We’ve all been there, collegiettes. You need to wake up early in the morning, whether it’s to exercise, make time for a full breakfast, finish up an assignment or cram for a test. However serious the stakes, you told yourself the night before that you would wake up early the next morning. Here are some tips to keep true to that promise and actually get yourself out of your bed, not just open your eyes and “wake up.”
1. Place your alarm far away from your bed
This is probably the most important and effective tip for getting out of bed. If you don’t do any of the other tips on this list, at least do this. I cannot tell you how many times I have set alarms on my phone and, right when I heard the first note, my hand sprang up and stopped– yes stopped, not snoozed– it before I even got out of my deep sleep. If you think multiple alarms will help with that, I am not proud to say that I’ve stopped four alarms in a row without even opening my eyes. But, if you force yourself to walk to stop your alarm, you’re forcing yourself to open your eyes, take a few steps and get the blood flowing. Also, you’ll be out of the sleeping position, which takes us into the next point.
2. Do not have any seats near your alarm.
It is so tempting to rest your heavy eyes after walking towards your alarm, or promising yourself “five more minutes” of sleep or rest in a chair. I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT SIT DOWN. If you are in any position where your legs are not keeping you upright, you will most likely fall asleep. Even if you sit and do not actually sleep, chances are you will be in a deep state of tiredness, sitting and staring at a wall with your mind still asleep. You set your alarm for a reason, to get up and get things done, so don’t waste time with sleeping or just blankly staring at nothing. Preferably, place your alarm near a door, so you can be reminded of why you need to start your day and not be tempted by the comforts of your room. It also makes the effort of walking to the door easier because it will already be done. Less effort = less reason not to do something.
3. Have a glass of water by your alarm
If you know you need something extra to wake you up, besides taking a few steps and get the blood flowing, have a glass of water ready by your alarm and drink it. Doing any action different from literally being in one spot with no muscles moving will keep you from going back to sleep. But if you force yourself to open your mouth and take gulps of cold, refreshing water, you will help yourself snap out of the fatigue.
4. Set an annoying alarm
I’ve had alarms that were my favorite slow songs. And yes, they were placed far away, but I was so tired that I was like “screw it, I don’t mind this song,” and listened to it replay 8 times before I just fell asleep to it. You want a really annoying alarm that you cannot stand to sleep through or tolerate. Make yourself want to shut it off. FYI though, this might make you wake up in a bad, grumpy mood, so save the super blaring ones for days you really need to wake up and something more gentle, but still annoying, on other days. Never put a song, especially one you like and enjoy.
5. Set a vibration for your alarm (if it’s on your phone)
This is related to the above. I find the vibration more annoying than any alarm sound, to be honest. Remember, the more you cannot stand it, the more you’ll want to stand up and turn it off.
6. Have something to do that morning
You might want to get your sh*t together and wake up every day at *insert early time here* for a healthy routine. That’s a great idea, except your morning self will probably not want that when you’re the one having to forcibly open your eyes, knowing you can technically sleep another hour or two and still make it on time to your class. But, of course, if you do, you probably won’t have time to exercise, eat a healthy breakfast, etc. So create something that needs to get done so your morning self can’t make any excuses. Shower in the mornings so you know that if you don’t get up early, you’ll have to go to class with greasy hair. Plan things in the morning like study sessions, meeting with friends or workouts.
7. Do something rare and exciting in the mornings
Set a fun activity for the morning that you can’t or don’t do any other time of the day. Maybe it’s yoga, maybe it’s watching the sunrise, maybe it’s arriving to Fenwick super early. Whatever it is, you’ll be looking forward to it and will not want to miss an opportunity to do something you can’t experience otherwise. Just don’t do the same thing every morning because then it will become routine for you, and your morning self will have the excuse of “I can *do x* tomorrow morning anyway, so I might as well sleep in today.” Do NOT give morning you any excuses!
8. Reward yourself
This tip is similar to the above but you can try to indulge and congratulate yourself, either right in the morning, or later in the day, for sticking to the plan and waking up early. Tell yourself that if you wake up, you’ll get a large coffee instead of small or that you’ll make some time to watch some Netflix later in the day. Don’t be afraid to gently restrict yourself. Do not punish yourself, but if later in the day you want to spend time on YouTube, tell yourself that you chose to sleep past your intended time and that indulging in two things will weaken your self-diligence. But remind yourself you can always redeem yourself the next day. Regulate yourself, but gently. Never hate yourself. Instead, understand and work with yourself.
There you go, collegiettes! If you plan on making waking up early a routine for yourself, hopefully, your inner clock will grow accustomed to it and you’ll start waking up naturally and you won’t need these tips soon. Good luck!