Before I start rattling off reasons why you should wake up early, let me tell you a little bit about the morning I've had so far.

I don't have class until 11:00 AM, but I was awake by 6:00 AM. I laid in bed leisurely until about 6:15 AM, cozy as can be, and scrolling through my timeline. (Come on, you know this is a vital part of your morning, too.) I finally got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and brushed my teeth. I came back to my room, took my medicine and vitamins, and stretched a little bit. I saw that my skin was breaking out a little bit, so I put on a face mask. I laid back in bed to let the face mask work its magic. Out the window, I watched the gorgeous sun rise around the skyscraper across the street. All of this before 7:00 AM.

I'm not saying that I jumped right out of bed and got to work cleaning, doing homework, or even working out. But this little slice of time in the morning is special to me. I can take my time to prepare for my day without the anxiety of being late or rushing around. The morning time is me time. Now, let me try to convince you why it could be you time, too.

Here are some reasons why you should try to wake up earlier than you need to.

1. Getting some peace and quiet.

I live in a fairly large city on a very busy, bustling campus. Somebody is almost always bound to be walking around on the street outside my window, at almost any hour. The exception to this is between the hours of 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM. The night owls have finally gone to sleep and the early birds aren't awake and out and about just yet. I can't even explain to you how damn peaceful it is around here in the early hours. Before long, the doors in my dorm building start slamming and I can hear the busses outside - so I cherish every tranquil moment I have before that.

2. Being able to laze around in bed (without feeling bad about it.)

This is a crucial part of my morning. I take at least 15 minutes to lay in bed, check my phone, get a few extra seconds of resting my eyeballs. I also like to look out the window at skyscrapers and the river that I live next to. For me, waking up early isn't about jumping out of bed or getting 'up and at em' immediately. It's about being able to take this time to wake up without feeling like I'm going to be late.

3. Sunrises.

4. Being able to target any potential day-ruiners early on.

Do you ever have those things that happen to you in the morning that just throw off your entire day? Like, you wake up and realize you don't have any clean clothes, or you forgot to do that homework assignment that's due today, or you look in the mirror and see a festering zit directly on your forehead? Same.

An amazing thing about waking up earlier than you need to is that you can eliminate some of these inconveniences before they have the chance to cause problems. No clean clothes? You have plenty of time to go do a load of laundry. Forgot to do your homework? No sweat, you have a few hours to get it done now. Festering zit? Slap on a face mask and spend some time getting the swelling and redness to go down.

You don't even need to wake up at an ungodly hour to go work out. Even a little bit of 'me time' in the morning is enough to jumpstart your productivity and set the tone for a good, productive day.