How to Add 45 Days to Your Year
June 21, 2024
“An hour before 9 is worth 2 after 5.”
— Ali Abdaal
Last week, I interviewed Travis, a successful real estate agent outside of Pensacola, FL. Travis was juggling his growing professional success with his desire to spend more time with his wife and child. The solution was to start getting up earlier. He shared that he goes to bed early and rises at 3:45 am each day. In those pre-dawn hours, he gets ahead while the world sleeps. “At some point,” he shared. “I figured out that an extra hour every day is like getting 15 extra days.”
Here’s the math: 365 days x 1 hour = 365 hours / 24 hours = 15.2 days!
By getting up earlier, he was adding weeks to his years. 🤯
It was only after I got off the interview that I did the math. I think he’s actually underestimating how much an hour every day is worth. Most people work an 8-hour day. So each extra morning hour is the equivalent of over 45 work days!
My oldest son trained me to wake up early. I was on bottle duty in the morning and he’s always been an early riser. I loved those quiet mornings. Sunlight slanting through the living room and his tiny hands grasping my fingers around the bottle. I still rise at 5:40 am most days with or without an alarm or about 90 minutes earlier than I did before we had kids. That’s over 60 work days a year….
Some say parenting will take years off your life. Some days that feels true. But by training me to wake earlier, parenting added months to my years.
One question to ponder in your thinking time: What could you accomplish with an extra 45 days in a year?
Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The One Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent
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