The adrenaline rushes to your heart and a terrible sound fills your ears. You jump out of sleep like a cardiac patient hit with a defibrillator. Your alarm is screeching next to your bed. It’s 5am. It’s cold. It’s dark. You feel groggy. You begin to reason with yourself that, “9 more minutes of sleep won’t hurt.” You hit snooze and pull your warm sheets back over your head. All you can think of is getting back to your dream. ( Repeat for the next two hours.)
Whether you’re your own boss, you want to get up an hour earlier to do some creative work or you want to hit the gym before you roll into the office, your cranky and irrational morning-self can become a major obstacle to getting out of bed. During predawn hours, even returning to a nightmare can feel preferable to facing the day.
I’ve had a lot of trouble with “waking up early” over the years. When you have a traditional job or a college class in the morning, the knowledge that someone is depending on your showing up on time can be motivation enough. But when you’re working from a home office – which is most of what I’ve been doing over the last 3 years – someone has to create a routine and force you to stick to it. That someone is you.
I’ve done a lot of experimentation with morning rituals and methods for getting my butt going in the morning. When I put all of these tricks together I can consistently get myself up at 6am or even 5am. If I start to get a bit lazy though, I quickly slip back to my habit of resetting my alarm and fabricating reasons to sleep in. If you have trouble getting up in the A.M., then my advice is to put all of these methods together. Even if you’re not a morning person, you can do this.
1. Plan your day in advance
This may be the most important key to early-rise success. It’s going to be hard to get up and get things done if you are without a plan. I schedule exactly what time I’m going to get up, and I allow for time to get dressed and get moving. I carve out blocks of time for working on specific projects, and I account for meal times and gym visits. I don’t like to get too specific on tasks, because I know that things never work out exactly as scheduled. You must stay flexible.
Another little tip is to schedule your next day during the morning hours. I’ve tried it at night, but I’ve found that if I’m tired and pressed for time, I end up skipping it and going to bed. Bad idea, because the next day tends to fall apart and little is accomplished.
2. The art of setting your alarm
Most of you already know that having and setting an alarm does not guarantee that you will get out of bed in the morning. There is an art to successfully using an alarm
First, disable the snooze option if possible. Snooze is the devil. It’s easy to get into a pattern of hitting snooze for an hour before getting out of bed. This just deprives you of an hour of good sleep. You need to either set the alarm later, or get up with the 1st blast of the alarm. For safety I set 2 alarms about 10 minutes apart. No snooze!
Set your alarm on the other side of the room or in the next room. It’s easy to turn over and hit the snooze or reset your alarm if it’s next to your bed. Mine is in the other room, so I have to get out of bed to stop the noise.
Use a new alarm sound if you get used to the one you have. My phone is my alarm, and every once in a while I like to change up my alarm sound. I’ve noticed that once I start using the snooze or resetting my alarm, the alarm sound that I’m using becomes associated with the bad habit. Change it up, and don’t hit snooze! (I’m currently using Eye of the Tiger as my alarm sound.)
Cover your alarm with a note to motivate you. It’s just an extra layer of protection from your cranky morning-self. Write a short note and put it over your alarm, so that you feel a bit guilty turning it off and going back to bed. Mine has a little post it note that says, “Be A Pro.”
3. Have music ready to crank up
I always have some pump-me-up music queued on my computer. That way I can rock out with one click of the mouse in the morning. When you’re setting your alarm the night before, pop in a CD or setup your computer with some of your favorite music. Put your alarm near your music source if possible. This is all about making it as easy as possible to keep the forward momentum.
4. Set your clothes out the night before.
Decide what you are going to wear for the next day and place those clothes between you and your alarm. I like to drape mine over my office chair and then use it to barricade the doorway to my office. This way when I get up I know to put my clothes on before I even reach my alarm. Once your clothes are on, you are committed to staying awake.
5. Keep water next to your bed
One of the things that makes you groggy in the morning is that you have become dehydrated during the night. We breath out a lot of moisture over 6 to 8 hours. Keep a nice fresh liter of water next to your bed and be sure to drink most, if not all of it, when you get up. Even if you don’t think you need it, drink it. Remember, you’re not going to be very rational in the morning, and water is good for you even if you do not feel parched.
6. Get enough sleep
None of this other stuff matters if you are constantly depriving yourself of sleep. Most of us need between 6 and 8 hours of sleep. Some may even need 9 or 10. I know that I feel great with 8 hours of sleep, and that I can feel pretty good for several days in a row with only 7 hours of sleep. Any less than that and I become groggy and ineffective. If you want to get up early, you are going to have to go to bed early. Simple as that. Plan your bedtime and stick with it. Your body likes consistency.
7. The art of falling asleep
Some people struggle with getting a good night of sleep. I use to have a terrible time shutting my mind off at night. Here are some of my tricks.
Play calming sounds to get to sleep. For the last couple of years I have been falling asleep to thunderstorms and ocean waves. Find a nature CD or download and put it on low when you get into bed. These sounds will calm you and help drown out any other annoying noises that may keep you up at night.
Meditate to fall asleep. If your mind is really racing, do a little bit of meditation. Nothing crazy here. Just take some deep breaths and focus on the sensation of the air moving in and out of your nose. Every time your mind begins to wander, simply bring your awareness back to your breath. You’re not trying to be perfect. Don’t worry if your thoughts keep coming back. Eventually you will begin to relax and drift off into sleep.
I also like to use my simplified version of the yoga nidra. I start by meditating on my breath and then I move my focus down to my throat and through the joints of my right arm. With each new breath I focus on the next joint. I focus on each joint in each of my fingers. I go back up my right arm and down my left, back up my left arm and down to my heart, lungs and stomach. Finally I focus on each joint in my right leg and foot, then back up and down into my left. Take it slow and if your mind wanders come back to the last joint you focused on. I rarely make it through the entire body before I’m out.
Quit caffeine by noon. I like a little caffeine in the morning, but I always try to refrain from ingesting it after lunch. If your wired from drinking 20 cups of coffee, it’s going to be close to impossible to fall asleep and get a good night of rest. If you can’t sleep, start cutting out the caffeine.
8. Journal before you go to bed
Journaling is a great way to get things off of your mind. Once it is out of your head and on a piece of paper you stop worrying about it. Start a journal and write down your days successes and failures. What did you learn today? What do you hope to get done tomorrow? Don’t make it complicated. Just make it a habit to write for 10 minutes before you go to sleep and notice the difference. Dump what’s on your mind. Let go of your worries.
9. Get your blood flowing
If I’m still feeling a bit groggy after I get up, get dressed, turn on my music and drink some water, I like to do some jumping jacks or sprint up and down my hallway. Once you get the blood flowing to your brain it tends to be easier to stay up. Do something physical for 1 to 2 minutes and you will be pumped up and ready to conquer the day.
10. Get up before you go to sleep
Okay. Now you have your day planned out and you’ve set all of your props for the next morning. It’s not over. The best way to ensure that you will actually get up and follow the morning routine is to practice it the night before. Imagine yourself waking up to the sound of your alarm with a smile on your face. Walk yourself through the entire procedure of getting out of bed, putting on your clothes, turning on the lights, cranking up the music, shutting off your alarm, drinking some water, and getting pumped up for the day. Imagine it a few times. Better yet set your alarm for 5 minutes, get in bed and then when it goes off, walk through the whole procedure.
This might sound ridiculous, but if you are serious about waking up early, on time and without 20 smacks of the snooze, then practice makes perfect. This is how an athlete prepares for the game, and this is how you can prepare for getting up early and having an amazing day filled with joy and productivity.
Go get ‘em
I hope that this long-winded post was helpful. For many of us, waking up early can be a challenge. With some effort and experimentation you can be up before the birds and working on what’s most important to you.
If waking up early is easy for you, then pass this along to someone who needs it. If you have any other tips or tricks, please leave them in the comments below.
