Waking up early changed my life. And I bet it will change yours too.
But where do you start? How do you stay consistent?
Below are some tips that I use to wake up early each day… Whether it’s 5am, 6am, or even if you call 8am ‘early’, creating rules will help you remain consistent and in control. Let’s get to it…
TIP #1: Create a reason to wake up. (Even if it’s a small reason)
“You won’t get up, if there’s nothing to get up for”
Without a good reason, it’s very difficult to get up early. Having a routine or checklist is helpful, but it can also get boring to do the same thing every morning.
When I first started 5am-ing, here was my morning checklist:
– Get up
– put on coffee
– stretch 5 mins
– walk for 20 mins
– read for 20 mins
– write 1 positive thought on a flash card
– start smashing my to-do list
After doing this for a few weeks I started getting bored. It became harder and harder to get out of bed because there was nothing new to get up for. So, I changed things up. Some mornings I get really into my book so I read for 3 hours straight. Some mornings I drive to the beach and surf before work.
Whatever it is, I plan it the night before so I always have a reason to get up.
Try to make your own plan each night, and stick to it. If you don’t have a plan for multiple days in a row, it will be extremely difficult to get up. Your reason can be ANYTHING you want, even if it’s something small.
**Here are some more ideas… 101 things to do at 5am! Some of these might give you ideas for your wake up early routine.***
TIP #2: Set a bedtime. Try to stick to it.
Chances are you have an alarm on your phone for the morning. But do you have an alarm for your bedtime?
I found this cool feature on my iPhone that gives me an alarm for both mornings and night times. I sometimes lose track of how late it is, especially when I’m up late working. Now the bedtime alarm reminds me!
You can find this setting in the clock app on your iPhone.
A quick note on work emails late at night:
9pm – 11pm used to be my time to catch up on work emails while watching TV. I used to think it was productive. It’s NOT.
But won’t my coworkers be impressed when they see me working emails late at night?
No. Any person can stay up and send late night emails. True respect from your co-workers will come when they see emails from you sent between 5-6am!
(Or better yet, ultimate respect comes when you completely shut off work after-hours 🙂 )
TIP #3: You snooze, you lose.
Waking up to an alarm sound sucks. It’s painful. So why would you want to hear an alarm multiple times each morning? Once is enough. Each time you hit the snooze button you’re just subscribing yourself to more pain. It’s less pain to just get up.
Stop hitting the snooze button. You’ll get used to it after a while.
TIP #4: Drink earlier in the day.
A screenshot from DawnPatrol, my surf tracking App on the Apple Watch. I’m a nerd!
I love beer. It’s something I look forward to every day after a hard day of work. But it’s well known that alcohol has a huge effect on how well you sleep and how deep you sleep.
Since I’m going to bed a little earlier, I try to stop drinking a little earlier. It makes a huge difference in waking up early.
I’ve noticed when I stop drinking by 7:00 or 7:30pm, and drink water or tea for the last few hours of each day, I feel much clearer in the morning. If I drink beer right up until the moment I go to bed, I’m foggy and dazed at 5am. My morning is less productive, and honestly it’s less fun.
TIP #5: Weekends, travel, vacations = Stay Consistent!
“Getting up early is even MORE important on the weekends”
There’s a couple reasons I don’t sleep in on the weekends. First off, it’s much easier to create a habit if you do it every day. If you wake up Mon-Fri at 5am, then sleep in until 9am on the Sat & Sun, you’ll find it very hard to get back up at 5am on Monday morning. Chances of succeeding are lower.
Second, I eventually found that weekend mornings are even more productive than week days. Less people are awake, and you can focus solely on your personal affairs and goals.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I don’t get up for work, I get up for ME.
Let me ask you this…
If you could magically pause time for a 2 hour period on any day of the week, which day would you choose to have the extra time in? Would it be a Monday so you could do extra office work? Or would you choose Sunday so you could have a few more hours to relax at home? My guess is you’d choose Saturday or Sunday.
Think about this when you sleep in on the weekends. You might be robbing yourself of your hard-earned time off!
TIP #6: No Social Media in the AM:
Be careful what you let into your brain in the morning. After sleeping all night, your brain is like a fresh sponge, ready to soak up whatever the new day brings. If you fill it with distractions it can delay your progress in reaching your goals. Facebook can wait!
Crap in = Crap out.
Ever heard of the Low Information Diet? I’ve been on it for many years and try to avoid all social media and news, especially in the mornings.
I hope these tips help you to wake up early, and take charge of your mornings! If you’re interested, join my daily morning email list below… I send out daily emails when I wake up each morning. See full archive emails here. Unsubscribe anytime, you won’t hurt my feelings!