For so many people, there’s nothing more satisfying than sleeping in. You get up when your body wants. You can ease into your Morning. You don’t have massive under-eye circles. It’s all pretty awesome.
Waking Up Early, on the other hand, is the pits. Lots of people set the alarm with the best of intentions, knowing that's the time they need to get up to meet the day's demands. But then the alarm clock seems to ring way before they're ready to rise, so they're hitting snooze and, eventually, running late. Something's got to give.
Waking up early has all the benefits in the world: increased free time, the ability to plan your day, and peace and quiet.
Here are 5 sure ways to help you wake up early:
Get excited: The night before, think of one thing you’d like to do in the morning that excites you. It could be a new yoga routine you might want to try, something you want to write about, or friends you’d love to see. In the morning, when you wake up, remember that exciting thing (and in case you might have problems remembering, write it down), and that will surely help motivate you to get up.
Set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier than normal: If you’re normally sleeping till 10, aiming for 6:00 just isn’t going to happen. Although it may happen once or twice, but then you spend the entire day drinking coffee and regretting your very terrible decisions.
Instead, set your alarm for 9:45. The next day? 9:30. And this should continue until you hit your goal wake up time.
Cut out the stimulants that affect your sleep schedule, namely alcohol and caffeine. These mess around with your sleep cycle and the quality of your sleep, which subsequently affects your waking time.
Keep track of what you’ve accomplished:
One of the biggest motivators to continue waking up early is keeping track of what you have accomplished when you first get up. By 10am, I have all of my major work accomplished while everyone is just getting started.
Have an accountability partner: it’s one thing to vow to yourself that you’re going to start a new healthy habit.
It’s another top make a commitment to someone else to do so. Telling a close friend or your family about it is a great way to hold yourself to your new commitment.
Use your pets: Animals are good alarm clocks, especially if you time their feeding time with exactly when you want to wake up. They’re consistent, noisy, and relentless so they’ll hammer your door and jump in your bed to wake you up until you give them some food.
