01.10.22

I know it can be hard to wake up earlier. Especially if you are not used to getting out of bed at the same time each day. It’s all too easy to hit snooze and continue sleeping for another 5 minutes, or even 20! This leads to a late start where you’re beginning your day already behind schedule. Which in turn leads to stress, anxiety, and unhappiness. However, waking up early has many benefits that can lead towards a better life for all those who give it a chance! Read on below as I go into detail about how waking up early will help your body run more efficiently throughout the day – leaving you with fewer headaches and feeling more accomplished than ever before!

The benefits of waking up earlier are vast and can change your life for the better if you give it a chance. By starting your day off on the right foot, you’re setting yourself up for a more productive and fulfilling day. This is easier said than done for many people, as it’s fear of the day that often keeps us in bed, under the covers. Procrastinating, believing that if we don’t get out of bed we can’t be faced with the tasks of the day which we don’t feel we have the tools to accomplish. But what if simply getting up earlier gave you some additional time to plan and start? What if you could begin your day literally hours before you would have previously gotten out of bed? What if it weren’t that hard? What if after a few days of confronting your day and finding the success you found it easier to fall asleep at night rather than snack, drink, watch TV and keep yourself awake.

When you wake up earlier, you’re able to start your day off on the right foot. This means that you have more time to get things done, and aren’t as rushed. This leads to less stress and a more productive day. Additionally, when you wake up earlier you’re able to get a better night’s sleep that following evening. This is because you’re not waking up as late, and therefore don’t need to stay up as late. Waking up early also allows you to have some “me” time before the day begins. This can be spent reading, working out, or just relaxing in silence. Having some peace and quiet before the day starts can be beneficial, and can help set the tone for the rest of the day.

Regardless of how you use the ‘extra time’ is not relevant to anyone other than you. But just think how many times you’ve said to a friend or colleague how many things in life you wish you could do “if only you had more time.” When you wake up earlier, suddenly you do have more time. It’s all about how you use it, and that’s all up to you. No one else is awake, so this truly is your time.

It’s not easy to suddenly start waking up earlier, but with a little bit of effort and training, your body can get used to the new schedule.

There are a few different ways that you can go about training your body to start waking up earlier. One way is to gradually adjust your alarm time by a few minutes each day until you reach your desired wake-up time. This will help your body slowly get adjusted to the new schedule without feeling too overwhelmed.

Another way to train your body for an earlier wake-up time is to expose yourself to bright light in the morning. This can be done by opening up the curtains in your room, sitting near a window while you eat breakfast, or even spending some time outside.

If you’re someone who struggles with waking up in the morning, it might be because you don’t have a goal for when you go to bed. As we know, most people’s days start before they wake up – so if your day starts while you’re asleep, then there is nothing to motivate yourself out of bed. A lot of people say that they would get up earlier if only they had something specific to do in the morning… but how often do those thoughts just stay as thoughts? It’s time to take action and set a goal for when you go to sleep! This will help give structure and purpose to your day-to-day life, which can lead to more productivity and less stress. This is actually how I motivated myself to wake earlier.

In addition, I didn’t take the slow approach and as it was the middle of winter didn’t have the benefit of sunrise. Instead, I went hard and fast from an inconsistent wake time ranging from 6:00 to 7:30 to an alarm time of 4:40; to be dressed, teeth brushed, coffee perking, and ready for my day at 5:00. This may sound extreme, but for me, this is what I needed. I thought it important to start my day as soon as I woke up. Don’t lay around in bed for an hour before getting ready, because that will make it harder and harder to get out of bed over time! It might seem like the extra sleep would do us good, but studies show that we’re more productive when we first wake.

All this productivity throughout the day led to a fulfilled evening. One where I was able to settle down after my son went to bed and take time to reflect on the day and plan for the following one. Having that plan for the following morning made me excited to wake up the next day. From a time when I hated falling asleep for not wanting the next day to follow to getting into bed and relishing the idea of starting tomorrow. See the pattern? Up early, day of accomplishment, plan for the following day, early bed time, repeat.

So what are you waiting for? Start waking up earlier and see all the amazing benefits for yourself! Not only will you be more productive and have less stress, but you’ll also have some peace before the day starts. It’s time to take control of your life, so start by taking control of your mornings.

I’m no expert and can’t address all of the different questions and challenges other people might have with the complications of changing one’s wake schedule. Of the articles I read I found two pretty helpful, one from NPR and the other from Healthline.