A Realistic Guide to Waking Up Early Every Day
February 07, 2021
I started waking up at the same time every day since the beginning of 2021. I have never been a consistent early riser before, but with lockdown and winter in full swing where I am, I noticed myself letting the isolation and seasonal sadness get to me. Waking up early became a way to gain more control over my life.
It wasn’t easy, and honestly, I still have days where I want to slam my head back into my pillow. But the daily sense of accomplishment I feel from choosing to get out of bed at a time when I don’t have to is worth it. It has also helped me deal with the lack of daylight during winter because, by the time the sun starts rising, I am fully awake and ready to enjoy every minute.
Developing the habit of waking up early requires a foolproof system, especially when you’re just starting out. The person you are in the morning is different from who you are during the rest of the day. You have to trick your other self into doing the things you want by making them as easy as possible to accomplish.
Choose a Realistic Wake-Up Time
As much as I would like to join the 5 am club, I know that it means going to bed at a time that’s too early to maintain—at least for now. Most of my family and friends prefer staying up late. If I want to call them to catch up, it’s usually at around 8 or 9 pm. Talking to them is important for me, especially now that we can’t see each other in person. I also need some time to read at night. For these reasons, I choose to wake up at 6:30 am. It still gives me about 2 hours of peace before I need to get ready for work and a lot of time on the weekends to do something fun in the morning.
When choosing a wake-up time, make sure it’s realistic and useful. You’re not only committing to the consistent wake-up time but also to the earlier bedtime. Most people need 7 to 8 hours a day, not 5 hours on the weekdays and 12 on the weekends. The time you wake up should also be early enough for you to savour the morning. If you start work at 7, then 6:30 probably won’t give you enough time to do something significant to start your day off.
Address Your Phone Addiction
In a survey done on Americans in 2020, 75% said that they felt addicted to their phones, with about 66% admitting to sleeping with their phone. I know firsthand how easy it is to just stay up all night on the internet. My phone could keep me so entertained that I don’t start feeling sleepy for hours, not to mention the effect of blue-light from screens. To realistically maintain an early rising habit, you need an early sleeping habit. This requires a system for minimizing the effect your phone has on your sleep.
Firstly, you should set your laptop, phone, and other devices to turn on night mode automatically. This setting will replace blue tones with warmer tones on your screen. I set a schedule so that night mode turns on two hours before I go to bed and turns off 30 minutes before I wake up. By setting a schedule it’s one less thing you need to remember.
Next, you should commit to a time for putting your devices away. I choose to do this between 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm—about 1 hour before my ideal bedtime. Personally, I can have my devices on my desk and I won’t use them when I’m not supposed to. However, if it does take a lot of willpower for you to do this, then you’ll need a better system. Consider putting your devices in the living room at night or installing apps that will block you from using them at a certain time. If you can’t build the discipline to put your phone away, then how can you wake up early on days when you really don’t want to?
Phone addiction is real. I used to believe that I needed my phone to fall asleep. I had to watch YouTube videos until my eyes would close by themselves before I could turn my phone off. If you’re not already accustomed to sleeping early and without your phone, then expect the first couple of nights to be rough. You might stay up until 3 am the first night, 2 am the second night, and so on, until you’re finally tired enough to fall asleep early. It’s important to trust in the process and continue to go to bed and wake-up at consistent times. Just because you couldn’t sleep without your device for the first couple of nights, it doesn’t mean you never will.
Choose a Wind-Down Activity
For 30 minutes to 1 hour before bed, do a wind-down activity. This is a relaxing activity that will help you to become sleepy. I enjoy reading while sipping on a warm cup of herbal tea. There are many options out there that will help you to disconnect. You should find one that makes you look forward to putting your devices away and ending your day. Here are some examples.
Journaling. You can reflect on the day and capture it in the pages of a journal to refer back to in the future. Journaling is also known to reduce anxiety and stress when used as an outlet for your thoughts. Getting your thoughts out of your head and onto a page can allow you to go to bed with some peace of mind. Journaling isn’t just for documenting though. It can be creative and fun. Use it to generate ideas, doodle, or plan out your next big adventure.
Meditation. It is already well known that meditation is an incredible way to tame your monkey mind. If you can trust yourself with your phone at night, then try using an app like Headspace to get started. If you can’t, then just using a clock and glancing at it to check the time is fine.
Make art or crafts. Hobbies like knitting, crocheting, and painting are all great options. Not only are you winding down, but you’ll also be creating something that you can admire or use in the future.
It’s important to do your wind-down activity in dim lighting. Your body produces melatonin—a sleep hormone—in response to darkness. Being in a dimly lit room before bed will tell your body to begin producing more melatonin to make you sleepier. Meanwhile, a brightly lit room can inhibit melatonin production.
Prep for the Morning
I have very low expectations of my morning self. When I started to build my early rising habit, I didn’t trust myself to make some of the simplest decisions in the morning. That’s why I always prepared the night before. It was to the point where I just needed to roll out of bed and turn on autopilot.
In the mornings I like to exercise. But sometimes I don’t. That’s why I wear my workout clothes to bed the night before. I’m so lazy that I don’t even give myself the chance to decide whether I’ll change into my workout clothes. Morning me doesn’t remember how much fun it is to get physical activity. She just wants to sleep. That may be going overboard, but I would recommend at least choosing tomorrow’s outfit and laying it out the night before.
Another significant habit is to prepare your breakfast the night before. A problem with waking up late is that you usually skip this meal completely. When you wake up early, it’s a much longer time before lunch rolls around. Breakfast should be another decision already made. If I’m eating oatmeal, I’ll put my oatmeal and any toppings into two separate containers. All I have to do in the morning is heat up the oatmeal and dump the toppings in. Easy.
Get the Right Alarm Clock
Being woken up is a pretty crucial step to waking up early. Although there are a plethora of fancy alarm clocks, you just need one that will get you out of bed. I use the Alarmy phone app. (Again, don’t use this if you’ll be tempted to use your phone at night.) It offers different types of missions to accomplish before the alarm starts ringing again. This includes solving math equations, doing a memorization game, taking a picture of your bathroom, or scanning a barcode. I choose the barcode option and will scan an object in my bathroom. Sometimes, if I know I’m going to have trouble getting up the next day, I’ll choose an item all the way in the living room. By the time I’ve stumbled across the house, I’m more or less awake.
The alternative to getting a fancy phone app is to just put your alarm clock across the room so that you have to get out of bed to turn it off. If you need extra motivation to get to your bathroom, you could even go as far as putting a second alarm in the bathroom and set it to go off a few minutes after the first one. (Unless your bedroom is close enough to hear the alarm go off in the bathroom. In that case, you just need one in the bathroom.)
Another option is to drink a bunch of water before going to bed. You’ll have to experiment with this because too much water could have you getting up at 2 am. At least you’ll be hydrated.
Finally, if you are looking for a high-quality alarm clock, I would recommend the Philips Wake Up Light. It simulates the sunrise by gradually brightening as it gets closer to your set alarm time. It also has a variety of soothing sounds that will gradually get louder. The price is quite premium for an alarm clock, but there are many cheaper versions that do the same thing. The idea is that by the time you need to get up, you’re already awake. Sometimes I’ll wake up to the light before my alarm goes off. While most alarm clocks shock you into waking up by screaming into your eardrums, this one feels like an encouraging nudge to get up and see what the day has to offer.
Do Something For You
I started waking up early to start my day by doing whatever the heck I wanted. I didn’t want to wake up and immediately answer to someone else or work on something that I wouldn’t care about in the long run. During a time when everything feels like it’s out of my control, the morning is reserved for doing things on my terms. This is my routine: after brushing my teeth and drinking water, I’ll do a 30-minute workout. Then I’ll take a cold shower (this really wakes me up), make breakfast, and journal. On the weekends, I’ll go on a long morning walk, hike, or do a fun outdoor activity like sledding.
There is no shortage of morning routine ideas out there. If you enter “morning” into Medium’s search bar, you can scroll forever. The point is that you spend the time doing what makes you happy and proud. If being productive and getting an edge on the competition makes you proud, then go for it. But if you struggle to find time during the day to be at peace with yourself, then the morning is great for that too.
While most are asleep, you’re completely refreshed and ready to take on the day. Make the best of your time.
These are the steps I’ve taken to make getting up easier, but it won’t work for everyone. To improve your morning routine, you need to gather feedback on yourself as you put it into motion. What’s the hardest part about getting up every day? How can you address it to set yourself up for morning success?
For example, about a week into getting up early regularly, I found that leaving the warmth of my bed was one of the worst parts. To counter this, I put on a giant sweater as soon as I awake to warm up faster. It still doesn’t beat the bed, but it helps.
There’s no one size fits all system that will get you to gracefully wake up in the morning. You just have to do it and adapt to the challenges. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
✍️ Written by Lena Nguyen. Check out my Medium for more!