Reasons You Should Start Getting to Work Early

If you drive, there's less traffic on your commute or if you take public transportation, you might actually get a seat. A less stressful start to your day is exactly what you need.

When there are less people in the office, you can get more done without co-workers wanting to chat, supervisors wanting to scold, cubicle mates' music playing and general office buzz humming around you.

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By the time you've arrived at work, stuffed your lunch in the refrigerator, toasted your bagel, grabbed a coffee and caught up on emails and voicemails, precious time has flown by. If you start at 8:30am, try getting there for 8am and give yourself a headstart by getting all that crap out of the way. Then you'll be ready to tackle the day without feeling like you've lost a ton of time.

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Not only will you have the freshest cup of coffee of the day (not some swill that's been sitting there for an hour). Sure, getting to work first means you're making the coffee but people will love you for it, especially the latecomers who didn't have time to stop and need one now.

Lunch bags and storage containers accumulate quickly and if you're there last, it's like a scene out of a sitcom as you try to squeeze your food without everything tumbling out. Getting to work early means you get first crack at some prime fridge real estate. It's a small victory but a victory nonetheless.

Because of that half-hour cleanup time, you can now take a look at the rest of the day and prioritize. And going through that checklist as the hours go by will have you working more efficiently, thus feeling accomplished like never before.

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Setting your own pace means not feeling like you're drowning or struggling to keep up (or maybe catch up). Arriving to work early gives you a sense of control and that won't only change how you work but how you feel when you're there.

As people trickle in, you can determine who gets a quick hello or who requires more of your time. Either way, you get to take part in it all — on your terms.

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If your company is flexible, then getting to work early means getting to leave early. So if you've finished everything that needs your attention, you can peace out. Which means sitting in less traffic, squeezing in a workout, picking up the kids (and saving on after-school care), grabbing groceries and/or making dinner.

More times than not, the person you report to is one of the first people to arrive so if you get there ahead of others, there's more time for one-on-one interactions with her. Whether it's work-related topics or a show you both watch that was on the night before, you become more than just a faceless drone. You never know where getting in good with the boss can lead.

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