Lifehacks to Wake Up Early - What Does, Doesn't and Sometimes Works

in life •  8 years ago 

As someone who has a really hard time getting up in the morning - according to my family it's on my genes - I used to struggle everyday to open an eye and get to work at 10 AM.



Boy, does she look comfy

I blame my family. Nor my sisters. my mom, my dad and even my grandmother are stars of sleeping late and unable to get up in the morning. Take my grandmother, I think she is 80+ and this woman easily goes to bed at 3AM and get's up around 11. My mother, dying every morning to get out of bed (honestly, her bed is the best thing though). My sisters, cursed with both our parent's genes. And then me. Well, I will not even go there.

However, some things have really helped me which caused me to write this article at 8 in the morning. Also, thanks to @things for putting up her alarm at 6AM and not getting out of bed. So yes, I've been awake for two hours now, doing completely nothing.

I guess it's just up to @timsaid to tell me which of my hacks are actually true or just ways to trick your brain.


What works for me

1. Do not make your bedroom into a gothic vampire house

Open the curtains! I think this has been the best hack/solution I've had in ever. THE HOLY GRAIL OF WAKING-UP-HACKS! The sun is up early and light wakes us up in the most natural way. Maybe you are one of those people who need to be in a pitch black room in order to sleep, well then try to get used to it.

2. Don't drink too many sugars

I drink mainly water actually. I am not a fan of frizzy drinks and would only go for the occasional (read complete weekends) Fanta or Sprite in my alcoholic beverage. I do not drink cola since makes me feel like my teeth are going jell-o - what is up with that seriously? Anyway, more water. Also appears to cleanse your system HEY!

3. Get a stable bed time

So, just don't go to bed too late (haha). Too late may be relative, but I try to go to bed between 11PM and 1AM in order to get up around 8:30AM. This was one of te hardest things to achieve though, since I love the nights.

4. Once you got it right, try to stick to that

What actually really helped me was going on wintersports with family and friends. Like I mentioned before, the family isn't so much fan of a waking-up-early-thing, but the friends were. They wanted to go snowboarding early, which made us have breakfast at 8AM in the morning, means getting up at 7AM (yes, kill me). Then you would get out and go snowboarding untill late afternoon, have dinner, chill at home and then be completely broken by 9PM/10PM. Once I got home, I actually woke up earlier and got tired earlier and I've been trying to stick to this. Trust me though, we all go out in the weekends. Then grab back to leaving your curtains open to somewhat stay in the flow of waking up early - trust me, the next evening you'll be dying to go to bed early!

5. Do some exercise before heading to bed

Somewhat similar to the tip above. I was broken when I was done with a day of snowboarding and slept like a baby during the nights.

6. Get an asshole partner who has to wake up early

....and then doesn't leave the bed for hours because she decided she's not going to university after all. Seriously, what is wrong with you, @things. Kill me.


What doesn't work for me

I guess we all looked up at least once on how to get up early, according to me, the following ones are stupid. Like, why?!

1. No computers before bed

I am attached to either my phone or my laptop. I work with my laptop, watch series and movies, I text people, I scroll through Facebook. No phone or laptop? Not going to happen bro.

2. Put the alarm away from your bed

Yes, no way in hell I am putting myself through THAT. I can only do so much. This is self-torture which I am not ready for.

3. Get a morning routine

Yes, I can't. I am the type of person who will not wake up earlier so I can make myself breakfast or have some tea (do you even know how long you have to wait untill your tea finally is cooled down to a drinkable temperature?!) Hell, sometimes I even skip my shower so I can just grab those extra 10 minutes.


What sometimes works for me

1. Wake yourself up by using your phone

This literally sometimes helps me. It can completely wake me up or, well, makes me fall back asleep. Try to keep yourself occupied. Check your mail, read something your interested in (what's the newest gossip on my Facebook?), start texting people (it helps if you have people from different timezones) or play a game (CLASH ROYALE FTW).

2. Sit up

As soon as your alarm goes, just sit op. You might still be dying of sleep, but it somehow kinda works for me. It's better thn laying back down - that one for sure makes me fall back asleep.


How do you wake up early in the morning? Share your hacks!



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Especially the tip to do heavy exercise before going to bed was a massive help to me. I did 3 sets of 10 very slow pushups. If done correctly, it exhausts you decently. Slept like a rose.

I acquired a child. Now that has helped me a lot of getting up every morning at about 6 am. :) But seriously, it has. It helped me realize how important routines are. In the evening I work until about 11 pm , then watch an episode of something and then I have to read in a book in bed before my daily death around 1 am.

Ah yeah! I guess that goes along with the partner tip :p It sounds like a nice, steady evening though. I guess I watch something or play League of Legends before heading to bed but that doesn't really influence my waking up in the morning I suppose.

Sorry for waking you up 😂 Really nicely written!

Saali

I'm definitely trying to start a morning routine. But first I have to be able to consistently fall asleep earlier. It's tough breaking a habit.

Didn't I already reply to this? :O

I didn't see it!

Steemit is messing with me!

I was asking what do you generally do at night, hah!

I usually stay up too late and watch Youtube Red for too long!

Hahaha! Well maybe you can do that in bed?

I'll have to try some of your tips. Well written!

Haha thank you! let me know how that works out!

How late and large you have your evening meal is very influential on your sleeping patterns. If I want to be in bed by 10PM, then dinner should be no later than 6PM.
Studies have demonstrated that lighting also plays a huge role in our alertness or readiness for sleep. So you are bang on with a computer / phone curfew. The best lighting to wind down in preparation for sleep is a reddish, much like a firelight.
Sleep well! =)

I agree! Your stomach has to work a lot to digest - rip midnight snacks.

However I do have the occasional after-dinner-dip, in that case, my sleep I beyond amazing.

Basically this article was more written from a personal point of view rather than a scientific point of view :)

I thought you wanted to change your sleep patterns, rather it seems you want to advertise them. =)

I guess it's a bit if both, haha. I think there is always room to improve my sleep pattern! For example today, I am dying of sleep because I went to sleep at 2:30AM and had to get up at 8:30AM :(

If I do that sort of thing to often, say five days in a row of 6 hours sleep, by the end of it, I am starting to come down with a cold. I hate being unproductive due to fatigue, therefore I resolved to change my sleeping and waking habits to get the most out of my day. I find, if I am in bed early and up early 6-7am, start work by 8, what I achieve in the four hours of the morning amounts to a full days work, and only half the day is done. I then have the late afternoon off to go and play. =)