I know everyone dreads waking up in the morning. I feel like the world is divided into two halves when it comes to this topic: early birds and night owls.
If you are someone who finds peace in the mornings, you’re probably an early bird. If you find peace in the quiet of the night, you’re probably a night owl.
I am personally an early bird. I think I developed this trait early in my childhood, probably because my parents are early birds themselves. Part of it was also because of a quote I heard when I was young: “The early bird gets the worm.” It somehow ingrained itself in my subconscious and I believed it deeply.
Even during my toughest medical exams, I never pulled an all-nighter, while all my friends were losing sleep and studying through the night for the same exam. I always believed that in order to convert short-term memory into long-term memory, I needed sleep. On the rare occasions I did try to stay up, I ended up in a really bad state—either crashing on my desk during the exam, or sitting there with a foggy brain, forgetting even the simplest things.
Recently, I joined my senior residency (after my post-graduation). After exams, since I didn’t really have much to do, I started sleeping late and waking up just in time, which forced me to rush to the hospital. My mornings became stressful and my day felt chaotic and adrenaline-filled. I hated the traffic and cursed everyone on the road because I was late. That’s exactly how my first month of senior residency went.
Somewhere between those anxiety-filled mornings, I realized this was entirely my fault. If only I woke up an hour earlier, all this chaos wouldn’t exist. The next morning, I decided that this ends here and promised myself that I would wake up earlier the following day and see how it felt. So instead of 7:30, I started waking up at 6:30, which gave me that extra hour—an hour of thinking space. My life almost instantly started to feel very still. I was less angry at people, and there was a sense of peace. I could almost see a new and better version of myself.
WHY YOU SHOULD WAKE UP IN THE MORNING
To start anything new in life, we need a solid “why” to back it up. If you want to hit the gym, why do you want to hit it? Maybe you want to change how you look or just feel healthier. Similarly, if you want to wake up in the morning, the “why” behind it is really important. It helps you stay on track when it feels tough.
Before the world around you turns on, you get a few moments all to yourself. If you’re a parent, it might be getting something done before your kids wake up, or before your partner wakes up. It can be as simple as brewing your morning coffee and sipping it slowly. If you really struggle to get any me-time, this can finally give you that. This is vital because you should be investing time in knowing and being with yourself. Admit it—no matter how close someone is to you, we are rarely 100% ourselves with them. That last 1% belongs only to you. You can read more about this on my blog post.
Waking up early may sound simple, but the impact it has on the rest of your day is anything but small. That one quiet hour before the world starts moving can change the way you think, feel, and respond. It gives you clarity before chaos, peace before pressure, and space before stimulation. For me, it wasn’t just about waking up earlier, it was about reclaiming my mornings and, in a way, reclaiming myself.
If you’ve ever felt rushed, foggy, frustrated, or like your day starts before you’re mentally ready for it, waking up early might just be a starting point worth exploring. It won’t magically solve everything, but it creates room — and in that room, you get to choose how you want to show up for your day.
My next blog will be about how to actually wake up early
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