★ Money Challenge #6: Wake Up One Hour Earlier This Week

This is part of our Weekly Money Challenges. Be sure to check off any you’ve missed!

The Magic Hour is the hour between when you wake up and when you start getting ready for your day. (Most of us have a magic minute!) No shower, no email, no work, no breakfast! The magic hour happens before anything related to getting ready for the rest of your day. Many people claim to get more done before 9 AM than they do the rest of the day, and it's all because there are fewer distractions and fewer people wanting your attention.

This week's challenge: Wake up an hour earlier and do something for your finances/career/dreams.

Use the time to knock out a few tasks or even a major goal you've been putting off. Better yet, start a new morning routine that allows you to ease into your day more stress-free! Here are a few suggestions, but what you actually do with this hour is completely up to you. (And if one week is too much - do at least ONE DAY so you can see what it feels like!)

  • Monday: Go for a walk or read. (Let's ease into this, nothing too drastic!)
  • Tuesday: Finally pay those bills that have been piling up on your counter.
  • Wednesday: Get to work an hour early to impress your boss and/or do actual work.
  • Thursday: Start tracking your net worth!
  • Friday: Go over your expenses from the week and see what you can be better about.
  • Saturday: Work on your side hustle!
  • Sunday: Spend an hour in gratitude, thankfulness, and reflection.

Let us know what you plan on doing with your magic hour here or in our forums! (Actually do this!) – Derek, Master of Challenges ****** PS: For the results of last week’s challenge, click here and scroll to the bottom.

UPDATE!

Gotta be honest here... This challenge had mixed results. Not everyone is going to be a morning person, so not everyone took us up on this challenge! Here's a few reactions from over in the forum.

Actually, this is exactly what I do when I need to get a project done: I wake up an hour earlier each day. I consider it "found time" especially because there's a two hour window in the evening where I just know I'm not going to get anything done, so trying to leaves me frustrated and disappointed in myself. -Emillie

Hmm - I wake up at 4 AM right now. Not sure I want to wake up at 3 AM. But I can definitely vouch that getting up at 4 AM lets me get a lot done before the craziness of the day! -ChiefMomOfficer

In the winter, when it's still cold and dark when you wake up, I'm having more trouble with getting up in the first place, let alone one hour before. But I have the same experience as to the 'lost' hours in the evenings. -Divnomic

Every time I try to wake up early, the kiddos end up waking up early and then it just becomes torturous for the rest of the day... I have started to try to wear them out the best I can from activities that I do with them or making them learn and some days (like today) I get them both to nap for a couple hours and I can really get to work and start drilling down on some fun stuff! This is a great idea though! -SteveGoodwin

I know not everyone is a "morning person" but I'd totally trade the low energy hour from 9-10pm where all I can muster is watching TV for a high productive morning hour. - BigLawInvestor

Here's a fantastic post from ESI Money about how getting up early can help make you wealthy. And here's another from our very own J. Money on what he learned following Ben Franklins schedule for a week. See you soon for our next money challenge!