Waking up early

[Limitless]

I've read a thread on here about waking up early and most people say you don't have to wake up early to be productive and to wake up when you want.

I agree but I have noticed that I get more done when I wake up early and feel a lot better. People that wake up around 10 am go to bed around 2am. If I wake up at 10am I am tired and sleepy by 10pm and wont be able to concentrate on anything but some late night tv.

The problem I have is I dread waking up early but after a few hours I am glad I did. Its kinda like dreading going to the gym, when you are done you are glad you did it.

Any of you have this problem? Any tips on how to overcome this until it becomes a habit?

Thanks in advance

 

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[MikeC]

I started waking up at 7:00 AM for the past three weeks.

I love it.

All my work's done by noon, giving me the entire day to do whatever I feel like doing. Plus I can still go to bed around midnight and feel fine.

For overcoming the sleepiness, I suggest this awesome Steve Pavlina article:

How to Become an Early Riser | Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development Blog

Also, if you have an iPhone or Android, get an alarm clock app that wakes you up based on when you move. For example, my alarm clock wakes me up between 6:30-7:00 whenever I start rolling around. This means I'm no longer in deep sleep, so waking up feels much more refreshing and is pretty damn easy.

 

[mmtprofile]

There are a few things that I've done to get myself up at 7am everyday because I am a night owl for sure. I am measurably twice as productive when I wake up early.

1. Set appointments between 7 and 8:30 (whatever your time zone is). Maybe it's just a call with someone from another time zone but I don't break appointments and it makes sure I get out of bed.

2. Practice waking up without the snooze button. It sounds crazy but it helps. At night, set an alarm for 5-20 minutes out and try to fall asleep. When the alarm goes off, get up and start your morning routine as you would in the morning. It really does help.

3. Have a bedtime routine. 3-5 things that you do right before bed (brush teeth, read book, drink wine, whatever) It doesn't matter what those are but they will anchor into your body and you will feel tired.

4. This is one that I am very bad for. Shut off computer 1 hour before bed. I get a much better rest when I do this (which is not as often as I'd like).

5. Have two alarm clocks. One quiet and one loud. The quiet one goes off first at the time you'd like to get up and the loud one goes off to wake you up as a backup.

6. Stretch in the morning and drink a glass of water immediately to get the blood flowing.

 

[Max Power]

I just can't believe you guys think waking up at 7 am is early? LOL I assume you don't have kids or own your own businesses

 

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[Moneymadness]

I've noticed that too! I feel way more productive and actually get things done as oppose to waking up late and not having the same feel of productivity to get anything accomplish.

Now to make it a daily habit.

 

[Charles Scott]

I found that I had the same problem, I needed to work out but didnt have time and didnt want to do it after work. I started setting my alarm for 6am and began my workouts in the morning. It was hard at first, but I now find that if I work out at 6am for an hour, my mind is ready to go and alert for the rest of the day, much more so than if I slept until 9am or 10am. So I solved the problem by incorporating my workout with getting up early. I do a stepper for 30 minutes in the morning, and read during that time on my ipad. I read the millionaire fastlane during my work outs, and am reading it for the second time now. I can read several chapters each morning. I hope this helps you.

 

[Mr.Marnier]

I decided to get up at 5am, I find it easy to focus when everyone - even the dog are still sleeping!

And there is ONE simple technique that allows me to do this consistently. This small thing is the ONLY thing that will keep me getting up at 5am and out of bed within ten seconds...

Put the alarm outside your bedroom

I sleep with the door open, phone on the table just outside my door...soon as that alarm goes I have no choice but to get up to turn it off or it will just keep ringing.

It is way easier to get up and stay up when you have to physically get out of bed, too easy to keep smashing that snooze button when you haven't left that warm bed of yours yet!

 

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[Max Power]

I guess I'm lucky. I never set my alarm clock and like clockwork I get up at 6am no matter when I go to bed. Mortgage payments, car payments and mouthes to feed are all the motivation I need to get out of bed in the morning. The fast lane will fix the first two soon

 

[The-J]

What I have found helps is when you eat an hour before you go to bed and then eat between 15-45 minutes after you wake up, then keep your meals evenly spaced (you could eat 3 meals, 4 meals, 6 meals it doesn't matter). If your eating cycle is regular, your sleeping cycle is regular. I don't know why it works that way, I've just found that it does.

Also, it matters what you eat, too. Eat right and your eating, sleeping and pooing cycle become regular.

People should do more studies on this

 

[XavierYZ]

great topic, I have a problem with sleeping in, for the last 5 hours or so, I would get headaches if I slept in on the weekend past my week day routine, I am waken by the 6am alarm that my wife get up to, then I lay there trying to wake up until about 620. on days when she doesn't work or the weekend, my schedule is thrown out of wack and If try to catch up on much needed sleep and sleep past 7, I have a headache that will last the day. Its a curse. with a 4 year old kid we are in bed anywhere between 930-1130. I usually read in bed until I can no longer concentrate. which is usually around 10ish. so we get lots of hours, probably too many.

What is odd is its not the amount of hours I get of sleep that gives me the headache its if I sleep in 15 mins past 6. But I am hard to wake up and get going. Sleep Clock on iPad graphs and I get an average of 7.1 hours sleep.

 

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[BeingChewsie]

I find forcing myself up by 6 AM ensures I get stuff done. I'm in a nursing doctorate program, so getting up early and doing work associated with that allows me to have less stressful days. My mind is the clearest first thing in the morning. Plus I love desert mornings. I don't know how anybody can live in Arizona and sleep in. It is just so beautiful here in the morning.

Diet and exercise have so much to do with how well we feel and how restful our sleep is. I strongly encourage people to quit smoking, stop drinking calories, stop drinking diet soda, make better choices in food (choose real food) including vegetables, fruits, grass-fed-pastured-raised meats and eggs. Engage in the stress reducing activities of your choice several days a week. It really helps if you get off the computer at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. Give your brain time to slow down.

Doing that is a process, it takes time to break old habits and takes time to see the benefits of different lifestyle choices, but it does work. I teach patients these things in my practice all the time, the ones who implement and stick with it, always come back and tell me how much better they feel.

If you need to nap during the day (and can do so) you should. Just a quick nap can refresh you for hours. If I know I have several hours of research or reading to do, I'll take a quick nap before so I'm more alert and can power through the work faster and more accurately.

Sue

 

[yveskleinsky]

I've found that I am the most alert and productive at 4am. This was a terrible realization BTW, as I'm not a morning person. I started a 4am club with some friends who have kids, and we all text or call each other 4 days a week at 4am to make sure we are up. I also put my alarm across the room, and get my coffee maker all ready the night before. Also I've found that it helps me to get the lights on first thing and/or get in the shower next.