Have you ever heard people talking about what time they wake up and thought it was too early to ever be possible for you? Maybe you’ve wanted to and tried, but had trouble sticking with it. Keep reading to learn how to comfortably and consistently wake up early.
Waking up early can be very challenging, so it is important to try to make it as easy as possible. By following these tips you will be able to wake up early without feeling groggy.
This article is all about the best ways to wake up early and how to make it feel easy.
How to Wake Up Early
Why You Should Wake Up Early?
Waking up early gives you more time to start your day off on a positive note. If you’re waking up with just enough time to get dressed and get to work, you won’t have as much control over the trajectory of your day. This is because you’ll start off in a rush and then your day will be dictated by what is happening at work.
If you wake up early, you can control the start of your day. This can be done by ensuring that you get outside or spend a couple of minutes meditating. This time can also be spent simply enjoying your coffee and being present. Or you can focus on making a nutritious breakfast to fuel your day.
In summary, waking up early allows you to have time for a morning routine. You can take advantage of this morning routine to dictate how you’d like to start your day. If you’re interested in starting a morning routine, read the article linked below for some ideas!
{ Related post: 5 Insanely Simple Morning Routine Ideas that will make Your Life Easier }
1. Choose Your Ideal Time to Wake Up (Transition Gradually)
Everyone is going to have a different ideal time to wake up. This also may vary depending on what season of life you’re going through. For most people, this depends on what time you need to leave for work and what you’d like to accomplish before you leave. It is important to think about what your priorities are rather than simply choosing a time that sounds impressive.
A good place to start when determining what time you need to wake up is with your morning routine. If you don’t follow a morning routine but would like to try it out, take a look at the article linked below!
{ Related post: 9 Useful Steps for Starting a Morning Routine }
While it is important to strive for this ideal time, it is also important to make sure that you’re starting with a reasonable goal and then working from there. If this is completely new to you, it is best to start with a small change and over time strive to start waking up earlier.
In the beginning, it will feel difficult, but you will start to get comfortable with the earlier time if you stay consistent. Once you feel comfortable, you should start to transition to an earlier wake-up time.
2. Choose a Corresponding Bed Time
Most people require 7-9 hours of sleep, but this is just an estimate so you should find what works best for you. To start, you should keep track of how much sleep you get each night and take note of how you feel. The most effective way to do this is to actually write this down.
At the end of each week, look at the notes and pay attention to how much sleep you got on the days that you felt the best. Now, use your ideal amount of sleep as well as your ideal wake-up time to determine your ideal bedtime.
To stay more consistent with this, try using the bedtime feature if you have an iPhone. This will give you an alert about 15 minutes before you plan to go to bed which will help you stick to your plan. Having the alert gives you some time to start winding down for bed which will help you get to sleep on time.
3. Avoid Eating Right Before Bed
Eating right before bed can actually decrease your quality of sleep. This happens because your body is still digesting the food that you ate right before bed. This can cause you to take longer to fall asleep as well as increase the chances of waking up during the night.
It is also important to avoid eating right before you go to sleep because it can lead to other health problems, including obesity. To learn more about the consequences of eating right before you go to sleep, read this article.
4. Be Cautious of Caffeine
Caffeine consumption can make it more difficult to fall asleep and also reduce the amount of deep sleep you can get. It is especially important to be cautious of your caffeine consumption later in the day. For more information on what caffeine can do to your sleep, take a look at this article.
5. Move Your Alarm Out of Reach
If you struggling with snoozing your alarm too many times, try moving your alarm further from your bed. This will force you to get out of bed at the time you want. By snoozing past your planned wake-up time, you are giving yourself the option of whether or not you want to get up.
When you are trying to get up early, it is important to get out of bed before you have the chance to decide if you want to get a few more minutes of sleep.
If you’re trying to avoid snoozing your alarm, keep your alarm out of reach from laying in bed. In other words, keep it in a place where you have to get out of bed to stop it. A common place is in the bathroom.
It is important to choose a place that works for you and your plans for the morning. Make sure it’s in a place where it can still be heard from the bedroom, but maybe also consider the first thing you have planned for the morning. Maybe you can put your alarm in the direction of that task to make it easier to get your day started as soon as you get out of bed.
6. Avoid Screens Before Bed
Spending too much time looking at screens before bed will cause it to take longer to fall asleep at night. In addition, it will be harder to wake up the next morning. Read this article for more information on how screen time before bed can affect your sleep.
This can be a tough habit to break, so try to find some alternatives to scrolling on your phone or watching TV before bed. Maybe try to find a book to read. Or do a puzzle to start winding down. There are many different alternatives to screen time so try and few until you find something that you enjoy!
7. Silence Your Phone
Silencing your phone can help to ensure that you won’t get woken up in the middle of the night. This is important because getting a full night of uninterrupted sleep will make waking up feel much easier.
Personally, I like to use the sleep do not disturb function on the iPhone. Using this function, you can choose people who you still want to receive messages/calls from but all other notifications will be silenced.
In addition, I like to set the bedtime and wake-up time so that it automatically turns on every day. It works best for me to have one setting for weekends and another setting for weekdays.
8. Plan a Morning Routine
Knowing what you’re getting up for in the morning makes it much easier to get out of bed. To plan the specifics of a morning routine, take a look at the article below. Use the free downloadable checklist to hold yourself accountable for the wakeup time in addition to the other morning routine tasks.
{ Related post: The Complete Morning Routine Checklist with Easy Steps that You’ll Actually Want to Follow }
9. Use Your Nightly Routine
Your nightly routine can completely transform your mornings. Not only can it help you to get a head start in your morning routine, but it can also set you up for an easier time waking up and getting out of bed. If you plan your morning routine the night before, you will have something to look forward to as soon as you get out of bed.
{ Related post: 4 Easy Ways Your Nightly Routine can Drastically Improve Your Morning Routine }
10. Stay Mostly Consistent Every Day
Mostly because, if you’d like, you should allow yourself to sleep in at least a little on your days off work. In addition, with busy schedules, maybe some nights you need to stay up a few minutes later or wake up a bit earlier. You shouldn’t feel completely tied to these times because life happens, but it is important to stay as close as possible.
This means on the weekend, maybe sleep in an extra 45 minutes. This will still feel like a break from the week, but won’t completely change your schedule. In addition, waking up early on the weekend gives you more time to get things done and enjoy your weekend.
11. Check With a Professional
There are a lot of different things that can hold you back from waking up early and some are more difficult than others to solve. If you’ve tried all the tips above, it might be a good idea to make an appointment to be seen by a professional.
Changing your sleep schedule to wake up earlier will be a challenge at the beginning, so it is important to stick with it. This is something that will pay off in the long run and get easier with time.
Thank you for reading and I hope these tips made you more confident in how to wake up early. If you have any questions, please comment below or reach out to ourteam@wellroundedyou.com.
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