doing your career a disservice.
Many entrepreneurs and CEOs at the top of their games are morning people, and that’s one of the reasons for their success, maintained Laura Vanderkam, author of “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.”
“Successful people know mornings are a great time for getting things done, before other peoples’ priorities invade,” she explained. “So you can focus on important things.”
She offered a few examples of successful early risers:
- Steve Reinemund, the former CEO of PepsiCo who's now the dean of Wake Forest University's business school, gets up around 5 a.m. to run four miles
- Gretchen Rubin, author of "The Happiness Project," gets up at 6 a.m. to do an hour of work before her family wakes. She plans her day, does scheduling, social media, etc.
Indeed, being a morning person may make you happy, or at least less grumpy. According to a study released earlier this month from the University of Toronto, “early risers are happier and healthier than people who like to stay up late.”
Unfortunately, becoming a morning person if you’re a committed night owl is easier said than done.
If you want to change your nocturnal ways, Vanderkan suggested taking it slowly.
“Go to bed 15 minutes earlier and wake up 15 minutes earlier each day, until it starts to become a habit,” she advised.
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This article is poorly written...
I happen to naturally fuction very well on 2nd shift (12-10) schedule, some of us simply do not sleep or wake at dawn, and with the current technological and infrastructural situations it doesn't always make sense to anyway.
I am currently miserable in an 8-5 m-f job, I hate every minute of every day of it. I wake up feeling like crap, I have to try to force myself to go to bed 3 hours before I would normally go and often when I feel most energized. I get physically sick if I eat anything the first hour I am awake, and often on the drive into work I feel dizzy and lightheaded (no sleep meds).
Considering the way most cities power, streets, and other various resources all see the unnecessary slam at certain times of day due to stupid mindsets like this, I really think we are doing ourselves a disservice by not accepting that many many people out there are just as productive and as committed to the job, they just do not function as well on an artificially mandated 8-5 shift.
If you are forced to wake up by an alarm, you are not getting adequate rest. Plain & simple. Just because an author trying to sell books says otherwise does not make it true. All of the benefits the author mentions about early mornings is also true late at night.
I personally perform better when I am rested, not when I am sleep deprived. Some may say that the solution is to go to bed earlier. But if you're not tired, what are you accomplishing?
I love the Today show and this is the first time I have ever written in - that said, this was the worst segment I have ever seen. News flash - wouldn't every working parent love to get up early, go to bed early and be productive in the morning? If you are putting time and thought into your children, packing lunches, doing laundry, keeping a tidy house, properly paying attention to the family's health nutritionally and emotionally, and quite possibly having a job, then often having a hectic morning routine is unavoidable. Whoever wrote this segment must still be sleeping and dreaming. Sorry to be so negative but this segment bugged me.
Early for me with lot's of good quality coffee.
I used to have a really hard time sleeping at night. I suffered with insomnia for years. But after being unemployed for a while and feeling like I had no reason to wake up early, I found i felt depressed and like my whole day was gone when I got up. So I started forcing myself t wake up early. I wake up, usually around 7 and i get out of bed instead of rolling back over. it made a difference in my life. I began to become more productive, I started becoming more chatty with my husband and more positive and just a happier person all around.
And my insomnia went away.
It's pretty hard to stay awake at night when you wake up bright and early, you are busy all day, and go to bed exhausted. If I have nothing to do first thing in the morning after I have my coffee and check the inter-webs for news, then i go for a run. I read a book for in bed at night for about 15 minutes before I can no longer keep my eyes open and have to go to sleep. Now my internal clock has changed and I basically go to bed earlier and wake up early without even trying.
You can change your night owl habit.
Get with the times. I own a elliptical and live in the country nearest neighbor is about 3 acres away. I exercise when i want to while listing to great music on Pandora from directtv .
I generally hate TV , i love the Internet but i do record a few regular shows and watch news. I also love my job it is not stress full usually and it helps pass the time.
Like many older people, I get up early.... to use the toilet. I'm up out and about when the sun is coming up, and don't eat for the first 5 or 6 hours of the day. We have a TV which I use to watch the evening news, or science or history programs, but the drama of talent programs, reality shows, fashion and cooking, get rich quick, or burn off fat shows is a waste of air time, so I'm outside in the air where I can BS with other old guys and complain about all sorts of stuff, and tell stories, slightly embellished about big fish and game animals. Sure, my life is devoid of the tripe gripes of the extravagantly rich, but certainly not devoid of the well off who are out in their cruddy old clothes as well. Fresh air, exercise, and BS when the sun is just up has a lot going for it.
Everyone is different and not all people define success as having a great career. Some people may have satisfaction from their social life and their jobs are just part of their routine. Also, not everyone has a family or even cares to have a family.
Yes, I understand this is part of a study, but what no one can be sure how tilted the study might be.
I think the article ignores the fact that people do have different circadian wake-sleep cycles. My prime time is 1-9 pm and that's the best, most productive work schedule I ever had. That's not prime time for most businesses, but healthcar and many other businesses need people for various shifts. You may be able to make some adjustment in your schedule, but there are definitely natural tendencies of night owls and early birds.
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