How to wake up early

Why you should wake up earlier

The alarm goes off at 5:00 am and you jump out of bed well-rested, alert, refreshed, and ready to face the day. You have plenty of time to prepare a healthy breakfast, get a little exercise, and even relax before work begins at 9:00. You are productive, energetic, and healthy!

Does that sound like you? Or do you hit the snooze button a few times before you finally force yourself to get up, sleepy and foggy, barely able to stumble to the shower.

Waking up is hard, but if you can wake up early, you'll notice awesome benefits. Don't sleep in; get up and start your day! When you wake up early, you will be more productive and even more energetic throughout the day.

Fine, fine... easier said than done, I know.

Let's talk about waking up. Why should you wake up early? How do you wake up early in the morning? What is the easiest way to wake up?

Why you should wake up earlier

As tempting as your nice comfy bed is, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to train yourself to wake up early in the morning. Make it a habit. Once you begin waking up early, it will just become easier and easier to do.

Physical benefits of waking up early

• When you wake up early (as a habit), you'll have more energy throughout the day.
• Waking up early can give you more time to fit exercise into your day.
• Waking up early every day can reset your circadian rhythm, helping you to sleep deeper and more soundly at night.

Mental benefits of waking up early

• Waking up early can help keep you in a good mood all day
• When you wake  up early, you can have more time to fit morning meditation into your routine.
• Waking up early can help to manage stress and anxiety.
• Have more personal time to read the newspaper, enjoy a cup of tea, spend with family, and prepare a good breakfast, all of which lead to a happier and more relaxed mood throughout the day.
• People who wake up early have an earlier start to the day, which allows them to be much more productive than they otherwise would. You can get more done and be a lot less rushed and stressed during the day.

The importance of a routine sleep schedule

I had a roommate in university who was a really good friend of mine. He used to work really hard throughout the week, then stay up late on the weekends playing video games or watching movies as a reward. He would stay up until the early hours of the morning on Saturday and Sunday, then sleep all day, waking up again in the afternoon.

Come every Monday, he was groggy, sleepy, foggy, and really struggled to wake up and begin his week.

It's hard for your body to adjust to different sleeping schedules. It's much easier to wake up comfortably if you wake up at the same time every day, no matter when you go to sleep. Your body needs a healthy sleeping schedule, and when you sleep around the same time and wake up around the same time every day, it's much easier to wake up at a good time every morning.

When you have a poor sleep schedule, you will wake up feeling groggy and sleepy, even if you get the right amount of sleep throughout the night.

Adjust to waking up early

 Back in university I used to be able to sleep in. I could sleep until 11 and roll out of bed just in time for class. Now, I'm a high school teacher. I don't have the option of sleeping in late any more. I have to be at my office by 7:00 in the morning at the latest to get ready for the day before the first class starts at 8:00.

But you know what? Now, I can't sleep in even if I want to! After six years of waking up at 5:00, I can't even sleep past 7:00 on the weekends or holidays. And I don't even want to anymore. Now, as soon as the sun is up, so am I. My body and my internal clock have adjusted to the morning, and I feel energetic, alert, and wide awake as soon as I wake up.

That's because waking up early became a habit. It's not difficult anymore, because it's just how I begin every single day. Waking up early is one of the easiest habits to learn, because you have to wake up every day! It's not like going to the gym, where you have to force yourself to commit to your habit. Waking up is something that you'll do anyway, which makes it slightly easier to learn to wake up at an early time in the morning.

How to wake up earlier

Training your body to wake up early in the morning is a gradual process. If you go immediately from waking up at 10:00 am every day to suddenly waking up at 5:30, it will feel horribly unpleasant, and you'll be groggy, sleepy, and feel like it's just not worth it.

Instead, try waking up earlier by gradual increments. This week, try to wake up just fifteen minutes earlier than usual. After two weeks, try to get up half an hour earlier. After a month, maybe you'll be able to wake up an hour earlier than before. Stick with this until you are able to get up at the time that you want.

Take it easy, developing a healthy lifestyle is done gradually through the accumulation of healthy habits.

How to feel less sleepy when you wake up

• When the alarm goes off, DO NOT HIT SNOOZE! When you snooze the alarm and fall back asleep, you don't return to deep REM sleep. The dozing that you do after your alarm only makes you more tired. Just force yourself to get up at the first alarm.
• Take a huge drink of water. When you wake up, your body is already dehydrated, since you haven't had anything to drink for the past eight or so hours. The very first thing you should do every morning is drink a cup or two of cold water. This will help you feel more awake than coffee, and it's great for your body.
• Try not to rely on caffeine to wake up. This will only create an addictive dependency, forcing you to rely more and more on caffeine. It will only lead you to having a harder time to get up in the morning.
• Do some light exercise as soon as you wake up. Even a few minutes of stretching, yoga, or a 10-minute walk around the block will do wonders for your energy level during the day.
• Start your day with just five minutes of morning meditation.
• Wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekend. Your body needs a healthy sleep routine to feel well-rested.

What is the best time to wake  up?

There is no real "best time" to wake up, as long as you really try to stick to waking up at the same time every day.

Personally, I think that the best time to wake up is between 5:00 and 7:00 am every day. If you live at a latitude where you can wake up naturally with the sunlight every morning, great! If not, even waking up while it's still dark, making a cup of  tea, and taking time to watch the sun come up can be a great healthy way to wake up.

Whenever you do decide is the best time for you to wake up, be sure to allow yourself enough time to wake up properly. I believe that even waking up half an hour earlier every day can give you time to meditate, exercise, prepare a healthy breakfast, read, or relax before the day begins. Doing so will make you feel healthier, happier, and more productive.