Waking up early is supposedly the key to success, but these wealthy late risers prove that hitting snooze isn’t the end of the world.
Self-help guides on entrepreneurship will all tell you the same thing. Wake up early, eat a healthy breakfast, do some exercise and then head into the office. According to many, waking up at the crack of dawn will make you a billionaire.
Once, before the emergence of computers, emails and smartphones, waking up early seemingly worked. There was no way to communicate with clients and colleagues outside of work hours and an early start meant that you were in the office bright and early to do what needed doing.
However, that is no longer necessary, as you can now work from your bed in the middle of the night.
Studies show that ‘morning people’ are happier, more productive and better problem solvers. However, other studies show that broken sleep (such as when you hit snooze and doze off again multiple times in the morning) can push your natural cycles out of sync for the rest of the day. Therefore, it is probable that the 9-5 schedule that the business world runs on simply suits early risers better.
Of course, training yourself to wake up in the early morning won’t cause you any harm. You are likely to be just as smart and productive. However, if the thought of waking up to the sound of tweeting birds makes you want to put a pillow over your head, you have another option. Don’t.
For every entrepreneur that swears by the importance of an early start, there is somebody just as rich and successful that prefers to roll out of bed as morning approaches afternoon.
Successful late risers that ditched nine to five
Ultimately, your sleep schedule is your choice. There are studies that suggest early risers are more intelligent, as well as studies that show late risers are richer.
What’s important is the amount of time and effort that you put in, as these three successful late risers prove:
Mark Zuckerberg
While the arrival of his first son has since thrown his schedule off course, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg previously admitted that he was ‘never a morning person‘ throughout Facebook’s early days. Rather than rushing to the office first thing, the social media king scrolls through Facebook, before moving onto his Messenger and WhatsApp messages.
Warren Buffett
The world’s second richest man believes that 20% of your actions produce 80% of your results. As a result, he is in no rush to get out of the door in the morning. While the legendary investor does rise early, he doesn’t head to the office until the stock market opens at 9:30am.
Alexis Ohanian
Alexis Ohanian helped to invent one of the top ten most visited website by working into the early hours of the morning. The Reddit co-founder has revealed that he still stays up late most nights. He sleeps at 2am and wakes at around 10am. The internet entrepreneur doesn’t set himself a specific wake-up time. He simply relies on his cat to get him up at a (somewhat) reasonable hour.
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This daily routine will keep you healthy, happy and motivated