Why producers should sleep more & wake up earlier

Sleep is something that’s often debated amongst the electronic music community. With work ethic being pushed extremely strongly by producers and industry executives alike, it comes as no surprise to learn that many producers and DJs are currently sacrificing their sleep in order to progress their career at an accelerated rate. But what are the benefits of sleep? And how can it make you more successful within the music industry? That’s what we’re going to discuss in this article.

Firstly, it allows you to have an incredible start to the day in a great mood. Many people within the music industry are familiar with the common scenario of being late for meetings, flights, or events due to oversleeping the previous night. But if you are awake relatively early, it allows you to wake up, and have plenty of time to complete any tasks you might have throughout the day. Instead of feeling tired and grumpy, you will be feeling positively motivated & ready to start the day with a great attitude.

If you’re able to wake up early, you can have time to eat a reasonably sized breakfast. Recognized as one of the most important meals of the day, it will give you the energy and nutrients needed to work hard and stay focused until your next meal. Being constantly distracted by hunger understandably hinders your productivity. Whether it’s grabbing a bagel from Starbucks or a bowl of cereal, a hearty breakfast will allow you to maintain strong production levels.

In order to increase the health benefits that a good nights sleep can give you, exercising in the morning can be a great time to get it done. With many producers sitting down at a desk for the vast majority of their day, the time for exercising is extremely limited. However, by waking up an hour or two earlier than normal, it creates room in your schedule to stay healthy whilst being able to focus on your work extremely efficiently.

High levels of productivity are one of the most important character traits to have as a music producer within the industry. Without it, your work ethic will be extremely low and thus lead to minuscule accomplishments in comparison to if it was a lot higher. For example, you can get more done within 6 hours if you have high levels of productivity than what some people may accomplish in a week. 

Also, waking up earlier will naturally affect your commuting time to work, or to the music production studio on the other side of town. Many people who are unmotivated may drive slower to get to their destination as they are in no rush to be there. But if you are waking up much earlier, you will have already been productive during the preceding hours, and thus be ready to start the day with a lot of enthusiasm.

Waking up simply to see the sunrise is another great reason why it’s a good idea to become a “morning person”. With the knowledge that you are already ahead of most people in terms of productivity of the day, it will give you the confidence and energy to go out & accomplish your dreams within the music industry. Also, it can give you a sense of gratitude – another great personality trait.

If you have goals within the music industry that you would like to accomplish, waking up early to review them is a great way to have increased levels of productivity throughout the day. After all, it renews your vision of what you would like to achieve and gives you the motivation with a fresh sense of confidence. By creating daily, weekly, and annual goals, it allows you to move closer with every single passing day.

With all that said, waking up early is not an easy thing for most people within the music industry. With the majority of producers staying up until 2 am to finish the melody of a new track, it’s understandable that new habits will take a lot of time to form within a schedule. Instead of making drastic changes, try going to bed 30 minutes earlier, and waking up 30 mins earlier than whatever you are used to. Once you get used to this new routine, adjust even further to an hour & then keep repeating until you are consistently waking up early and feel motivated for the upcoming day.

Instead of watching several hours of Netflix before you go to bed, consider skipping that altogether so you can focus on sleeping. By going to bed earlier, your body is naturally going to want to wake up much earlier than if you were watching Netflix. In order to stop hitting the snooze button in the morning, consider placing your alarm/phone in another room so that you are physically forced to get out of bed and move to another room in order to shut it off.

Instead of wasting this newly gained time whilst waking up a lot earlier, focus on what matters towards your goals. This may be starting a new track, working on a collaboration, or simply networking within the music industry. Whatever your ambitions are, it’s important to spend as much time as possible on them to accelerate the speed at which they are accomplished. By getting out of bed, you can focus on what matters, create lots of new opportunities, and ultimately generate a much more prosperous career for yourself as a music producer.