How to learn to get up early
Do you want to change some aspects of your life, but don't know where to start? Start getting up earlier. It's a habit that can transform your life and have many benefits. People who get up early are more energetic, calm and balanced. Here's a list of things you need to stop doing to wake up earlier.
Stop Watching TV Late
You should get ready for bed, which means no late-night excitement. It's also obvious that if you spend less time watching TV, you'll have more time to get a good night's sleep and get up early in the morning.
Limit your viewing time to predetermined limits. And don't take the advice about TV literally - it's all true for the movies, shows, and series you watch online, too.
Stop working at night
Many people believe that they are most productive at night and the best ideas come to them at this time of day. If you are one of them, the problem with getting up early will be more pressing.
One strategy you can employ is to challenge yourself. The challenge is to spend 90 minutes on your most important task before 9 a.m.
This solves two things:
- Gives you a deadline. Procrastinators are often productive at night because they are pushed to complete things by the end of the day, because they know (or think) they can't do it in the morning. You can use the same strategy in the morning.
- In addition, it is very likely that by taking this challenge, you will find that like most people, you are more productive in the morning rather than at night.
Stop surfing the Internet late at night.
You should turn off your computer and all electronic devices one hour before going to bed. The artificial light emitted by electronic devices excites you and suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep.
If you just need to use your smartphone, tablet or computer before bedtime, try the following:
- Turn down the brightness of the screen.
- Use an app that dims the brightness on your screen at night.
- Use amber tinted glasses that block blue light.
Stop drinking coffee in the afternoon
Caffeine is a stimulant and disrupts sleep. There have been recent studies that have found out when it is okay to consume coffee with minimal consequences for the body.
Researchers found that caffeine consumed 6 hours before bedtime reduces your total amount by more than 1 hour. Even if you fall asleep on time, your sleep still suffers because of this habit.
To avoid sleep disturbance, limit your caffeine intake to the morning hours. The maximum is before noon.
Stop relying on willpower alone
Willpower is not the easiest thing to deal with. When you make the decision to start getting up early and are enthusiastic, everything seems simple and easy. But once you experience the agony of waking up early the next morning, your reserves of resolve run out. Willpower can get you out of bed. But it's worth nourishing it and helping it from the outside:
- Have ready-made foods for a great breakfast.
- Plan something nice for the morning.
- Work on something you really love first.
Stop forcing yourself to go to bed at the same time
This advice should be taken with caution: of course, you should aim to go to bed at the same time. However, don't go to bed if you don't feel sleepy at all.
For example, you wake up at the same time. So, the time to go to bed at night depends on your tiredness during the day. So if you want to go to bed at 11 p.m., and your body doesn't want to, you will have to work hard - both intellectually and physically.
Stop hitting Snooze button
The previous six tips prepare you for the seventh: waking up in the morning. What will you do when the alarm clock rings? Get up immediately? Turn the alarm off completely and go back to sleep? Press the snooze button and snooze for five more minutes?
This button restarts your sleep cycle. This means that when the alarm rings again, you will likely be in the sleep stage. This will lead to the fact that you, having allocated 8-9 hours for sleep, will still not get enough sleep. Which makes absolutely no sense when you think about it.
When you establish a sleep schedule, you'll know clearly that you got a good night's sleep. And if you want to sleep more, it's just an unhealthy habit that's worth getting rid of. Put the alarm clock at the far end of the room so you have to get up to turn it off.
Stop Watching TV Late
You should get ready for bed, which means no late-night excitement. It's also obvious that if you spend less time watching TV, you'll have more time to get a good night's sleep and get up early in the morning.
Limit your viewing time to predetermined limits. And don't take the advice about TV literally - it's all true for the movies, shows, and series you watch online, too.
Stop working at night
Many people believe that they are most productive at night and the best ideas come to them at this time of day. If you are one of them, the problem with getting up early will be more pressing.
One strategy you can employ is to challenge yourself. The challenge is to spend 90 minutes on your most important task before 9 a.m.
This solves two things:
- Gives you a deadline. Procrastinators are often productive at night because they are pushed to complete things by the end of the day, because they know (or think) they can't do it in the morning. You can use the same strategy in the morning.
- In addition, it is very likely that by taking this challenge, you will find that like most people, you are more productive in the morning rather than at night.
Stop surfing the Internet late at night.
You should turn off your computer and all electronic devices one hour before going to bed. The artificial light emitted by electronic devices excites you and suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep.
If you just need to use your smartphone, tablet or computer before bedtime, try the following:
- Turn down the brightness of the screen.
- Use an app that dims the brightness on your screen at night.
- Use amber tinted glasses that block blue light.
Stop drinking coffee in the afternoon
Caffeine is a stimulant and disrupts sleep. There have been recent studies that have found out when it is okay to consume coffee with minimal consequences for the body.
Researchers found that caffeine consumed 6 hours before bedtime reduces your total amount by more than 1 hour. Even if you fall asleep on time, your sleep still suffers because of this habit.
To avoid sleep disturbance, limit your caffeine intake to the morning hours. The maximum is before noon.
Stop relying on willpower alone
Willpower is not the easiest thing to deal with. When you make the decision to start getting up early and are enthusiastic, everything seems simple and easy. But once you experience the agony of waking up early the next morning, your reserves of resolve run out. Willpower can get you out of bed. But it's worth nourishing it and helping it from the outside:
- Have ready-made foods for a great breakfast.
- Plan something nice for the morning.
- Work on something you really love first.
Stop forcing yourself to go to bed at the same time
This advice should be taken with caution: of course, you should aim to go to bed at the same time. However, don't go to bed if you don't feel sleepy at all.
For example, you wake up at the same time. So, the time to go to bed at night depends on your tiredness during the day. So if you want to go to bed at 11 p.m., and your body doesn't want to, you will have to work hard - both intellectually and physically.
Stop hitting Snooze button
The previous six tips prepare you for the seventh: waking up in the morning. What will you do when the alarm clock rings? Get up immediately? Turn the alarm off completely and go back to sleep? Press the snooze button and snooze for five more minutes?
This button restarts your sleep cycle. This means that when the alarm rings again, you will likely be in the sleep stage. This will lead to the fact that you, having allocated 8-9 hours for sleep, will still not get enough sleep. Which makes absolutely no sense when you think about it.
When you establish a sleep schedule, you'll know clearly that you got a good night's sleep. And if you want to sleep more, it's just an unhealthy habit that's worth getting rid of. Put the alarm clock at the far end of the room so you have to get up to turn it off.