A lot of people will say they hate people who can get up early, the lucky class who can be happy, energized, and productive before noon while others are still struggling with the snooze button on their alarm. However, most of us secretly wish we could be one of them. Making the transition from "bats" to being ready and upbeat from daybreak is no easy feat, but there are some simple steps you can take to better manage this transition. Come on, reclaim your mornings without sacrificing the hours of sleep you need!
Step
Method 1 of 2: Establishing a Night Habit
Step 1. Sleep longer and more regularly
Many of us would be able to get up in the morning if we gave ourselves the opportunity to sleep more at night. Getting enough sleep your body needs gives you the energy, health and motivation to get things done in the morning and throughout the day.
- Although the general recommended total hours of sleep for adults is seven to nine hours, each person has different needs. One way to test your sleep needs is to go a week without an alarm clock or alarm (like when you are on vacation). Start going to bed at the same time each night, then review the average length of time you need to wake yourself up in the morning.
- Set regular bedtime and wake-up times throughout the week. Granted, the temptation to stay up late and get up late on days without work or other morning responsibilities is overwhelming, but maintaining a regular daily routine will help train your body.
- Cut an hour at the end of your day. No, of course you can't really make the clock jump from 10 to 11 p.m., but you can leave an empty hour before bed. During this time, you are prohibited from scheduling work or other activities. You need time to cool off before bedtime comes.
Step 2. Go to sleep early
To wake up faster, you need to start sleeping earlier. This can be difficult if you are used to spending time at night for activities such as reading, watching television, or writing.
- Try going to bed gradually faster. Start accelerating your bedtime by 15 minutes, hoping to wake up 15 minutes earlier, then slowly increase this amount to half an hour, then an hour. If you do this gradually, your body and mind can have time to adjust to earlier sleep and wake times. It also helps you find the right halfway between going to bed too early and staying up too late.
- Dim your lights an hour before bed to help release melatonin, which makes you sleepy. In addition, rooms that have a comfortable coolness (at an ambient temperature of 18-21°C) will also help you fall asleep more easily. Also avoid bright light, caffeine, and alcohol, because these three things will also make you more awake.
- Avoid screen time (TV, computer, etc.) in your prep hour before bed to fall asleep faster. Even relaxing TV shows will provide stimulation and make it harder for you to fall asleep.
- Give yourself a chance to read while you're in bed. Reading is a serene activity that often triggers sleep when done in a reclined position. You don't have to purposely look for boring reading material, but choose bedtime reading that isn't too stressful or too strenuous.
- If you live with a "bat" who has absolutely no interest in changing her sleep schedule, ask her to help reduce noise and noise before bedtime.
Step 3. Find the right alarm clock and make smart placements
While it's important to learn how to get up in the morning solely by determination, the alarm clock is a key tool for establishing your new habit of shifting your sleep pattern.
- Some people were helped by the sound of the alarm that immediately blared loudly, some by the alarm that gradually grew louder. Try several alternatives until you find the one that works best to wake you up.
- Place the alarm far enough away that you have to leave the bed to turn it off. The effort put into getting out of bed to turn off the alarm should be enough to really wake you up.
Step 4. Prepare for sleep and wake up
In addition to the other tips already provided, such as avoiding electronic devices with screens before bed, establishing a regular bedtime habit is essential in your transition to being an early riser.
- Make sure you're not too hungry or too full on your way to bed. Both of these conditions will make it difficult for you to fall asleep.
- Make preparations for the morning the night before. Pack things for your work or school bag. Line up clothes for you to wear tomorrow. Prepare ingredients for cooking breakfast. Free up more of the extra time you get in the morning.
- Try bathing or showering with warm water before bed. Your body temperature will drop afterward, and this will make it easier for you to fall asleep.
Step 5. Reflect on your goal of getting up early
If you can mentally motivate yourself to get up early, it can break down any excuses you have for getting up early. Each night, create a clear mental picture of why you want to get up early and the accomplishments you will achieve with that time in the morning. Some good reasons that are commonly used are:
- Get some quiet time alone before the other householders wake up. During this time, you can read a book, write, exercise, meditate, meditate, prepare dinner plans, or even clean the house a little.
- Set aside time for your religion or belief. For many people, the early hours of the morning is an important time to contemplate or perform religious worship, such as praying or praying.
- Watch the sun rise. Regardless of how beautiful the sun sets, sunrise welcomes a new day and brings the prospect of new beginnings. This view is worth fighting for.
- Get to work, school, or college early so you can get home early and do other things you want to do.
- Take care of a family member or pet. Those who are responsible for the care of other people or animals can benefit from getting up early, especially if it is necessary to feed, bathe, exercise, etc. treated party.
- Plan a fun morning activity for each day - the same one, or one that changes each day. For example, you can exchange greetings with an old friend over the phone; write a collection of short stories that you have always wanted to complete; start training for a marathon; or redecorate your dining room.
- The morning is also a great time to tackle routine business while you're still awake and ready for action; activities like checking email, paying bills, and sorting files can be first things in the morning so you can get rid of them quickly.
- For some people, being an early riser is about getting back into the way you were before allowing yourself to watch TV, chat over the internet, and do other activities that keep you up late at night.
Method 2 of 2: Waking Up Ready to Go
Step 1. Brighten your morning
Your first attempt at changing your sleep pattern from a night person to a morning person will be especially difficult, but harnessing light is one way to trick your body into a more awake state.
Being exposed to light, both natural and artificial, upon waking helps you reset your circadian rhythm and keeps you awake. Allow natural sunlight to flood into your bedroom, or buy a "light box" or alarm clock that gradually emits increasingly brighter light
Step 2. Try different strategies to wake up
Find something that forces you to leave (and not return to) the mattress. Consider the following ways to help you enter an awake state:
- Make the bed. The urge to snuggle back into the duvet will lessen once you've bothered to make the bed.
- Force yourself out of the room - getting rid of your bowels, drinking a glass of water, brushing your teeth, or doing other activities can squelch your inner voice back to sleep. As a side consideration, we often feel dehydrated when we wake up, so drinking a glass of water can help refresh the body and prepare it for the activities that follow.
- Splash water on your face as soon as you get out of bed.
- Do stretches. Stretching can help to gently wake you up while increasing your flexibility.
- Put on some lively beats and follow along with a little dance.
- Drink a glass of tea or coffee to awaken your senses. Some people also rely on a mixture of lukewarm water with fresh lemon juice as an efficacious refreshing concoction.
Step 3. Exercise before breakfast
There's nothing to lose at the same time breaking a sweat before your morning shower, and you can even start the day by burning calories before replenishing them.
- Physical activity will help wake you up, and exercise done in the morning is more effective at boosting your metabolism than exercise done at other times of the day.
- Get your gear from the night before - get your clothes and running shoes ready, reset your bike, set up weights, or have your gym tapes ready. Get into the action center before your sleepy side convinces you to do otherwise
- Make sure that you drink plenty of water before and during your morning workout.
Step 4. Eat a good breakfast
Don't be tempted to skip breakfast - it's your initial energy boost for the rest of the day, and you can last longer before you need to eat lunch.
- A breakfast that includes protein, fruit or vegetables, complete with whole grains, can help fill you with enough energy for the day ahead. For a quick and healthy example, try Greek yogurt, topped with blue berries and granola with chia seeds.
- Look at alternatives, such as adding variety to your diet, or even discussing it with your doctor, if you're persistently reluctant to eat breakfast earlier in the day.
Step 5. Maintain your new morning rhythm once you've established it
Waking up at the same time every day is important once you've established your new routine, especially at the end of the week. Don't get up late on inactive days; doing this messes up your sleep rhythm. You can get up in the afternoon when you don't feel well. If not, instead of doing that use your time to read, enjoy a longer breakfast, talk to other people, or exercise.
- Every night or every week, plan a fun activity for the new time you get in the morning. You can say hello to an old friend or learn how to knit, as long as it keeps you looking forward to the next morning each night.
- Watch your achievement increase when you get home from work and/or school. You'll find it easier to relax, sleep better at night, and feel more refreshed when you wake up in the morning again.
Step 6. Work harder while remaining realistic
It takes time to undergo the change from a night person to a morning person. In addition, it turns out that the genes that determine that we tend to be night or morning humans can be difficult to surpass. (It is estimated that only 10% of people have a high propensity to be first, and 20% with a second major tendency, meaning the remaining 70% of us should be able to change our lifestyle more easily.)
- Therefore, there's a chance that you won't be able to completely transform into an early riser, unless you've done it before and want to revert to that pattern after going through the "bats" lifestyle phase. However, if getting up an hour earlier has been beneficial for you, maybe the new business and routine of life is worth fighting for.
- Even in a country with four seasons, a true "bat" is prone to waking up earlier in the warmer seasons when the morning light appears earlier. Try to follow your body's natural patterns, chances are you'll automatically wake up earlier in the spring and summer months.
- Keep going with the process; this will not be easy to do for the first few mornings. The more your body gets used to the cues from light and its regular bedtime, the easier the transition will be.
- Give yourself a "reward" for getting up early, such as a delicious breakfast at a local shop, a new book to read, an appointment with a masseuse in the morning, etc. Treat yourself to something that will encourage you to keep getting up early each day.
- Talk to yourself to end the day the night before and to start the day in the morning. Remind yourself that tomorrow/today is a new day. Forget everything that happened yesterday, it's all in the past. Today is a new day, enjoy!
Tips
- Place the alarm clock on the opposite side of the room so that you have to leave the bed to turn it off.
- Give yourself a goal to achieve each day (even on the weekends). It could be a 15-mile run before breakfast or finishing the laundry before leaving for work, as long as you do something.
- Avoid caffeinated drinks or energy drinks after 4pm.
- Avoid bright light in the afternoon until the evening because it will confuse your body. Dim the light a few hours before bed.
- Use full spectrum lights (which mimic natural light) in your bedroom; turn on the light as soon as you wake up.
- Avoid listening to fast-paced or stimulating music 2-3 hours before your desired bedtime.
- Pets can be early risers (depending on how you view this) – give in to the demands of your hungry dog or cat and you've got an alarm clock you can rely on to wake up early for the rest of your life!
- Use a variety of soothing fragrances such as lavender before bed.
- One sleep cycle lasts 90 minutes. Set your alarm clock to turn on after a multiple of an hour and a half, this will make it easier for you to wake up.
- Use an inexpensive electric timer to turn on the radio or a bright bedside lamp at a set time.
- An alarm clock that can spin on wheels or fly around the room is more difficult to turn off and is a great choice for acute sleepers. Generally they are more expensive but it's worth it if you can already hit the silent snooze button unconsciously.
- Sleep research scientists believe that many people shift from temporary "bat" behavior in their teens to their early 20s (due to hormonal fluctuations) towards early risers from age 30 onwards. However, some people continue to be "bats" throughout their lives (because they are born that way), and if you are a true "bat" you will likely have a hard time turning yourself into an early riser permanently!
