The idea of waking up early and having more time to get things done excites you, but just the thought of waking up before 10 already has you dreaming of hitting the snooze button. Does this sound like you?
I was never a morning person. I enjoyed sleeping in and early school mornings where the death of me. This all changed when I got the first job that had me working early morning shifts, not just after school. After a few early shifts of me walking around like a zombie, I knew I had to change something. These are my favorite tricks that I learned to help me become better acclimated to waking up early, and why I’m so glad I made this change.
The first thing to do is to create a morning routine. Make a list of things you need to get done in the morning and assign specific times to them. Having a schedule to stick to will keep you from pressing snooze over and over or lingering in bed. The next thing to do is to hop out of bed as soon as you turn off your alarm. Staying in bed for a little bit after waking up might seem like a good transition to your early morning, but it allows you to convince yourself that sleeping for another half an hour isn’t the worst idea. If this is hard for you, you could try placing your alarm clock or phone away from arms reach of your bed, so you are forced to get up to turn it off.
The most important tip, in my opinion, is to move your wake-up time earlier very slowly. Trying to wake up at 6:30 right away when you’re used to three hours later is only going to make you miserable and more willing to give up on your goal. Try setting your alarm twenty minutes earlier each day until you’ve reached your desired wake up time. However, it’s also important to let yourself sleep in when your body really needs it. If you didn’t end up getting home until two the night before your birthday, don’t force yourself to wake up only four hours later.
Finally, and I know this is the most obvious piece, but it’s important to move your bedtime earlier if you want your wake-up time to be earlier. Just like the wake-up time, the bedtime must be moved back slowly. If you’re used to going to sleep at one in the morning, trying to fall asleep at eight will seem impossible. Try to make your surroundings more relaxing, such as changing the temperature or eliminating any outside light. Meditation, yoga, and other calming techniques can help you to rest your body and mind, making it much easier to drift off to sleep.