I know, I know. In an age when it often feels as though were all hovering just three feet above some raging hellfire, with a creeping sense of exhaustion and/or despair that seems closer to the rule than to its shining exception, the last thing you probably want to do is wake up early.

No! You want to sleep in, stave off the days inevitable chaos and responsibilities for as long as humanly possible. You want to say, Self care! then snooze your alarm in a dizzied protest. Im with you. I swear. I really am.

Well, sort of.

In the interest of complete transparency, I should admit here that waking up earlier is a practice Ive personally taken up over the last year. My hope has been that I might carve out some more time in the morning and stop leaving home in such a dizzied frenzy.

I like to wake up at around 6:30 or 7 a.m., get ready, then do some quiet reading in bed before heading out the door for work. The result and this part is anecdotal is a clearer head, calmer disposition , and a face that isnt flush from running around in attempt to catch the train on time. It eliminates that panicked feeling I used to get from rushing around to get somewhere on time.

Most importantly, it allows me to start my day on my own terms, rather than terms dictated by whether or not I have enough time to do something.