By Chelsea Babin

At the start of a new year your schedule may be more overwhelming than usual. The slow down of the holiday season is over and it’s time for you to recharge your work habits, your personal habits and your sleep habits. Yes, sleep is the foundation on which to build your success and chances are, you’re not doing it right.

Want to adjust your sleep so you can be more successful at work? Stop focusing so much on the steadfast rules of getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night, turning your technology off 30 minutes before bed and keeping your room as dark as possible. Although those are all helpful tips, they won’t help you consistently in terms of success.

If you’re having a hard time waking up on time for work, or early enough to get some technical learning/experimentation in before the daily grind begins, there’s one rule you need to focus on above all of the others. Set a wake up time and stick to it.

Waking up every morning at a consistent time will gradually adjust your body clock. You’ll rely less on your alarm clock and more on your internal clock to wake up and you won’t have to worry as much about hitting snooze one too many times. Getting up at the right time sets your day up for success. You can establish a morning routine that encourages you to make smarter decisions in the morning like doing problem-solving heavy tasks at the start of your day instead of checking email and wasting your opportunity to be productive.

Sometimes sleep is all it takes to build a successful career. Adjust your sleeping habits so that you have a consistent wake-up time and you’ll reap the benefits of added productivity and control over your day.