You have probably heard the success stories about people who wake up early. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Oprah Winfrey, and Olympic medalist Caroline Burckle all talk about the positive impact of waking up early on their lives.
Even though many assign a portion of their success to waking up early, others find it difficult to make the switch. While most people know what needs to happen to change their life, they find them difficult to implement consistently. To understand how to wake up early, you need to tap into the wisdom of those already doing it.
Stop Procrastinating
The first thing you need to do when you want to learn how to wake up early is to go to sleep earlier. Stop procrastinating. You will find it much easier to wake up when you are getting the proper amount of sleep. Set a bedtime that allows you to get 8-hours of sleep and hold yourself accountable.
The problem most of you will have at first is how tired you will feel. If you are someone who goes to sleep after midnight, waking up by 6 a.m. will not be easy. The reason you need to push through that initial difficulty is that you are going to be very tired at the end of the day. Realistically, you probably would fall asleep at your desk or doze off on your lunch break. Either way, waking up early no matter how you feel will motivate you to go sleep at the proper time that night.
Before we discuss the methods early risers use, it is important to know about the advantages and disadvantages of waking up early.
How to Wake Up Early: The Advantages
Still on the rocks about setting your alarm clock early? Here are some reasons why it may be worth it.
There’s no need to rush yourself.
When you wake up early in the morning, you can decrease your stress level because there is no need to rush yourself to work out or leave the house to go to the office. Starting your day on this note can truly make a difference.
It improves sleep quality.
Early risers don’t stay up late. This allows them to enjoy better sleep equality because their body clock has adapted to a healthier sleeping routine.
It enhances productivity.
The brain is more alert in the morning. Therefore, waking up early will help you focus on work without having to deal with interruptions. When you know how to wake up early, you’ll get more work done and your mind can make better decisions.
It enables you to have quiet time.
One of the most amazing benefits waking up early can give you is quiet time. It’s always surprising how quiet everything is in the morning. This will allow you to enjoy peace especially if you live with others or you have children.
Disadvantages of Waking Up Early
In this section, we round up why waking up early is not worth it.
It can leave you feeling tired.
If you want to get up early in the morning, you may feel tired during the day especially if you are not used to this routine. Getting up may cause you to want to take a nap in the afternoon and lose work hours.
You’ll miss out on socializing.
If you want to find out how to wake up early, you need to make some sacrifices. If your friends invite you for drinks or a late dinner after work, you may not be able to tag along because you have to wake up early. Therefore, some of your friends and family may feel neglected.
You can end up sleep deprived.
A lot of people sacrifice their sleep hours just so they can wake up early. When you do this, you may suffer from the negative consequences of sleep deprivation such as weight gain, poor concentration, and moodiness.
Here are the 10 things early risers should do:
1. Understand Your Motivation
Early risers are seen as the go-getters in society’s eyes. But not everyone is biologically inclined to be at their best in the morning. Case in point: Evening types (aka night owls) are wired for a late sleep schedule.
Forcing late chronotypes to wake up early for a pre-dawn workout or a Zoom meeting often comes at the expense of sufficient sleep and circadian alignment (an off-balance internal body clock). The result is reduced productivity when you want the opposite.
2. Keep Your Sleep Need Top of Mind
Before committing to a new early wake-up time, keep your sleep need top of mind. This is the genetically determined amount of sleep your body requires. Not meeting your need incurs sleep debt (the amount of sleep you’ve missed in the past 14 days relative to your sleep need). This is counterproductive to your original plan of getting more done by waking up early, as sleep deprivation flattens your energy potential for the day.
3. Be Consistent in Your Sleep and Wake Times
Waking up early one day and sleeping in the next confuses your internal clock and dampens your energy levels. It’s best to wake up at the same early time every single day, even on the weekends. A consistent sleep schedule keeps your body clock aligned to counter common forms of circadian misalignment like social jetlag and virtual jet lag. Plus, you’ll find it easier to get the sleep you need, which makes waking up early more palatable.
4. Give Your Body Clock Time and Grace
It can be tempting to rush the process of resetting your sleep schedule. But in reality, your body needs time to adjust to the earlier wake-up time. Gradually shift your wake and sleep times by 15-30 minutes every few days. The greater the shift in your sleep schedule, the longer (in days) it will take to achieve your new sleep-wake goal.
For example, if you want to bring your rise time forward from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m., try doing so in 15-minute increments every three days, to reach your new wake-up time in 12 days.
5. Get Light First Thing When You Wake Up
Light is the most potent circadian cue to start your body clock. Light upon waking helps you spend less time dealing with sleep inertia (more on that later), as well as helps you fall asleep more quickly at night. With shorter sleep latency, your sleep in bed becomes more efficient to help you meet your sleep need, making waking up in the morning more effortless.
So, how do you make light work for you when you wake up? It’s about timing, intensity, and duration. Bask in natural light first thing in the morning to signal to your brain that it’s time to wake up. Direct sunlight goes up to 100,000 lux, while standard indoor lighting is only about 500 lux or lower.
6. Take Note of Your Grogginess Zone
Realistically speaking, it’s not possible to wake up without feeling groggy, despite what mattress ads portray. Morning sleep inertia, aka wake-up grogginess, is a natural part of your sleep-wake cycle that lasts up to 90 minutes. During this period, expect sleepiness and low energy levels as your body clock starts to rev up for the day. Take note that the greater your sleep debt, the more intense your sleep inertia and the worse you will likely feel.
While it isn’t possible to skip right ahead of wake-up grogginess, there are things you can do to shorten your stay while making the most of it:
- Keep sleep debt low by consistently meeting your sleep need.
- Create a 90-minute buffer between your wake time and vital tasks on your to-do list, like a work meeting.
- Other good sleep hygiene practices such as bright light exposure, exercising, and even coffee help bear the brunt of morning sleep inertia too.
7. Psych Yourself up for Your Early Wake-up Call
One way to motivate yourself to get out of bed is to reframe the early wake-up call as something pleasant, and even exciting, especially if you aren’t a morning person.
That’s why your morning routine matters so much. Make time for enjoyable but low-stakes activities that give you an endorphin boost and a helpful cortisol rush. Say, a yoga session or making breakfast, so you’re more likely to look forward to waking up early.
For night owls, go one step further by changing how you approach productivity at certain times of the day. You’ve likely associated evenings as your prime time for work and other high-demand tasks.
8. Sweat It Out at the Right Time
Workouts, when done at the right times, offer a double-layered advantage:
- Moving your body during your Grogginess Zone effectively raises your body temperature to reduce wake-up grogginess.
- Low- to moderate-intensity exercise increases your energy levels and promotes better sleep.
So when are the best times to work out? That would be your Grogginess Zone, Morning Peak, Afternoon Dip, and Evening Peak (basically, any time other than in the few hours before bed). You can view the exact timings on your Energy Schedule to plan your workout.
9. Avoid Caffeine 10 Hours Before Bed
Drinking a cup of coffee as part of your morning routine is highly recommended as caffeine neutralizes the drowsiness-inducing adenosine behind sleep inertia. You can also partake in caffeine at later times so long as it’s 10-12 hours before your bedtime.
This way, you’re less likely to miss your Melatonin Window and delay your bedtime, so you get enough sleep to make an early-wake up call easier on your body.
10. Avoid Bright Light in the Hours Before Bed
Earlier light exposure in the morning helps to bring your circadian rhythm forward, while evening and nighttime light exposure shifts it backward.
But does that mean you have to live without electronic devices and indoor lighting when the sun sets? Not necessarily. A simple yet effective workaround would be to wear blue-light blocking glasses in the few hours before your target bedtime.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Why Can It Be Difficult to Wake Up in The Morning? You’re not the only one who finds it hard to wake up in the morning. A study by the University of California Berkeley Team suggests that when people wake up from sleep, the brain won’t immediately switch to a fully awakened state. It still goes through a transition period called sleep inertia.
What is the circadian rhythm? The circadian rhythm is the 24-hour cycle that is part of your body’s internal clock. It controls not only your sleep-wake cycle but also your mental and physical health.
How long does it take to train yourself to wake up early? The time it takes for a person to get accustomed to waking up early varies. Generally, it can take between 30 to 60 days to get used to your new sleep schedule.
At what age should you start training yourself to wake up early? No matter what your age is, you can start training yourself to wake up early.
How to Improve Your Bedtime Routine? A bedtime routine is a set of activities you do 30 to 60 minutes before you go to sleep. Bedtime routines are vital because humans are creatures of habits, and when you do the same things before you go to sleep every day, the brain will eventually recognize that it’s time to hit the hay.
The best tip to improve your bedtime activity is to stick to a routine that relaxes and calms you. This could be journaling, reflecting, lighting a scented candle, and taking a warm bath.
Final Thoughts
The key to understanding how to wake up early is to recognize that it is heavily driven by the actions you take the night before. You will wake up early if you go to bed at a good time and get the proper amount of sleep.
By taking the time to prepare yourself both mentally and physically each night, you can ensure you are positioned for success the next morning. Once you have taken the proper actions the night before, make sure you use that momentum to start your day, on time.
The goal is to make the actions you want to take as easy as possible. The key to changing your life is to discover a way to have the wind at your back, going in the direction you want.
