What could you do with an extra 2 months a Year?

Imagine what you could do with 9 weeks of vacation a year?  How much more productive could you be if you could fit 14 months of work into a 12 month schedule?  I imagine these are questions that you've probably never stopped to ponder.

Starting the first of this month and for the next 12 weeks, I've become a member of a weekly "Power Productivity" group aimed at increasing awareness, efficiency and focus in all areas of my life.  The chief aim of this past week has been to become aware of what I do in the first couple of hours of my day.  The goal is to have a definitive routine each morning to get the day off on the right foot.  Its called a Smart Start Ritual. 

As an integral part of my smart start routine, Ive decided to focus intently on establishing a set time that I get up in the morning.  This will allow me to fit the things into my schedule that I know would be of significant benefit to my well being but that I usually reserve for later "if I have time."  For me this includes, a regular predictable exercise regimen, daily stretching, journaling and spending quality time with my goals, promises and mediations. 

So for the next 30 days, 5:30am is the time that I will condition myself to roll out of bed.  That is essentially an hour earlier than I am used to getting up on a regular basis.

Why an hour?  I was doing some poking around about conditioning myself to become an early riser, and I came across this article by Steve Pavlina. (read the article here)   Upon reading this article I was awestruck by how much extra time over the course of the year one simple hour would amount to.  Its common sense really, one simple hour each day equals 365 a year which is the equivalent to roughly nine 40-hour work weeks.  Nine. Think about that, an extra 2 months of work weeks.  Obviously the time doesnt have to be spent on work.  It can just as easily be spent with family, fitness, reading, writing, being creative, or like me, a combination of all of the above.  When I think about how much more productive I can be with that extra time, it brings a smile to my face. 

That revelation alone is enough to give me the willpower to commit to rolling out of the rack one hour earlier each day. It can only get easier over time.