Morning Day Seven – How To Add One Hour To Your Day

We all get just 24 hours a day. We are all blessed with 24 hours to use as we see fit.

Some days this does not seem like enough. We even convince ourselves that surely everyone else must have a 25 or 26 hour day. How do you sign up for that gig?

I was beginning to feel like I wanted to use one of the 24 hours to do something that I enjoy. I wanted to have some time for myself. Time to write, read, workout, or just have quiet time. Sip coffee and spend a few minutes in God’s Word. With two little girls, this was hard to make a priority in my day. I then decided to use the hours that I’m not needed by anyone. The early morning hours.

I set a goal to be up by 6 AM to get an hour (and sometimes more!) to myself before the rest of the house starts their day. After doing this for a week, I feel like I have been given an extra hour every day.

Up by 6:00 AM! I rounded a bit.

How does that work? Because am I not losing time in the evening when I decide to go to bed earlier? I would have to say no. I have two reasons for this.

• Have an intentional evening. Getting up early starts with going to bed early. Because I wanted to go to bed early, I was more intentional about how I spent my evening. I would have a vague schedule of how the evening should pan out before I tucked into bed for the night. Being intentional with my time was key in my next point…
• Lessen the mindless time wasters. The time I’m missing was hardly productive. What time am I missing each evening? A portion of the last hour would include sitting on the couch with my phone. Stalling. Staying up for no good reason. I do not miss the extra minutes I would spend on my phone. Not one bit.

No, you cannot add one hour to your day. What you can do is add more quality time. I would venture to say that it’s productive time whether or not you are checking multiple items off your to-do list. It’s productive if you spend a few minutes refreshing yourself before you move on with your day. If you take care of yourself using the time as you desire, it will help you start the day off refreshed and excited. You will also be energized.

It has taken me months to FINALLY succeed in getting up early. Even years – as I have always had this goal in the back of my mind. I then decided that this is important to me. This is a goal I want to set and succeed at. After just one week of getting up early, I am hooked.

This post is from day 7 of my journey to make the most of my mornings by creating an early morning wake-up habit. Read all about it here: How to Enjoy an Early, Joyful, and Productive Morning.