Review: Becoming an Early Riser

Overview

Becoming an Early Riser is an audio program (with a workbook and transcripts, in MS Word and pdf formats). It’s by the coach Dave Navarro, and it’s aimed at anyone who wants to start waking up consistently earlier, but would also be very useful for those who are after a higher quality of sleep, or more energy during the day.

Price

$47, which seems to me about right. It’s not an amazing bargain, but it’s definitely not overpriced. As is standard with electronic products, Dave offers a 30 day guarantee.

What’s included

This was an impressively packed program, with:

• Introductory audio, and a self-assessment sheet to pinpoint areas to work on
• 20 modules, each with audio (usually around 4-5 minutes), accompanying transcript and worksheet

The self-assessment covers different areas of your day/night:

• “When the alarm goes off in the morning…”
• “When you go to bed each night…”
• “During a typical day…”

The program obviously goes much further than “how to get up when your alarm goes off”, covering your quality of sleep and your energy levels during the day, and dealing with physical and psychological factors that might be holding you back.

Clearly, no-one is going to need every module – which Dave recognises by including the self-assessment sheet, so you can figure out what tracks to listen to.

Good stuff

The audio quality is excellent – which I’d expect from Dave, and from a product at this price point.

As usual with Dave’s products, this is superbly well organised: you get an index page (which opens in your web browser) so you can very easily open exactly the file you want: Becoming an Early Riser is split into twenty modules.

And, also typical of Dave, the program is very much geared towards getting you to take action. This isn’t something you sit back, listen to, feel good about and ignore … the worksheets keep you on track, right from the first track when you complete your self-assessment when you figure out which modules you need. Dave’s a coach and he takes a coaching attitude here: he’s encouraging and enthusiastic (and this can’t help but rub off on you!) but he’s also very clear about the fact that you won’t get anything out of the course unless you actually use it to change your habits.

Throughout the modules I listened to, I realised that Dave had a wealth of scientific knowledge that backs up his advice. The course isn’t dry or technical at all – but it’s clear he knows what he’s talking about which, for me, was reassuring.

Bad stuff

There was very little that I had quibbles with. I found that the advice in a couple of modules didn’t work well for me: not eating within three hours of bed, and sleeping in a cool room. I rarely eat a big evening meal, and I’m generally peckish around 10pm –eating something carb-based, like a cereal bar, helps me sleep. I also find that my body temperature drops quite a bit when I’m going to sleep, so I prefer to be warm – if I try to sleep in a cool room, I’ll end up shivering and not dropping off.

So I’d suggest that you give all Dave’s advice a go, but – as with pretty much any advice – be willing to tweak it a bit if it doesn’t suit you.

Verdict

I’m still putting Becoming an Early Riser into practice (I was making good progress, then illness and visiting family hit…) but I’ve already seen some improvements to the quality of my sleep in particular.

I’d recommend this to anyone who, like me, is productive in the mornings and would like to get up a little earlier to make the most of them. It would also be great for those who’re suffering mild insomnia or sleeping problems, or who frequently experience a lack of energy during the day.