Early mornings can be rather tough, especially when the idea of staying in bed is much more appealing. But waking up early has its benefits too, like improved sleep quality, increased productivity, and more. Waking up early does require some commitment, but as time goes by it becomes easier. The key to waking up earlier is inside our bodies – an important factor in being able to wake up easily at the right time in the morning is the timing of your circadian rhythm, in other words, your body clock. If your body clock is off, you may feel groggy or could even be suffering from underlying health issues such as depression, diabetes, obesity and bipolar disorder.
Fortunately, there are ways to get back on track to get the sleep that you need and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. If you’re not a fan of the mornings and often ask yourself, “how do I wake up early/” Here are 5 tips for waking up earlier that will increase your productivity and make you feel better throughout the day.
1. Lighten Your Night-time Schedule
You can figure out what’s interfering with your sleep, and thus your difficulty waking up. Take a look at your entire day and how you spend the evenings. You may have to reorganise some of your activities. And if you’re overburdened with your work and constantly work late every day, that should stop. Instead, look for other ways to share your load of work with a colleague, or schedule your tasks better to fit everything you need to in each day.
2. Plan Your Mornings
Be specific with your morning routine so it’s easier to execute. Think of the small details, like where you place your alarm, whether you get dressed before heading to the bathroom, and if you shower in the morning before work, or at night. You can write down your morning routine for it to be more defined and efficient.
A healthy and effective morning routine can look something like this:
- Turn off your alarm.
- Go to the bathroom.
- Drink a glass of water.
- Go for a jog or workout.
- Shower and get dressed.
- Brush teeth and hair, and shave if necessary.
- Have a cup of coffee or tea.
- Head out the door.
You’re going to want to add the time you need for each task of your morning routine, so you know how long you need to get ready for the day.
3. Open The Curtains
When you wake up in the morning, it’s good to let the natural light in as it can help your body clock to accept the time you wake up. If you do get the chance to have breakfast outside, a walk in the morning sun can be good for your mood and sleep.
4. Avoid The Snooze Button
If your alarm is usually right next to the bed and the snooze button is easy to press without even having to lift your head off the pillow, you will probably try to sleep a little longer. To combat this, put your alarm clock or your phone at the other end of your bedroom so you’re forced to get up and turn it off.
If you have difficulty waking up with your first alarm, it may be useful to add another one that goes off at least 15 to 30 minutes after the first alarm. You may also want to ask family members or roommates to help you get up until you can do it by yourself.
5. Stick To Sleep And Wake-Up Schedules On The Weekend
Sleeping in on Saturday does sound like heaven, especially after a long week. However, compensating on the weekends feeds into your sleepiness the next week as it interrupts your body clock, which doesn’t have a setting for the weekend. Stick to your bedtime and wake-up time from the week, on the weekends too. A consistent bedtime on weekends can lead to better sleep and easier waking up during the week. Also, waking up early on the weekends means that you get to spend that morning however you like.
Conclusion
Now you know you have to consistently wake up and go to sleep around the same time every day to be able to wake up earlier. However, nothing is perfect, and sometimes priorities change and you may have to stay up later than usual. In these circumstances, there are two choices – either keep your alarm time, even if it means getting less sleep, or switch off your alarm and get enough sleep. If you were to keep changing your alarm just to make sure that you get enough hours of sleep, your sleep schedule will become inconsistent.
You may sleep for an extra 2 hours, then the next evening you’ll not feel sleepy and stay up late again, and the whole thing turns into a negative spiral. Be patient with yourself. Your sleep schedule will take some time, so don’t expect to be able to wake up at 6 am every day from the get-go. Start with small changes and your body will eventually get into the habit of waking up earlier.
Once you’ve woken up and gotten a good start to the day, book a professional cleaning service with SweepSouth so you have one less priority to worry about.
