7 ways to wake up early
I prefer to hit the snooze button in the alarm way more that rising and shining. When that habit got to the point of being a serious deterrant to my productivity, I decided to try and investigate some ways to get myself to wake up with the alarm. Once the habit of waking up early is formed, everything is easy. But how do we get to that stage? Here are 7 of the conventional and not-so-conventional methods I found:
1. Watch the dinner
I have noted that dinner has curious effects on our sleep habits. Whenever I have a full meal before I sleep, I tend to wake up early. The reverse is true for some other people. In either case, watching your dinner habits might give you a clue to what needs to be changed in order to wake up earlier. Taking your dinner an hour or two earlier/later can also affect your wake up time. Experiment with the various ways, and find one that works for you.
2. Alarms
Nowadays, we have all different types of alarms to wake us up. From alarms that make horrible noises, to alarms that hide themselves, they all find ways to get you started in the morning. If you can find one that is just right for you, it might be a cure for your sleeping in troubles. You can also use a normal alarm and keep it at a significant distance, so that you have to get out of your bed to switch if off. But in case you have a room mate or partner, this might be tricky.
3. Bed-time
Conventional wisdom proclaims that we can greatly improve our sleeping habits by going to bed only when we are really sleepy, and waking up at the same time each day. A lot of people have found success with this method. The only catch is that we need to have the discipline to push ourselves out of bed at the same time each day until the habit develops.
4. Partner help
We can always enlist the help of a partner to wake us up in the morning. If the partner is an authority figure for you, then this works most effectively. If that is not possible, then you will have to get your trusted room mate to get you out of bed until you form the habit of waking up early.
5. Anchoring
Anchoring is an effective NLP technique that can help you to program yourself to do just about anything. You can anchor yourself to the sound of your alarm so that you get up fully awake as it goes off. Or you can create a special wakefulness anchor, which could be any gesture. And each morning when the alarm goes off, you can apply this anchor and wake up immediately. For these to work, you need to create the anchor when in full consciousness, and practice it first in full consciousness, then in light sleep and then in the mornings.
6. Light & sound
Some people cannot sleep if the light is switched on, some cannot sleep if there is noise in the room. If you can arrange to have the lights or music switched on at your wake up time, you will find it easier to wake up. These need to be used only till the habit becomes so ingrained in you that you wake up even before the light or sound is switched on.
7. Having something to look forward to.
I have found that it is very easy to wake up in the morning when we have something to look forward to. In that case, it doesn't matter how little you slept, or how early in the morning it is - you immediately jump out of bed to embrace life. We all have experienced it in our lives. But since everyday cannot be equally special, we can do another method in stead. We can schedule one of our favorite activities to be done first thing in the morning. It must be something you simply love, and ideally done best in the peace and quiet of the morning. It could be gardening, exercise, writing, painting, browsing the internet, watching your favorite TV show - anything. It is sure to motivate you to get out of bed.
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