64. Get Up an Hour Earlier

The best hour of the day is the hour just before the time you are currently getting up. If you’re like most people, you schedule your wake-up hour so that you have just enough time to get dressed, grab a bite of breakfast, take a quick peek at the headlines or the morning news, maybe help get the kids off to school, and get to work by eight-thirty or nine o’clock. There’s not much time in there for lollygagging.

Imagine how nice it would be if you had a whole extra hour in the morning to do some things you’ve been wanting to do, like taking a walk (#63), or establishing your own morning ritual (#67), or just to have enough time for a leisurely breakfast with your family.

Adding an extra hour to your day, especially if you use it to do something other than work, is an effective way to relieve stress and to give yourself the feeling of having much more time throughout the day. This may mean going to bed an hour earlier, but an extra hour in the morning when you’re rested is so much more productive than trying to stay up an hour later at the end of the day.

If you’ve never had an opportunity to enjoy that quiet hour before dawn, I urge you to start doing so tomorrow. You’ll be amazed at the richness, peace, and simplicity it can add to your life.