Are you someone who cringes at a 5 or 6 or even 7 am wake-up call? Carol Roth, business writer and author of The Entrepreneur Equation, gets you. And, she is here to assure you that success doesn’t mean you have to be an early bird.

In a recent article for Entrepreneur, Roth, a successful entrepreneur, admits she struggles with mornings and, with input from several of her peers, shares advice on why it’s okay to embrace your snooze button habit. She writes:

Know What Works For You
Getting proper sleep is more important than waking up at a certain hour. And, if you are more productive at a late hour, that should be your priority…

Ross Andrew Paquette, founder and CEO of Maropost, has a nine-figure net worth. He wakes up between 9 and 9:30 a.m. He says, “I go to bed when my ideas are exhausted, not when I am. The early morning is overdone. If your best ideas come at night, work at night. Take sleepless nights as a sign you have something worth working on, then take those sleepless nights to work on it.”

Be ready to work when you wake up
Craig Wolfe, a multi-millionaire and president of CelebriDucks and Cocoa Canard, says… “I may sleep in, but when 9 a.m. comes, I am taking calls no matter what. To be most efficient, I have set blocks of time when I work on proposals, when I return calls and when I do public relations. It’s all a matter of scheduling your time and sticking to it to maximize your efficiency.”

Schedule, Schedule, Schedule
Regardless of the time that you wake up, a key secret to success is managing your schedule. Being more productive during your waking hours trumps getting up early and not being productive.

Natasha Nelson is a multi-millionaire who recently sold her Yogurtini business to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and now owns the toy company Kauzbots. She wakes up between 8 and 9 a.m. regularly.

She also gets ready for the next day the night before. “I plan out my next morning as the last thing I do at the end of my workday,” says Nelson. “I don’t have to take time to get organized and start making my to do list that morning. Since I do get emails and texts in the evening that are unavoidable, I always add them to my to-do list that I look at immediately when I wake up. There is no lapse in time from getting out of bed and work starting, and I don’t have to spend a half-hour or so getting my day organized.”

Create Strong Systems
Being successful means having the right systems in place to make the most out of your time, regardless of what time of day the clock says.

Michele Scism, a millionaire and business consultant with Decisive Minds, regularly awakens between 8 and 9 a.m. She says, “With systems and a great team you can sleep in and know things are being taken care of.”

Take Care of Yourself
Having a later-skewed schedule can make it difficult to find balance with things like self-care, family and more, but it is critical for your success. I can attest that getting in a workout 4-5 times a week is not only critical for my health, but allows me to clear my mind and give the best of myself to my work. I wouldn’t be able to be successful without it.

Whether it’s doing small meditation breaks throughout the day or using your lunch break or finding time later in the day to have some quality down-time for yourself and with your loved ones, finding some semblance of balance is definitely key to success.

To be successful, Roth concludes, you need to do what’s best for you instead of trying to fit into someone else’s model of success. Read her whole article here.

An authoritative voice in business and news media and an on-air contributor for CNBC, Carol Roth is a highly sought-after panel moderator and emcee who always ensures that “business is never boring”, making her a time and time again favourite with all audiences.

As a dealmaker, Roth has helped her clients, ranging from “solopreneurs” to Fortune 500 companies, complete more than $2 billion in transactions.

Interested in learning more about Roth and what she can bring to your next event? Email us at [email protected].