Would you like to add another month to your year? Would you like to have 13 months instead of 12 to help you fulfill all your ambitions goals and desires? If I told you there is a secret that anyone can implement to live a 13 month year in the space of a 12 month year, would you want to know how to do it? Or might you just think I am a raving lunatic? Thankfully, I can’t hear your answer, I am going to assume you’d be interested to know how to do this, so I am going to go ahead and just tell you.

If you want to live a 13 month year in a 12 month year and if you want an extra month in your life to get everything done that you need to, then the solution is pretty simple, some times unpopular, but exceptionally effective. Simply wake up one hour earlier every morning, and over the course of the year you will have accumulated the equivalent of an extra month of time. Pretty simple and pretty annoying at the same time right? I mean, getting up earlier requires a bit of hard work dedication and effort, right? I got up at half 7 today, but I aiming to try and get into a routine of getting up at half six in the morning. Eventually, I want to be waking up closer to half five every morning.

I learnt this time management gem from a prospective client I had a meeting with last week. He was an author and ex-journalist who I had the pleasure of meeting in Yorkshire to discuss a current web project he is thinking of launching. It seems he may well become an interesting and unique client for my current business. He is exceptionally well-read and a VERY successful business man. I really enjoyed his company and our meeting stretched to beyond 2 hours, only for him to invite me and a colleague for a bite to eat and a drink. Owing to other meetings and deadlines, we both had to decline. This guy dropped this little time management tip in the middle of our conversation whilst revealing that he actually gets up at 5.45 am every morning. For me, six 0′clock is an early start, and what he was suggesting sounded painful to me.

After some reading into the lives of successful entrepreneurs and business people however, there seems to be a pattern of good daily routines, rituals and early starts. It’s important to have a good routine and rhythm to your daily life, as it helps you perform at your absolute best. Armed with this tip and new information, I am pushing myself to make up some more time and get myself up even earlier in the mornings.

What is scary about this when I think about it though, is the amount of time I am potentially losing whenever I have a lie-in or sleep in. Food for thought.