How to wake up early in the morning without problems

It took me four years to research, experiment and justify, but I was finally able to control the habit of getting up early in the morning. And it was worth it. I believe that you are reading this article because they also tried to develop this habit (probably more than once), but for some reason they failed.

Fortunately, you no longer need to go through it alone, you have me and my experience.

Undoubtedly, the habit of getting up early had a huge impact on my life: it allowed me to devote several hours a day to myself and the main tasks that are extremely important to me. And if you develop the same habit in yourself, then it will affect your life in a similar way.

The experience of several famous people confirms the importance of early ascent:

• Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO, rises at 4:30 in the morning;
• Richard Branson, founder and president of the Virgin Group - at 5:45;
• Michelle Obama, former US First Lady, at 4:30;
• Tim Cook (Tim Cook), Apple's CEO - at 4:30 (does not get up, at this time he begins to send letters);
• Howard Schultz (Howard Schultz), Starbucks CEO - until 5:00;
• Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter - at 5:30.

Indra Nuyi, Richard Branson, Michelle Obama

Tim Cook, Howard Schulz, Jack Dorsey

Many other incredible people also wake up very early. Before you continue reading, stop for a moment and honestly answer your question:

Is this one of the articles I’ll bookmark in order to return to it when there will be time?

If “yes”, save the bookmark and go over the text, you may find a couple of useful tips for yourself (and save time).

A year later, you may regret not having started today.

Karen Lamb

And if you want to learn the habit of getting up early, then I have everything ready for you.

The so-called club of five mornings in recent years has been very widely popularized, but getting up early does not mean getting up at five in the morning. I am not saying that you cannot do this, it is simply not necessary. At least - until you develop a new lifestyle.

One of the reasons why fixing my habit took four years: I did not connect it with my lifestyle . Then I was a student, and now I am an entrepreneur.

Decide what time to get up, you need on the basis of their current activities, responsibilities and tasks, such as work (study), family (do you have children, spouse), social circle, hobbies, travel, etc. Get up from five to six in the morning is extremely difficult if you worked on the night shift or if you are a student and have fun at clubs and parties. And if you fly a lot and often encounter a jetlag, it becomes physically unbearable to wake up every time at the same time.

So to determine the ideal lifting time, ask yourself:

What time is it best for me to get up, considering my personal and professional life?

Having decided on the time, let's move on to the strategy. As you know, the early rise does not depend on the alarm clock, but on what:

1. Mood and goals.
2. Evening routine.
3. The quality of sleep.
4. Lift routine and morning.

We analyze each item.

1. The mood and goals

The mind is more important than the mattress.

Robin Sharma

We humans love to instantly satisfy our desires. And therefore you will look for any possible excuses to sleep more. For the first few days for sure. Remember the most important thing: you have to donate a lot, especially in the first month. And you need to get ready for this. You give up a few gatherings, run into energy shortages, your productivity will decrease. But you need to put yourself in the first place. And for this you need to assign goals. They are important for two reasons.

Goals motivate us

Goals push us when you want to give up and press the alarm off button. The more emotions you put into the goal, the more effective the lever it will be. Not just for awakening, but for everything else in life.

Goals define our actions.

There are goals, and there are systems. Each of the goals involves a set of actions that must be performed to achieve it. For example:

• The goal: to lose 10 kilograms by October 1, 2017.
• System: consume less than 2000 calories daily (without sweets, chips and other rubbish) + exercise physical activity: cardio training twice a week (swimming or jogging), strength training twice a week and yoga for stretching.

I could paint in more detail, but now your turn.

Choose three main goals for the next year and plan how to achieve each of them.

Having done this, proceed to the definition of the evening routine.

2. Evening schedule

Many people think that the early rise begins in the morning, but this is far from the truth. First of all, you need to adjust yourself to success in the evening. And this can be done in different ways.

Stop using gadgets before bedtime

Excessive light with a noticeable fraction of the blue spectrum (displays of smartphones, tablets and computers) before bedtime affects the quality of sleep. Therefore, one or two hours before bed, turn off all gadgets and focus on yourself.

Prepare for the next day

Instead of deciding everything in the morning and wasting precious will power and the ability to make decisions, think over everything from the evening. Solve:

• What are the three priorities for tomorrow?
• What to wear tomorrow?
• What to eat tomorrow?

Think of the day and imagine the perfect morning

Time flies, and if you don’t start paying attention to important things, then miss a lot. So always ask yourself what happened today? What have you achieved? What are you grateful for? What made you happy? And imagine the perfect morning. This alone will affect the desire to wake up and not turn off the alarm.

Read

With our employment, it is difficult to make time for reading, but if you give up gadgets, it is easy to set aside half an hour a day to read books. For the soul or professional growth.

3. Sleep quality

Most of us live life without knowing what affects sleep and how to make it better. That's what you need to remember to maximize sleep.

Avoid stimulants

At least six hours before bedtime, do not drink coffee and alcohol, because they interfere with sleep. You can drink green tea and water.

Avoid abundant food

Overeating loads the digestive system and reduces sleep quality. Limit to snacks like nuts or a glass of milk, so as not to wake up from hunger.

Drink a glass of water

Since you need to sleep for 6-8 hours, your body will need a lot of water. Therefore, drink before bedtime no less than a glass of water. If you have been drinking alcohol, you will need at least two glasses (and one more when you wake up).

Do without sport

Sports less than three hours before bedtime will make it worse. It is better to engage or early, or even in the morning.

Provide suitable conditions

Buy a good mattress and pillow. Sleep in a dark and quiet room (you can wear a sleep mask and take melatonin). Pay attention to the temperature in the room, preferably cool.

Go to bed at the same time.

At first, it will be difficult to go to bed at the same time, because the body will stick to the old rhythm. And so you need to go to sleep when you feel tired. After a few days, you will start to feel tired by the end of the day, and then fall asleep on time will become easier.

Optimize sleep

I mean that you have to find the ideal time for going to bed and the ideal time for lifting when energy and well-being are at their peak.

Our sleep consists of phases of fast and slow sleep. First there is a superficial sleep, it is replaced by a deep (slow) sleep, followed by a fast sleep. A full cycle lasts about 90 minutes and is repeated several times a night. That is something like this:

1.5 hours -> 3 hours -> 4.5 hours -> 6 hours, etc.

Of course, you will not be able to hit the minute in a minute between cycles, but over time you will succeed more and more precisely.

4. Rise schedule and morning

At the moment, we have discussed almost everything that indirectly affects early awakening. Now decide which of the two strategies you will follow.

Immersion method

You immediately go to bed at exactly the desired hour and adhere to this mode. This is quite possible, but remember that unexpected regime changes will greatly affect vigor in the morning.

Gradual method

It is most effective to change the time of awakening gradually, shifting it in the first days by 10-15 minutes until you feel used to it, and then start to wake up at the right time. If you usually get up at 8:00, do not immediately jump up two hours earlier. First get up at 7:45. Get familiar with a couple of days, then move to 7:30. It will take some time, but the impact on your energy will be minimal. Yes, and psychologically not so unpleasant, reduce the risk of quitting. But if you often change time zones, then you will have a hard time.

Choosing one of the methods, do not forget about several things.

Find a suitable alarm clock

To postpone or not to postpone, that is the question.

We all

A day should not start with scary or annoying music. It deprives the whole idea. Find an alarm clock with a leisurely melody, in which you have positive emotions (with time it may become unhealthy).

Personally, I chose a motivational speech from the video “Rise and Shine” .

Note: for the first couple of weeks, keep the alarm clock away from the bed so that you have to get up to turn it off.

Get help

Probably you have a friend who is already waking up at the right time. Ask him to help you wake up at the appointed hour, no matter what. Let him just send you messages or ring 10-15 minutes after your alarm, that's all.

Gamify the process using the X method

Take a large wall calendar that has one page printed all year or at least one month. And hang in a prominent place.

Every day, when you got up at the right time, mark the cross. A few days later the chain will turn out. Just keep going and the chain will grow every day. You will like to look at it, especially when you have a few weeks of such a regime in the background. The main thing - do not break the chain.

This method works fine and is pleasant, especially if you stick to it for a while.

Think of something to do after waking up.

You need something that will remove from your sleepiness. First, drink some water. Then walk around, wash and brush your teeth. Make the bed. Open the window, let in the light (not the fact that it will be light at five in the morning, but a portion of fresh air will do you good).

ATTENTION: for another couple of hours, do not read mail, news, social networks and blogs - distance yourself from them.

Later it will be a lot of time, and the morning belongs to you .

Do what you like

For me, this is making coffee. I turned it into a ritual. After filling the bed and washing, I make coffee and sit on the balcony, think about the plans and read a book.

Morning classes

They depend on your goals and the systems you need to follow to achieve your goals. But the main rule is: whatever you do, set aside one hour for it. If you spend three hours in the morning on charging, reading, watching training courses, drawing and projects for the soul - it is realizable, but it will inevitably overload you, and you will fail.

Here is what I can offer:

• Think over and evaluate your goals.
• Engage in physical activity (exercise, jogging, swimming, yoga).
• To meditate
• Read (or view training courses).
• Spend time on projects for the soul or at work.
• Stay with your spouse or children.
• Prepare a meal (which you thought out in the evening).

Before considering other options, read this article .

Please note: in the first couple of weeks you may experience a lack of energy. But this is normal, the body must adapt to the new schedule.

Professional advice: if suddenly you leave the force, take a nap in the afternoon 20-30 minutes.

Sometimes you won’t be able to wake up on time, because of this you can be upset that you will ruin the whole day. Do not worry, rejoice that you slept a little longer, and focus on important things, and tomorrow everything will fall into place.

FAQ

What about the weekend?

It all depends on personal preference. At the beginning, when you're just getting used to it, I suggest sticking with the regimen every day. Later, when you are comfortable, you can sleep one or two hours longer at the weekend.

How many times can I miss an early climb?

Trying to develop this habit in yourself, be wary of relaxation: with two or three breaks a week, it will be difficult to return to an early awakening. But when you can get up at the appointed hour for 30 days in a row, you will begin to feel all the advantages of this approach. And if you miss two or three days, then you will easily return to the schedule, because you have already gained control of yourself and know how important this is.

But what about traveling or changing the environment?

With this is always difficult. Do not be to your merciless. Try to stick to your habits, if it doesn't work out - just try to do well what you want.

Here are tips on how to follow your travel habits .

A sudden party has risen ...

Just have fun. Do not force yourself to wake up at the appointed hour, sleep as much as you need, and then return to the usual mode.

Final thought

If you have read this far, then congratulations on your being with me to the end. Now try it yourself. And remember, this is a long way, so start small. Become 1% better every day, and soon see how it affects your whole life.