Many successful people attribute their habit of waking up early as a major factor. In college, it can often be tempting to schedule all your classes after noon and sleep in until 11:45 a.m., and this can be especially true in the summer. There are a number of advantages to making the habit of waking up early a part of your daily routine.

1. Better sleep.

SleepScientists have shown that by going to bed early and getting up early, your body is more in tune with the earth’s natural circadian rhythm, which can help with falling asleep and staying asleep through the night.

2. Exercise.

Getting up early can give you more time to exercise during the day. Exercising in the morning can energize your day and boost performance for hours after you finish your workout.

3. Less distraction.

When you wake up early in the morning before other people, you are free to focus on things that are the most important to get done. By getting the most important things out of the way early in the day, it frees up the rest of your schedule and you can stay ahead of the curve and work on things before they become overwhelming.

4. Waking up one hour early every day would give you an extra 15 days over the course of a year.

That’s over two weeks of time you can put toward school or something you are passionate about.

5. Studies have shown that people who identify as a "morning person" have higher GPAs than people who identified as "night owls."

This study by a Texas University shows that students who got up early had a GPA a full point higher than the people who slept in. They are also more productive during the day and more efficient with their time.

A person who wakes up early can often accomplish more before breakfast than someone who sleeps in can accomplish in their entire day. Waking up early takes time to adjust to and often isn’t easy, but after making it a habit you will truly find how productive you can be during the day and wonder why you didn’t start it sooner.