how to wake up early_ the definitive guide

How To Wake Up Early: The Definitive Guide

by Mehdi on December 3, 2009

Most successful people are early risers. Think of Tiger Woods and Donald Trump. One reason why waking

up early is correlated with success is that you get more work done in the morning. Thats one benefit of

waking up early.

But how do you build the habit of waking up early without feeling like a mess in the morning? Especially if

youre a night owl? This post will give you 12 powerful tips to become an early riser within 30 days and

wake up early consistently.

1. Wake Up At The Same Time Daily. Youll become an early riser by waking up at the exact same

time for 30 days on. Youll be less likely to sleep in and might even wake up right before your alarm goes

off. Heres how to get started:

Wake Up At The Same Time. If you have problems catching sleep, lying awake at night while

feeling tired, start by waking up at the same time daily. Even if its late. This will stabilize your

circadian rhythm.

Wake Up Earlier. I recommend at least 2 hours before leaving for work. I wake up at 6am to start

working at 8am. Many early risers wake up at 5am or even 4am. Nap for 30mins around noon if

youre tired.

Dont Gradually Wake Up Earlier. Youre body gets used to waking up early fast. Dont wake up

15mins earlier every couple of days until you wake up when you want to. Go directly for your goal

wake up time.

2. Set Your Alarm. Use something loud, but not annoying. I use the alarm on my cellular phone (off at

night) because I dont like music, a radio or a buzzer. Use whatever works for you.

Put your alarm out of arm reach so you cant hit the snooze to sleep in. You must have to get out of bed to

stop your alarm.

3. Jump Out of Bed When Your Alarm Goes Off. The longer it takes you to get up, the more likely

youll try to sleep in. And hitting the snooze to lay in your bed longer only makes it harder. Get up the first

time your alarm goes off.

Stop Rationalizing. Dont lay in bed thinking of reasons to sleep longer. Get out of bed even if you

feel tired. You need consistency to build the habit of waking up early. Dont make exceptions.

Stop Snoozing. Sleeping in for 10mins leads to another 10mins. Before you know it

youve slept 2h more. And because you broke your sleep any extras are low quality and

can make you even more tired.

Leave The Room. Have a warm sweater or a bathrobe ready if its cold season. Then leave the

room and dont come back. Ignore the voice in your head that tells you to go back to sleep in.

How to Wake Up Early: The Definitive Guide http://stronglifts.com/how-to-wake-up-early-the-definitive-guide/

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4. Get Light Exposure. Light stimulates dopamine production which increases energy, motivation &

productivity. Lack of light causes winter blues & tiredness. Unfortunately home/office lights arent bright

enough. You need sunlight.

Open Window Blinds. This gets you sunlight exposure when you wake up and during the day. If

you work in an office: open the window blinds and place your desk so your eyes get sunlight

exposure.

Walk Outside. A 30 min walk in the morning sunlight will stimulate the production of dopamine.

Do not wear sunglasses: UV is low at sunset. Your eyes will be safe unless you look directly into the

sun.

Use a Sun Box. If your place doesnt have big windows to let sunlight in or if its winter/cloudy or if

you cant get outside in the morning, then use a light box like this one for 30mins after you wake up.

5. Have a Reason To Wake Up Early. Use your extra time in the morning to do things that matter.

Not for surfing the Internet or doing other tasks that wont make a difference in the long-term. Heres

what I recommend:

Eat Breakfast. Key to building healthy eating habits: youll be less likely to eat junk food the rest of

the day if you eat a healthy breakfast. Read the benefits of breakfast and build the habit of eating on

waking up.

Cook Food. Preparing your own meals gives you total control over their ingredients and thus over

your results. Prepare breakfast and your food for the day on waking up. This takes about 1 hour.

Exercise. You wont miss workouts if you train in the morning: whatever comes up, youve already

trained. Wait 1hour before lifting weights. This gives your spine time to dehydrate and lowers risks of

lower back injury.

6. Write Your Goals Daily. Most people dont have goals. And those who set some forget about them

within weeks. By writing down your goals daily, youll never forget them and theyll be your reason for

waking up early.

Set Goals. If you dont know what you want: start with what you dont want. Your goal is the

opposite. Aim high, choose 1 goal and be specific. Example: I dont want to be fat I choose to have

10% body fat.

Know Why You Want It. Avoiding pain/frustration is the best motivator. Compare the pain of

waking up early to staying fat/skinny, experiencing humiliation as a result and dying young because

of your unhealthy diet.

Write Your Goals 2x/Day. On waking up and before going to bed. Use them as affirmations (read

Beyond Positive Thinking): I choose to easily wake up at 6am, I choose to eat breakfast and

exercise each morning.

7. Build a Morning Ritual. This daily routine will get you strong for your day by setting the right

context (read Power of Full Engagement) and is your reason to wake up early. Mix tips 1 to 6 and do them

daily in the same order. Example:

Wake up at 6am. Drink water. Open window blinds & windows.


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Eat breakfast and cook your food for day.

Review your goals and write them down.

Go the gym, come back, eat, shower, get ready for work.

8. Commit For 30 Days. It takes about 30 days to build a new habit. Commit yourself to wake up at the

exact same time for at least 30 days weekends included. Consistency is the only way to build a habit.

Use Willpower. Youll meet lots of internal resistance during the first 10 days. Use willpower to get

through these. It gets easier once you begin experiencing the benefits, which is after about 20 days.

Focus on 1 Habit. Changing many things at once usually leads nowhere. Start with waking up

early, eating breakfast and exercising. Once you do this consistently for +30 days, you can build

another habit.

Be Consistent. Self-discipline isnt something youre born with. You build it. Waking up early will

build self-discipline which youll be able to use to build other habits. It starts here. Dont skip a day.

No matter what.

9. Go To Bed When Youre Sleepy. How much sleep you need depends on your activity levels, sleep

quality, diet, But youll most likely need 8h sleep/night on average. Which means some days 6h, some

days 9h.

Thats why going to bed at the same time each day wont work. Focus on wake up time, not bedtime. Listen

to your body and go to bed when you feel sleepy. Avoid anything that prevents you to feel tiredness. Tips:

Get Downtime Pre-bed. Stop working, internet surfing & watching TV 1h before you go to bed.

Read a book and go to sleep when you cant read without losing concentration. Or do meditations

and breathing exercises. If you think a lot in bed: write it all down so it gets out of your head.

Set Bedtime Deadline. Staying up late makes it hard to wake up early. Youll usually end up

sleeping in and quit. Set a bedtime deadline and go to bed at that time even if youre not tired yet. No

matter what.

Stop Trying to Sleep If You Cant. If it takes you longer than 10mins to fall asleep, youre not

tired enough. Stop trying and keep yourself busy. Read a book or do some meditations. Dont stress

about it.

10. Get Quality Sleep. Deep sleep & REM are quality sleep. Youll wake up more easily, need less sleep

and have more energy if you have uninterrupted, quality sleep. Tips to improve your sleep quality:

Stop Stimulants. Coffee, alcohol & nicotine mess with your sleep. Drink green tea instead of coffee,

water instead of alcohol. Stop smoking.

Avoid Big Meals Pre-bed. Theyll stress your digestive system and lower your sleep quality. Have

a small pre-bed snack. Dont wake up at night to eat: you wont lose muscle, starvation mode is a

myth.

Avoid Drinking Pre-bed. Waking up to go to the toilet interrupts your sleep and lowers its

quality. Stop drinking water 2h prior bedtime.

Avoid Exercise Pre-bed. Exercising less than 3 hours prior bedtime can keep you awake.

Schedule your workout earlier.


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R An Arc90 Laboratory Experiment

Set Right Conditions. Good mattrass & pillow. Cool, dark & silent room (wear ear plugs & a

sleeping mask if you have to). No electronics.

Check the Power Sleep Program for a definitive guide on how to improve your sleep quality so you feel

more energized & productive while sleeping less.

11. Make Yourself Accountable. If people commit orally or in writing, theyll be more likely to honor

that commitment. Even if motivation is removed after theyve agreed, theyll continue to honor the

agreement. Robert Cialdini, Influence.

This is because you tend to care about other peoples opinion and dont want to be embarassed for failing.

Although I advise to stop caring about what people think, heres where it can be useful.

Tell family or close friends youre going to wake up early for 30 days.

Make a deal that if you dont wake up early each day for 30 days youll do something you dont want

to do (like writing them a 1000$ check).

Report to them daily for 30 days: call, text or email them. And if you skip once, stick to the deal

youve agreed on.

If youre thinking: Id never do that, thats because you know that making this kind of commitment will

force you to follow through. Proof this works.

12. Stop Believing The Myths. I always thought I was an evening person. As a student I woke up past

noon unless it was school. Then I started to wake up earlier to go the gym, but anything before 8AM was

still killing me.

About a year ago I built the habit of waking up at 6AM because I realized that you get more done if you

wake up early. Ive been waking up consistently at 6AM since. And now I see that the whole morning

person thing is a myth.

Theres nothing like a morning or night person. Human bodies can adapt to anything. You just have to

be consistent to get used to waking up early.

Start tomorrow. Dont deviate. Youll become an early riser within 30 days.

Excerpted from How to Wake Up Early: The Definitive Guide

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-wake-up-early-the-definitive-guide/

http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability


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