How Can I Make a Habit of Waking Up Early

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How can I make a habit of waking up early in the

morning?I'm 19 years old and for the past 1-2 years I've not been able to get out of bed

before 10 AM. I try to set multiple alarms for early in the morning, but most of

the time I sleep so deep that I don't even hear them. A few times I've switched

the alarm off and went on to sleep till I realized that if I don't wake up now, I will

miss the class. Moreover, in a few instances I've gotten out of bed ... (more)

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Mayank Kakkar

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By the end of this article I bet I can make you excited to wake up at 4AM.

Here goes:

People operate from two platforms: Fear or Excitement. That's it. Just

those two. Think about this for a moment now and later throughout your

week. It will help you to understand motivation in yourself and others. These

are the only two organic motivators. They will dictate the things that you do or

don't do.

There's two tricks to waking up early:

1. You have to be excited about something to do in the morning. If

you're not, then sleeping in as an option is always gonna feel better. You

probably can remember a time when you didn't want to sleep in or couldn't

wait to get up. That's what we're going to create here.

Trick number 2: Be exhausted at night to get a reasonable bed time.

I don't really believe that you should set an alarm clock EVER unless you have

to wake up for something like an early flight. Getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep

makes a day more enjoyable instead of feeling like a drain from being tired.

Your body tells you when you're tired and if you ignore it it comes back on you

by way of a half-assed day. There's people that sleep for 4 hours then drink a

bathtub of coffee or 5 hour energy drinks to compensate for feeling like shit.

This is a shitty way to live. Old people have this figured out. They go to bed

when the sun goes down and they get up when the sun rises. Maximizing the

amount of sunlight in your day will positively reinforce this habit. You will be

happier if you maximize the sunlight exposure you have in a day. It's science.

Once you get used to this this, you will be pissed at yourself on the days when

you don't get up early. I love drinking beer and hanging out with my friends

but I rarely ever do this because I'm addicted to how I feel in the morning when

I've done all the most difficult things on my plate and have already exercised by

6AM. It's the best legal high you can have.

So here's how to get excited even if you don't have anything to get

excited about:

Write 5 things down the night before that you need to get done. I'm

not kidding this actually works and I thought it was bullshit when I first heard

it so I didn't do it for a long time. Ironically, even if these are not fun things to

do, you'll have a purpose when you wake up and you'll be excited to get them

done. But don't say to yourself, "ok I know what they are I'm ready". Actually

write these down with a box next to them. Even the prospect of accomplishing

a difficult task this early in the morning is a great feeling.

Paul DeJoe, Founder at Ecquire.com

190 upvotes by Linus Unnebck, Tyler Officer, Olivia Hawkins, Abraham Krisnanda,

(more)

Downvote Comments 26+ Share 106Upvote 1k

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26-07-2015http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-make-a-habit-of-waking-up-early-in-the-morning

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Do the hardest thing on that list first. Don't check instagram, facebook,

email or any of that shit. Just get that first thing done. It's gonna suck but

power through it. If you've gotten this far, your life is about to significantly

change for the better.

*other supplemental tricks that help with creating an environment that's

exciting to wake up to:

*Clean your room or kitchen or car or all of those the day before so you can

wake up to this.

*If you like coffee or have a coffee machine, have that bitch queued up and

ready the night before so all you have to do is push a button in the morning.

Then, the last thing you do after those 5 things are done is exercise

for 35 minutes to an hour. I recommend a crossfit class, swimming, riding

a bike or running. Something that's difficult. If you hate exercising, put some

music on and just go for a run. It's 10-15 songs if you want to think of it that

way.

Now eat a good breakfast. Not before all of this. And enjoy that shit

'cause you earned it. And not waffles or donuts or mountain dew.

Eggs, vegetables and or fruit.

You'll have a whole day to do things you want to do. I'd recommend reading,

listening to music at coffee shops or researching a new hobby you wanted to

try. Change your scenery every two hours. These things will perpetuate the

excitement for a change in schedule that you can be excited about.

Suck it up and just do this for a week and see if you don't get excited to keep

doing it. If you can get through the day without taking a nap you'll be tired

enough to go to sleep then you'll get excited to actually go to sleep early which I

thought was never possible. But it is and it's awesome when you do.

LASTLY: Email me or skype me and let me know how it goes:

[email protected] or pauldejoe on skype

Still don't believe me? Here's the article I wrote on this for Fast Company:

Why Productive People Get Up Insanely Early

Written 19 Feb 28,782 views

Upvote 190

Well, waking up at 5AM literrally changed my life.

Everything I am right now I owe it to this single habit. Of course, it was not

only this, but it all started with this. I have been waking up at 5AM since

October 2, 2009. (during weekends I ussually wake up at 7AM)

First of all, this is not only a "habit" answer because, like all things, mastery

comes with understanding the barebones and the subtilities of any practice.

There are 2 extremely important factors:

The HOW and The WHY.

Disregard any of these and you'll get a mediocre result at best.

I'll go into details with each of them but first some relevance for you directly:

Specifically for you, at 19 years old, you will need between 7 and 9 hours of

good sleep as per the Sleep Foundation - How Much Sleep Do We Really

Need?

So, in order to wake up in the morning at a specific time, you need to go back 7

to 9 hours and actually get to bed at that time. At 36 years old, I sleep 7 hours

per night - I go to bed at 10:30pm and wake up at 5:30AM in 80%+ of week

nights.

And know for the strategy:

The WHY:

Dan Luca, Productivity Coach, Founder of 5AMCoa... (more)

1k upvotes by Roland Pihlakas, Ravi Shankar, Sandeep Jagtap, Aayushya

Chaturvedi, (more)





In any endeavour... "if there is a will, there is a way". This is important because

wanting something that is not clear or not important enough will end up in

disappointment.

So, WHY do you want to wake up in the morning?

There are only two choices:

1. You have to

2. You want to

If you "have to" than is rather a no-brainer because "when you don't have a

choice... is easy"

Some examples: Working the first shift 6AM to 2PM / Having a small child

that needs your attention, long comute that requires you to leave very early,

and so on...

Somebody can be on this automatic pilot but it requires a lot of willpower to

stay this course. Not something I would recommend for a well balanced life.

If you"want to" than it must be something that gets you out of the bed, out of

your comfy sheets and into the dark, cold world early in the morning... or

something like that.

The only people I know that wake up at 5AM are those that feel a sense of

fulfillment when they wake up - for example those that work at their craft to

create something world class or those that use this time as "ME" time so that

they get a handle on things, get energised, get clear about the day, get clear

about personal goals, get things rolling before the masses wake up.

This is precisely why great leaders like to start the day ahead of everybody

else... They like to be in charge (of their own life and company) and they are the

ones that send out orders to be carried out being proactive and not reacting at

what other are doing.

Wake up times of some famous&productive people:

- Robert Iger (CEO Disney) - 4:30AM

- Tim Cook (CEO Apple) - 4:30AM

- Howard Schultz (CEO Starbucks) - 5AM

- Andrea Jung (CEO AVON) - 4:00AM

- Richard Branson (CEO Virgin) - 5:45AM

and so on... the complete list here > 5AM Productivity Coaching Program

Ask yourself this question: What is "eating" me?

If you don't have some burning desire that gets fulfilled in that morning time,

you won't wake up early ... not EVER!

AND there is one more thing that needs to be met at the same time:

- You can't find that time anywhere else during the day!

Chances are that you burn the midnight oil on some things that interest you (a

new business, some interesting reading, or anything else) but this is not

productive because you are worn out and you put your interests LAST!

A much better idea is to START the day with the things that are most fulfilling

and to use your best energy. Early in the morning that time can't be taken away

from you in any way (no one is calling at 6AM, not even texting, you don't have

any meeting to attend at 6:30 AM... and so on...)

So, start your day with YOURSELF so that you can take care of others from a

resourcefull state and not from a state where you don't have enough for

yourself...

The HOW:

Once you are clear about the WHY, you can find the best strategy to make it

happen in a way that suits your needs.

The easiest way to get up early is to wake up with 5 minutes earlier each week.

Some might say: "But it takes a long time to do it like this..." Downvote Comments 26+ Share 106Upvote 1k




And the answer would be: "Yes, but the time will pass anyway... We could have

this conversation again in 6 months and you'd be in the same place... Or you

could start by taking some baby steps"

And now the maths:

- 5 minutes per week x 26 weeks (6 months) = 130 minutes (that's

more than 2 hours!)

So, if you wake up now at 9AM... you could wake up at 7AM easy and without

any effort - or from 7AM to 5AM in the same 6 months time.

The trick to waking up early in the morning is really going to bed

early! This is the reset button... and it's the most important factor.

You can go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5AM for 2-3 days, but after that

you'll be a zombie. Any adult needs between 7 and 8 hours of good sleep.

These are the 10 golden rules for a great sleep:

1. Get as much eye-shut in the 7 hour interval between 22:00PM - 5AM

because you'll get the best quality sleep.

2. Make sure you sleep 7-8 hours per night (USA average is below 6.5 hours)

3. Go to bed and wake up at the same hours every day

4. Get 30 minutes of sunlight to balance your melatonin level that regulates

your wake/sleep cycles.

5. Make sure that you sleep according to your circadian sleep cycle of 90 -100

minutes. For example, as an exeption, is better to sleep 6 hours than 6.5 hours

(6hours = 4x90 minutes) / Best is 7.5 hours.

6. Avoid shallow sleep and waking up in the middle of the night by giving up

brain enhancing stimuli, having dinner with 4 hours prior to sleep and

avoiding exercise with less than 3 hours before going to bed.

7. Prepare you bedroom: air temperature 65-68 degrees, a mattress that

absorbes the body weight, no passive lighting and loose pj's.

8. Prepare an evening routine that allows you to "land" and slow down

progressively. (soft music, warm tea, dental hygiene and so on...)

9. Let go of all worries, negative emotions, frustrations with at least one hour

before bed so that you feel unburdened. Close opened loops or at least have a

clear plan for them the next day.

10. Make good sleep a priority in your life!

These are the 10 golden rules for waking up at 5AM:

1. Find a compelling reason to wake up.

2. Visualise how you wake up smiling after e resting sleep

3. Get up and out of the bed immediately after the alarm goes off.

4. Make a strong committment to give yourself quality time first thing in the

morning.

5. Find a wake up partner. Call each other each morning.

6. Wake up 5 minutes earlier each week until you reach your desired wake up

hour.

7. Find a morning routine that you enjoy so that you stop negotiating with

yourself after the alarm goes off.

Here is my 51-minute morning routine:

Dan Luca's answer to How do the most successful people spend the first hour

of their day?

8. Make sure you sleep at least 7 hours and that you are in bed before 10:30PM.

9. If you miss a day, forvige yourself and get back up in the saddle.

10. Join the 5AM Club of extraordinary people that live life to the max and feel

fulfilled every day.

These are only some ideas and strategies that I have found out and have tested

on myself and on more than 300 clients in the past 5 years.

"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and

wise" (Benjamin Franklin)

If you want to see how you can increase the quality of your life, become more

productive and enjoy everyday - make sure you check out my ideas and

strategies here > 5AM Productivity Coaching Program

===





More answers on productivity and lifestyle design on these questions:

Dan Luca's answer to How do the most successful people spend the first hour

of their day?

Dan Luca's answer to How can one manage time more effectively?

Dan Luca's answer to How do I make sure my next decade is productive and

beneficial for the rest of my life?

Dan Luca's answer to What's something I can do right now to increase my

productivity?

Dan Luca's answer to What are one or two tweaks you've applied to your life

that have made a big difference?

Dan Luca's answer to What are some daily habits of incredibly successful

people that probably contributed to their success? Ideally, habits that they all

share, but person-specific habits are also interesting.

Dan Luca's answer to What were some of the best habits you ever created and

how did you create each habit?

Updated 15 Jul 132,213 views

Downvote Comment 1 Share

The real answer is way simpler than anyone wants to make it. You just need

to set an alarm both for when you want to wake up and when you

will need to start going to bed in order to make that wakeup

comfortable.

For example, if you want to wake up at 5:30 AM, in order to get 8 full hours of

sleep, you will need to be asleep by 9:30 PM. So set a daily alarm for 9:00 PM,

and when that alarm goes off, finish what you are doing (5 minutes), and get

ready for bed (10 minutes). Then focus on calming down, avoiding all screens,

maybe reading a book in bed for the remaining 15 minutes until you fall asleep.

Now, when you get your 5:30 AM alarm, you are well-rested and ready to go.

Now you have your free time when you are most rested, rather than least

rested. You also have a lot of uninterrupted time to focus on what you want to

focus on.

Now, you can just shift this schedule forward or reverse based on your desired

wake up time.

I also like to track my sleep with Sleep Time+ . It uses the iPhone motion

sensor to track your sleep cycles, and it integrates with HealthKit, so not only

do you have a record, you also can look back and see how successful your

routine has been, and how well you have stuck to it. I'm getting over 8 hours on

average now, and managing to get up before 6:30 AM most days now.

Written 7 Feb 5,361 views

Ben Mordecai, Living Intentionally14 upvotes by Fatima Manning, Marc Bodnick, Nguyn Vy Thy, Luis Castro, (more)

Upvote 14

Use this alarm clock

Deepak Gupta, null pointer :P9 upvotes by Dang Vo, Rajashri Navalpure, Brooke KM, Vanshika Pawar, (more)





Downvote Comments 2 Share

It is known as "Danger Bomb Alarm Clock". This clever clock wakes you every

morning with an explosion sound, and to disable the bomb, you have to follow

the code (which resets every morning) to unhook the correct wire. Not exactly

life-threatening, but that all depends on who you have in bed with you.

It is available to buy here : Amazon.com: Danger Bomb Alarm Clock: Toys &

Games .

Written 9 Apr 2,840 views

Upvote 9

Downvote Comment Share 1

Normally I should be able to answer this, as I have long experience with

Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, the situation where you can only sleep deeply

in the morning. But what bothers me is that you say this started 1-2 months

ago? Normally this situation begins shortly after puberty; it is endemic in high

school students, but most people gradually revert to earlier sleep when they are

fully grown. Some of us don't, and this is quite troublesome when holding an

ordinary day job.

A rapid change in your sleep patterns is a rather loud warning signal that

something strange is going on with your body, whether the brain or the

hormone balance. If a friend or relative reported that they suddenly shifted

from normal sleep to sleeping in the morning, I would urge them to see a

doctor and explain when this started and what they were doing at the time.

Yes, exercise increases the need for deep sleep. However, normally we sleep

most deeply in the beginning of the night. If you were a morning bird before,

you should have become more sleepy early in the night. In fact, even night owls

will be sleepy earlier after exercising for several days, although they will still

sleep as long in the morning as before. You do need more sleep when

exercising, but it is not normal for it all to happen in the morning.

As for what you can do yourself, expose yourself to strong white or blue light

early in the morning. Unfortunately, this may mean buying stuff unless you

have a window to the east. Before going to bed , listen to brainwave

entrainment soundtracks. Start with alpha waves each night for a while, then

change to theta, and eventually delta. You can get these online for free, but the

quality may vary. You can also download an open-source brainwave

entrainment generator such as Gnaural.

Written 3 Aug, 2013 8,960 views

Magnus Itland, Four decades of Delayed Sleep Phase S... (more)

30 upvotes by Alex Tangel, Dipannita Chakroborty, Karina Gordillo, Ashu Rashid,

(more)

Upvote 30

Originally Answered: How do I make a habit to wake up early in the morning?

Sunil Kumar, travel buff,foodie!!!

9.2k upvotes by Abhinav Ramana, Ravi Keshri, Rajat Singh, Raghavan Style,

(more)





Downvote Comments 59+ Share 61

Alarm clock connected to your bank account and to a charity you hate. Every

time you press a snooze button money gets deducted from your account. Buy

this one. SnuzNLuz | Incredible Things

Edit:There is an ios app which does the same thing as this alarm iCukoo

Charity Alarm Clock . Jamie Hanratty thanks for suggestion.

Updated 19 Dec, 2014 185,163 views

Upvote 9.2k

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How Can I Make a Habit of Waking Up Early