Have you ever fancied the idea of getting up early to fit more into your day, but resigned yourself to the fact that you are just “not a morning person? I used to be like that and I’m going to tell you a secret – anyone can train themselves to become a morning person and love it! Check out the video below then read on where I share how I became a morning person and how you can too.
Table Of Contents
Wake Up During The Lightest Phase Of Your Sleep Cycle
As humans, we don’t sleep solidly and at the same “depth” all night. Rather we move through sleep cycles of lighter and deeper sleep that repeat on average 4-5 times each night. Check out the video below that explains more.
A standard alarm will wake you at a fixed time, regardless of the phase of sleep that you are currently in. If this happens to be when you are sleeping deeply, waking up this way can be highly unpleasant.
The easiest way to wake up without feeling tired and groggy is to be awoken during your lightest phase of sleep. There are a few gadgets that you can use to make sure that you are gently woken at the right time.
I use apps called Auto Sleep & Auto Wake on my Apple Watch. The app tracks my sleep. I have a rough time that I set it to wake me and when I move into a lighter stage of my sleep cycle near this time, my watch gently starts buzzing my wrist with “haptic feedback” (also known as a mild vibration). It’s such a gentle way to wake up that it’s almost as if I have woken up naturally.
If you don’t have a smart watch, there are a number of Wake Naturally Alarm Clocks that you could try, although I haven’t tested them out myself.
Look At The Quality Of Your Sleep
Using this or another smartwatch to monitor your sleep and wake you gently has the additional benefit of providing data about the quality of your sleep too.
Think about it, if you are getting plenty of uninterrupted, quality sleep when you are actually in bed, getting up earlier will be easier. Tossing and turning all night will lead to feeling exhausted in the morning, regardless of the time you get up.
For all of my tips on how to get more quality sleep. check out my How To Get More Sleep post.
Ban The Snooze Button
It is all very well being woken up, but it’s this next stage that is crucial when it comes to starting your day the right way.
The snooze button is probably the most common form of self-sabotage when it comes to becoming a “morning person”.
When you say to yourself “just 5 more minutes” and doze back off, you are risking falling back to sleep and feeling even more groggy when your alarm goes back off.
There is also the potential to hit “snooze” so many times that not only do you fail to get up early, but you end up starting your day late instead.
Combat hitting snooze by turning the “snooze” option off when setting your alarm. If you know you won’t be woken back up, you are less likely to close you eyes and drift back off.
If you are using something other than a watch, like a phone or alarm clock to wake you up, make sure that it’s not next tom your bed. Place it across the room so that you physically have to get out of bed to turn it off. Better yet, put it in another room, so you have to get up and walk to stop it going off.
Then whatever you do, do not get back into bed.
5 Second Rule
As I discussed in my post about the Best Productivity Books, The 5 Second Rule created by Mel Robbins is a game-changer when it comes to becoming a morning person.
The rule is simple; whenever there is something that you know you should do (like getting up) just count backwards……
….. 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 and GO!
When you get to one, launch yourself out of bed (or into doing whatever it was that you were about to procrastinate. Try it, it’s simple but effective.
Have Things To Be Excited About
Before you go to bed, make a list of things, either in your mind or on paper, that you are excited about doing the next day. Think of what you will achieve when you get up in the morning and feel excited about that.
Will you get work out of the way so that you can relax alter in the day?
Perhaps you will enjoy some coffee in peace before the kids get up?
Or enjoy some of your favourite music while you workout?
As you are waking up, go straight to that list in your mind and feel excited again. You can fake this feeling if it’s not coming naturally initially, like the butterflies in your tummy that you feel when you cannot wait to get up to go on holiday. If you can summon that feeling on a regular day, getting up will be much easier.
Prepare The Night Before
There is nothing worse than managing to get up early then spending time fumbling around in a daze, looking for things. Wasting this time and failing to maximise this opportunity that you have created for yourself by getting up early will discourage you from getting up early again.
If, when you get up, you have everything that you need to hand for what you plan to do with your morning time (exercise gear, journal, work set out ready, whatever it may be, but we’ll get to that), you will be far more productive. This will lead to a feeling of accomplishment which will make you more inclined to repeat the process.
Wash Your Face
Washing your face as soon as you get up is an amazing way to wake you up and invigorate you to start your morning. If you really want to wake up properly, shower as soon as you get up, although you are better off sticking with a flannel on the face and leave showering for later if you are going to incorporate the next step into your morning routine.
Workout
Working out first thing in the morning is an amazing way to energise you and set you up for a great day.
As a work at home Mum of four, exercise is often something I do first thing before my family are up. When my work load is heavier, I sometimes save my workout for when the children are up, as this is something that is easier to do along side them than work that requires full concentration.
So although exercise is something that can be saved for a little later in the morning, I definitely feel better and more pumped for the day the earlier that I squeeze in a workout.
Working out doesn’t have to be anything too intense. Most mornings I manage 15 minutes then move onto getting some work tasks done. Even this short session makes such a difference.
On days where I don’t even have time for the 15 minutes, I always have a super quick stretch, or maybe complete one minute of a yoga sun salutations (yoga warm-up sequences, see the video below that explains how to do them) just to get the blood flowing.
There are so many fun and easy online workout videos that you can do for free, so you never need to feel lost or wonder what to do. Check out my Favourite Online Workouts below and find the right style for you.
Hydrate To Wake Up
As soon as you are wake, make hydrating a priority. Being properly hydrated enables our minds and bodies to run more efficiently.
The choice of drink that you choose first thing in the morning is yours. Water is the obvious choice, but let’s be honest, most of us are guilty of not drinking enough water.
Lately, I’ve been drinking Burst Multivitamin Energy Drinks from exante. They are made up of 500ml of cold water and a Burst sachet containing iron and vitamin B12 to combat fatigue, plus caffeine to wake you up too.
Check out how I incorporate Burst drinks into my day in the video below.
Schedule Your Most Important Task First
What is most important to you at the moment? What is the one thing that you really need to progress in your life?
I’ll give you a hint, the tasks that really make a difference in our lives, both personal and professional, are rarely the ones we “want” to do.
Most of us are guilty of looking at our “to do” lists and picking off the easy wins and more pleasant tasks. While this can leave us feeling satisfied as we tick things off, if we are honest, it’s not what we should be doing.
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first. Once you have eaten a live frog, you can go through the rest of the day knowing the worst is behind you”
Mark Twain
So decide which task really needs to be done and you are dreading, (aka your frog) and get that done first.
Get Some Fresh Air
Whether you choose to take your exercise outside, or just to fling open some windows, fresh air will help to wake you up and be ready to face your morning.
Listen To Something That Motivates You
Whether it’s some upbeat music, an inspirational audiobook or a motivational podcast, make sure that you have it cued up ready to listen to as soon as you wake. If you live with other people, it’s probably a good idea to use headphones to avoid waking them.
Practice Gratitude
Studies have shown that practicing gratitude daily improves general mood, productivity, ability to achieve goals and overall happiness.
Gratitude practice is simple. You can do it by wiring down what you are grateful for, looking at images or just going over it in your head.
Simply consider what you are grateful for, it would be big things or even small things. As you write or think about what you are grateful for, think about how that gratitude makes you feel. You should feel that sensation of thankfulness and joy as you think about everything you are grateful for.
Cut Back On Alcohol
Alcohol in the evenings can leave you with a hangover, making it harder to get up on time, leat alone early. On top of this, alcohol can impact the quality of your sleep, leaving you more tired even after the same amount of time in bed.
Cutting back on alcohol is definitely something to consider if you want to make getting up easier.
Set Yourself A Bedtime
Bedtimes are not just for kids! Us adults respond to routine too. If you want to get up earlier each morning, you will probably need to go to bed earlier too.
Monitor Your Progress
Keep a diary of the times that you go to bed and get up each day in order to monitor your progress. If you opt to use the sleep tracking apps on your sleep tracker such as an Apple Watch, this data will be recorded for you.
Which days did you manage to get up easily? What was different on these day that helped?
On which days was getting up more of a struggle? What made it harder?
By looking at this data you will be able to monitor your progress and make getting up early and becoming a morning person easier in future.
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