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Snoozing your alarm, again and again, may feel good in the morning but definitely bring the showers of regret later. Waking up early is one of the most common lifestyle problems people face around the world. In this article, I am going to discuss a few tips on how to wake up early in the morning without feeling sleepy again!
I am someone who likes to wake up early and have a productive morning routine before I start my day’s regular regime.
Why is A Good Sleep Important?
Sleep is important to restore your mind and body functioning. But how much sleep do we really need? According to the sleep foundation, a young adult may need 7-8 hours of sleep to perform best. This may also differ from individual to individual based on their daily activities.
Why should you wake up early in the morning?
Many successful people have discussed the importance of waking up early. Here are some of the most common benefits that waking up early can give you-
It is good for your physical and mental health
You get extra time for yourself which you can use to do something productive
Maintain your body clock
Improves your concentration and focus
How To Wake Up Early Without Feeling Sleepy
1. Find a Reason
Just because everyone around you is saying waking up early is better and more productive, you won’t feel motivated enough to do it! You have to find a reason to do something for yourself.
Forming a new habit is difficult and therefore you need a good reason for it.
You need to ask yourself what are you going to achieve by waking up earlier. Do you want to improve your health and stay fit? Or do you plan to study in the morning?
Do you have to start your own business ideas along with your job? Do you want to learn something new?
Make sure the one you find is strong enough to work, something that will not comfort you to sleep more or can be procrastinated.
In addition to that, when you find a reason, write down a plan or things related to it. For example, you can make a plan of how many minutes you are going to walk and exercise or how many minutes will you read a book.
Do it for the first two days and see if it is working for you. Also, decide what other task you are going to do along with it, prior to it and next to it. It will be a plus point to remind you of your reason.
2. Go Slow
Every new habit takes time to build. If you try to do it with full energy in the beginning, expecting quick results, you may end up soon once you lose motivation.
Start making small changes, if you wake up at 8 or 9 in the morning, start waking up 30 minutes or an hour earlier for 3 days then make it another hour earlier.
Forcing yourself to wake up 3 hours earlier on the very first day itself can make you feel lethargic, demotivated, and burnt out in two days.
Either you will push yourself half-heartedly or you may completely stop the process. Go slow and enjoy the process!
3. Get a Good Sleep
The most common reason why people find it difficult to wake up early in the morning is not getting proper sleep. There can be many reasons for different people why they can’t get a good sleep.
What reasons do you have?
If it is because of your own lifestyle, you need to change it on your own, it may take time to set your clock but if you are consistent, you will do it within a week.
If it’s not a lifestyle reason, you must see your doctor or some specialist on why you are facing sleep issues.
Here I have written a blog on how to sleep better at night. These advices are based on my personal experiences only.
4. Eat better
It is now proven by research that what we eat affects our mind and therefore sleep too. But how should you eat to sleep better?
According to Ayurveda, you should eat between sunrise and sunset. It is because the enzymes related to digestion in our body are most active at this time. These enzymes start diminishing when the natural light goes off.
It also says that lunch should be your biggest meal and your dinner should be the lightest. Having a heavy meal before sleeping can slow down your digestion causing sleep disturbance.
The nighttime when the body is resting, it is trying to digest the last heavy meal you had. Therefore, try to keep your dinner light and lunch the bigger one.
Additionally, try to cut out caffeinated drinks and replace them with healthy soups or salads.
5. Challenge Yourself and Plan Rewards.
Rewarding yourself can be a great motivation strategy. I use it too!
Challenge yourself to wake up consistently at 6 am every day for 10 days and if you do so you will get yourself something you love.
You can change the duration and reward accordingly.
A reward can serve as a tool to adopt good habits and waking up early will not only be beneficial to you, it can fetch you some rewards if you plan to do so!
You can also put it in a planner or share it with your friends on your social media.
6. Add Some Physical Activities
Moving your body is undoubtedly one of the best ways to regulate the normal functioning of the body.
We all know that doing exercise has numerous benefits. It not only keeps you fit but also regulates your sleep hormones.
You get tired, thereby increasing your sleep drive. Studies have shown that people who had sleep disorders were less physically active than those who sleep well.
If you have a busy routine, you can choose simple physical activities like avoiding escalators and driving to a nearby place. Choose to walk there instead. If you add a certain amount of physical activity to your life, you will most certainly start getting better sleep.
7. Unplug From Technology
One of the reasons you might be sleeping late today is because of the late-night binge-watching or your social media addiction. The way the digital world is expanding, its addiction and affects have become quite a problem that people are facing today.
Two years ago, my phone got damaged, I waited to buy a new phone. That was the time when I realized that sleeping early is not that difficult nor is waking up early.
We don’t have to do anything extra to wake up early, we just have to remove the distractions
Try to develop this habit of leaving your electronics at least an hour before you sleep. Give your brain some time to relax before you go to bed. Replace your phone with an actual alarm clock.
I know these steps may be extreme as we are so used to having our phones around but trust me, once you are over this urge, you will start feeling much happier, more active, and independent.
8. Plan a Refreshing Morning Routine
Sometimes you do manage to get out of bed but then you start feeling sleepy in an hour or so. The first few hours of the day become very lazy and you feel like going back to bed.
What can you do to avoid it? Try incorporating some refreshing routines like doing yoga, dancing, or going out for a run.
This will not only keep you physically fit but will help you wake up early in the morning by making your brain active.
After waking up early, go indoors, take up some fresh air, and spend some time in nature. You will feel active and will stay active for a long duration of the day.
Read Best Morning Habits For A Productive Day
9. Take Someone’s Help
In the initial phase of building this habit, you may take the help of someone to get up early. It can be your mom, dad, siblings, or any friend.
My brother loves playing basketball. When one of his friends comes up any morning to take him along to play, he wakes up immediately but he never does that on a regular day on his own!
You may go for a run as a team but when you are alone, your brain may encourage you to procrastinate. Once you get in the loop, you can stop depending on the person and start doing it on your own.
10. Get Exposed to More Daylight
Did you know that daylight helps I’m regulating your circadian rhythm? If you are giving yourself some sunlight in the morning it will help you boost your mood and energy levels.
Let the natural light keep coming into your room.
Try opening your curtains as soon as you wake up, and also let some fresh air in. Whereas in the night time you can dim the light of your room in order to sleep better.
If you are someone who spends very less time in the daylight, you may find it difficult to wake up early in the morning.
Over To You
These were some tips on how to wake up early in the morning. If you are successful in adopting this practice, it is going to be one of the best habits you will ever incorporate into your life. I hope these tips will be helpful for you and that you do not need an alarm in the future!
