Waking up early – it’s no easy task. If you’re anything like me, you love your sleep and need lots of it to be a functioning, even mildly pleasant human being. So why the early alarm clock? I’ve got a few reasons.
Why I started Waking Up Early
Not long ago (maybe 5 or 6 months ago), I began to notice a real shift in my mood and behavior at the end of the day. I was flat out exhausted by the time I put Fischer to bed around 7pm and had zero mental, physical or emotional capacity to spend meaningful time with G and/or get any sort of work done. I hated that. Not only was I super grouchy and distant by the time G and I were sitting down to dinner, but I wasn’t feeling like I accomplished what I wanted to get done by the end of the day. It felt like a double whammy of failure and I knew I had to do something about it.
So, after some reflection, I began to realize the issue was that I didn’t have enough hours in my day. Starting my day when Fischer woke up around 7am wasn’t working for so many reasons. Namely, it ensured that nap time was the only time I had to myself until I laid my head back on my pillow at night. As someone who needs alone time to recharge, that just wasn’t going to fly. So I began to devise a plan of waking up earlier.
Becoming a Morning Person
Honestly, I’ve always liked the idea of being a morning person, I just lacked the motivation to become one. But my marriage, my family and my ambition to continue growing my little blog all rolled into one big kick in the pants in terms of motivation! It didn’t happen all at once though. I didn’t go from waking up at 7am to waking up at 5 cold turkey. I took it one step at a time.. and that’s what we’re going to talk about now. Here are the steps I took to start waking up at 5am.
Step 1: Plan a Routine You’ll Look Forward To
If you have something to look forward to in the morning, it’s SO MUCH EASIER to get up. My routine looks like this: 1. Make a delicious cup of coffee (we use this coffee maker and its sheer joy in a cup…seriously) 2. Diffuse some energy-boosting essential oils 3. Do something I enjoy (read my Bible, journal and/or work on my blog) 4. Take a shower. As you can see, it doesn’t have to be complicated, but these are things I enjoy and they make me feel like I’ve accomplished so much before Fischer wakes up and starts calling for me.
Step 2: Set Your Alarm Back in 15 Min Increments
If you try and wake up two hours (or however long you’re shooting for) earlier just out of the blue, my bet is you’re going to fail – I know because I’ve tried to go cold turkey so many times! It wasn’t until I consistently moved my alarm clock up 15 mins earlier over time that I was able to actually train my body to wake up earlier – almost on its own. Just set your alarm back and leave it there 2 or 3 days before setting it back another 15. It really does work!
Step 3: Get Enough Sleep
Everyone needs a certain number of hours in order to feel truly rested in the morning and everyone’s number is different. Mine lies somewhere between 6 and 8 (I haven’t quite narrowed it down perfectly yet lol!). But this number is important for determining your bed time. Whatever time you plan to wake up, count back those number of hours and that’s when you need to be in bed on your way to dreamland. I utilize the Bedtime app on my iPhone, which gives me a reminder when bedtime is approaching and then silences my phone during the time I’m supposed to be asleep!
Step 4: DON’T HIT SNOOZE
Believe me, I used to be the QUEEN of snooze but don’t do it! If you have to, plug your phone in across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn your alarm off. There are also a couple of apps that you can install on your phone that will help you to wake up (I’ve tried one that made you do a puzzle before your alarm will stop lol!) I find that simply taking 5 minutes (set a timer if you have to, though – don’t eat up your time) to scroll my inbox and or social media feed really helps me to wake up and get motivated to join the rest of the world. Do what you gotta do, but Snooze is the enemy of progress here, so resist the urge!
Step 5: Don’t Sleep In
On the weekends, I know it’ll be tempting to sleep in, but resist that too! At least until you’ve made it to your goal wake up time and have trained your body to wake up early. You’ll know when that is. Every now and then I’ll ‘sleep in’ on a Saturday but my body still wakes up by 6 or so on its own. Trust me, you’ll get to the point where you won’t even really miss it.
And that’s it! Five simple steps to waking up early.
What is your goal wake up time? Or are you already a morning person? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
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