One of the main struggles many of us face when wanting to wake up early is actually waking up and getting up.
We can set our intentions the night before, be excited to wake up early and be super productive. But, sometimes we struggle to feel rested, energised, and actually get out of bed.
This post will help you overcome that problem.
We’ll look at several strategies or tactics that you can use to make it easier to wake up and get up.
Get Enough Sleep
The simplest and most effective way to get up feeling rested is to get enough rest.
If you’re going to bed at 1AM and plan on waking up at 5AM, it’s unlikely you’ll wake up with the energy you desire.
In such a situation, you’d need to think about what you value more. Waking up early and being productive, or staying up late? That’s something we’ll look at more in a future post.
The average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Most often, this is 5 or 6 complete 90-minute sleep cycles. It’s rare for someone to function optimally on only 6 hours of sleep.
Want to learn more about sleep? Read this detailed post.
Working backwards
For the sake of this post, we’ll assume you already have a desired wake up time. Let’s say it’s 5AM.
To get enough sleep each night, you’ll need around 7 and a half hours, or 5 complete sleep cycles. We can work backwards from your wake up time to find your sleep time. If you’re asleep at this time, you’ll be getting enough rest.
Here, that would be 9:30PM. If you’re asleep – not going to bed – at 9:30PM, you’ll wake up fully rested.
To be asleep at that time, you’ll benefit from shutting your eyes 20-30 minutes before. Having an evening routine will also be beneficial.
Have A Purpose
Waking up early without a reason to wake up early puts you on the fast track to snooze town.
Think back to this morning. There was a reason you got up, right? It might have been having to go to work. It might have been to work on a passion project. It could even have been to go the toilet.
The point is, you had a purpose for getting up. The stronger the purpose, the more driven you were to get out of bed.
Using this knowledge, you can create a purpose for waking up. This will help you to get out of bed.
Your Purpose
The type of purpose can be broadly split into two categories: Needs and Wants.
Needs are things that have to happen, otherwise you’ll experience the consequences. A great example is your job. Not getting up and going to work means you won’t get paid.
Wants are things that you, well, want to happen. Doing these things leads to a desired outcome. This could be working on a passion project or doing something you enjoy.
Both are powerful and can help you to wake up easier and actually get up. To create your purpose, you’ll first have to choose which type you prefer, then take relevant action.
Needs
Starting your day because of a need is a double-edged sword. It’s arguably the more powerful motivator of the two, but not for the right reasons.
You’re waking up with unnecessary stress, on someone else’s terms. You’re able to push back getting up until the last possible moment, meaning hitting the snooze button is more likely.
Consequences can be powerful, though. They can force you to get up.
Here’s an example of a consequence that you can use.
First, take an embarrassing photo or write an embarrassing story about yourself. Save this to your computer as an email draft.
In the ‘To’ field, enter the email address of close friends, family, your boss, etc.
Schedule this email to send 10-15 minutes after your desired wake up time. If you don’t get up and cancel the email before it sends, the email will send and you’ll look like a fool.
Wants
Wants allow you to wake up energised and excited. If your purpose is a want, you’ll be starting your day on your terms.
Do you remember Christmas as a kid? Waking up early in the morning and excited to begin the day. That’s what a ‘want’ purpose is. When your purpose is a want, you can wake up feeling like that every day.
So, how do you create a ‘want’ purpose?
Begin by finding something that you want to do every morning. Something that you love to do, that you rarely get bored of. Something that energises you when you think about it – a passion.
For many, this could be a creative pursuit. For some, it’s heading to the gym and having a killer workout. For others, it could simply be spending quality time with their kids. Take a moment to think about this.
If you’re struggling, consider having your purpose be a positive morning routine. Here, you’d be working on yourself and creating the life you want to live. That’s a pretty exciting purpose.
Whatever your ‘want’ is, ensure you can pursue it (early) every morning. If you can only do your desired activity once a week, you’ll struggle for motivation on the other 6 days.
The same applies to a ‘need’. If you only ‘need’ to get up 5 days a week for work, you’re more likely to sleep in on the weekends.
Keep It Consistent
One of the best things you can do to wake up easier is to wake up at the same time every day.
Sleep regularity aids your circadian rhythm – your wake/sleep cycle. You’ll find it much easier to wake up and get up if you do so at the same time every day. It will also be easier for you to fall asleep.
Sure, sleeping in on the weekends is nice. But, if you have a purpose, you’re excited to get out of bed – even on the weekends.
Combine these three tips and you’ll be on your way to waking up with ease!
Thanks for reading. Don’t just read this post and call it done. Take action.
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