Reasons to wake up early, even if you hate it

This only applies if you're a woman, unfortunately. Still, promising research published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research revealed that women who get up earlier are far less likely to develop mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders than those who sleep later.

This makes a lot of sense, especially given how restorative sleep is for our physical health — it makes sense that the benefits would carry over to our mental and emotional health, as well. It's hard not to get frustrated, annoyed, or even downright upset when we're exhausted. How many of us have overreacted when over-tired?

According to a 2014 study, early risers were less plagued with negative thoughts than those who stay up late and sleep even later.

Consider just how many of us tend to let our minds reel with stressful, anxiety-ridden thoughts when we can't sleep at night. While it's impossible to simply will away the negative thoughts or keep ourselves from having insomnia, it's worth working on trying to set good habits.

In a study of 367 university students, biologist Christoph Randler found that what they say is true — the early bird really does get the worm.

"When it comes to business success, morning people hold the important cards," he found. "My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which get them into better colleges, which then lead to better job opportunities."

He continued: "Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimize them, my survey showed. They're proactive. A number of studies have linked this trait, proactivity, with better job performance, greater career success, and higher wages."

Research has repeatedly found that those who get up early set themselves up for better quality sleep when they hit the sack that night.

Other research has shown night owls are more likely to develop sleep disorders and tend to sleep less overall than the early birds.

We hear all the time how important it is to get a solid eight hours of rest a night, and if you're trying to cram in your beauty rest in the few hours between midnight (or later) and whenever your alarm goes off for work in the morning, that's not likely to happen. If you get up early, chances are you'll be ready for bed earlier, setting you up for a good night's rest.