There’s something ethereal and serene about the silence of mornings. If you wake up early enough in the morning you see a world different than the one during the day. The silence and darkness feels as if the world is still asleep, and you are the only one awake with the exception of a few cars passing in the distance. A few months ago I made a significant change to my daily routine, instead of waking up with everybody else I decided to wake up before everybody else, and since then I have made a few observations about not only me, but the world around me. I would like to share some of those with you today.

One: Time

My morning routine usually consist of: showering, meditating for 10 minutes, gratitude journaling, cooking a small breakfast, then writing/ editing/ or learning something new. It’s very time consuming.

I used to wake up around 6am to 7am every day, and with work starting between 8 or 8:30 a full routine like one would be impossible. Once I began waking up at 5am I suddenly found myself with plenty of time to do what I wanted to do in the mornings, I was now working on my time, not my employer’s time. Another advantage of having more time is that I am able to get some chores out of the way, like laundry or dishes, which are way more easier to muster up the willpower to do when you are freshly awake than after returning home from work.

Two: Work

For many people work is the first thing you do after you give yourself time to wake up. Your sleep schedule is built around your work hours, your alarm goes off just in time to get you to work without being late. At least that’s how my life used to be, yet with waking up early I’ve noticed a huge perspective shift about work: rising early makes work a part of my day, not the day itself.

Before I even set off to work I have already been awake for three hours. Three hours of my own time that I can do whatever I want during them. When I get to work I’m already fully awake and alert that I hardly feel any mental resistance, and since I like to work on my own side projects in the morning I’m already feeling pretty accomplished before I sit down at my desk. Making work a part of my day, and no longer having my sleep schedule built around my hours has been the most liberating choice to my daily routine.

Three: Silence

Living with roommates can be tough in the morning, especially when all three of you are trying to get out of the door as quickly as possible. If you’re not first into the shower then you can find yourself without any hot water. Not to mention there’s plenty of dancing around each other in the kitchen between coffee machine, stove and pantry. The world outside of the apartment isn’t much different either: motorist are rushing down the highway, lines are filling up at Starbucks, and parking lots are filling up. The silence of the morning, even if you just wake up an hour before the rush, is like a small haven of peace before the world begins moving.

Within the silence the world feels empty, and at rest. Outside my window the only audible noises I can hear are the light chirping of the birds, and the occasional hum of a car traveling down the freeway. The sensation of silence in a busy city feels like you’re awoken in a different, more peaceful, world.

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Mornings are precious. The time they give you to allow you to awake and get things out of the way is worth it on its own, you can use this time to get personal or professional work out of the way as well. But the real perk of rising early to being able to see a silent world. If you have roommates or a family those extra hours of silence is nothing but cathartic, and the sleeping world outside is just quiet enough for you to appreciate the city or town in which you live.

Of course there are dozens of different ways mornings are great, many of which I didn’t cover like cooler air for running or biking, and breakfast food, but to me these three reasons are why mornings work so well with me. What do you like about mornings? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!