Waking early is one of my favorite things
in the world. The morning is quiet as the
world hasn’t begun stirring, the perfect
time for meditation, writing, exercise and
some quiet reading.
Waking early can give you an hour or
three of extra time for focus and
creativity. While you could do those things
later in the day, most people don’t (with
exceptions of course).
I haven’t written about waking early for
awhile, mostly because my waking time is
in constant flux. Some months I enjoy
rising with the sun, other times I’ll get up
early on purpose for awhile and enjoy the
extra quiet time.
I’ve learned a thing or two about how to
change your wake-up time with joy, and
today I’ll share the most successful
techniques in my many experimentations.
The Gradual Method
The best method for changing the time
you wake up is to do it gradually — 10-15
minutes earlier for 2-4 days, until you feel
used to it, and then repeat. If you get up
at 8 a.m. normally, don’t suddenly change
it to 6 a.m. Try 7:45 a.m. first.
That might seem too slow to most people,
and you’re free to disregard this advice.
However, in my many experimentations,
the most enjoyable and long-lasting
change in sleeping schedules have been
slow and gradual.
Sudden changes of an hour earlier or
more in your waking time are difficult,
and not likely to last. If you get up 1-2
hours earlier, on Day 1, then you’ll have a
tough time, and not enjoy it. The next day,
you’ll have a big sleep deficit, and it’ll be
even tougher (assuming you’re able to do
it 2 days in a row). Day 3 is even harder.
Eventually you either make it through the
tough times (it’ll take at least a week of
suffering), or you crash and sleep in late
and have to start over or you give up.
Sleeping patterns are difficult to change,
and so the gradual method works much
better. This is true, by the way, of eating
habits, exercise habits, clutter habits and
more.
3 Steps to Actually Get Up
So you’ve set your alarm for 10-15
minutes earlier than normal, and maybe
got through the first few days, then set it
another 10-15 minutes earlier, and soon
you’re at 30-45 minutes earlier than usual
… but now you have the tendency to hit
the snooze alarm and stay in bed
(sometimes awake) without getting up.
Here’s how to beat that in 3 steps:
1. Get excited. The night before, think
of one thing you’d like to do in the
morning that excites you. It could be
something you want to write, or a new
yoga routine, or meditation, or
something you’d like to read, or a work
project that’s got you fired up. In the
morning, when you wake up,
remember that exciting thing, and that
will help motivate you to get up.
2. Jump out of bed. Yes, jump out of
bed. With enthusiasm. Jump up and
spread your arms wide as if to say,
“Yes! I am alive! Ready to tackle the day
with open arms and the gusto of a
driven maniac.” Seriously, it works.
3. Put your alarm across the room. If
it’s right next to you, you’ll hit the
snooze button. So put it on the other
side of the room, so you’ll have to get
up (or jump up) to turn it off. Then, get
into the habit of going straight to the
bathroom to pee once you’ve turned it
off. Once you’re done peeing, you’re
much less likely to go back to bed. At
this point, remember your exciting
thing. If you didn’t jump out of bed, at
least stretch your arms wide and greet
the day.
What to Do When You Get
Up
First, things not to do with your
newfound early-morning time: don’t
check email, news, social media, blogs.
Don’t waste this new time doing the same
thing you always do.
Here are some other things that are
better, in my experience:
1. Drink a glass of water. You’re
dehydrated from not drinking any
water all night. Drink a full glass of
water if you can. It’ll make you feel
more awake.
2. Meditate. Even just for 3 minutes.
It’s such a great way to start your day
— doing nothing, just sitting, and
practicing mindful focus.
3. Write. Or do some other kind of
creating.
4. Exercise. Go for a walk or a run, or
do a home workout. Even just 10
minutes.
5. Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. Either
one of these makes the morning better.
Sleeping Earlier
You can’t just wake up earlier and not
sleep earlier. You’ll eventually crash. So
here are some tips for getting to sleep
earlier:
1. Set a bedtime of 7-8.5 hours before
you want to wake up. So if you’re
waking up at 6 a.m., go to bed
between 9:30-11 p.m. Where you are in
that time frame depends on how much
sleep you need. Most people need
about 7.5-8 hours of sleep, though
there are lots of variations. I tend to get
about 7, but also take a short nap in
the afternoons.
2. Create a bedtime ritual. I like to set
up the coffeemaker and clean up a little
(it’s nice to wake up to a clean house),
then floss & brush my teeth and do a
flouride rinse. Then I read myself to
sleep.
3. No computers in bed. That means
no laptop, no tablets, no mobile
phones. Kindles are OK except the
Kindle Fire, which is the same as an
iPad. No TV either. Just reading.
4. Exercise helps a lot earlier in the
day. It gets your body nice and tired, so
you’ll sleep better. Don’t exercise an
hour or less before bed, or you’ll be
pumped up. I like a glass of red wine in
the evening — it helps relax me and I
tend to sleep a bit easier.
5. Try this method if you have trouble
sleeping: close your eyes and get
comfortable, then think of the first
thing you did that morning — the very
first thing, like turning off your alarm.
Then think of the next thing, and so on,
replaying your morning in as much
detail as possible. I never get to mid-
morning.
Common Problems
Here are some of the most common
problems in my experience and from
readers’ questions:
Super tired in the morning: If you
wake early and just can’t seem to
function, that’s fairly normal. My
solution is water, move around a lot,
and drink a bit of coffee or matcha
(powdered greeen tea). I will
sometimes take a nap in the afternoon
if I’m really tired. Also, it might be a sign
that you’re moving too quickly — make
sure you’re waking just a little earlier,
and stay at one time for a few days
until you feel adjusted before setting
the alarm a little earlier.
Missing out on spouse time: If you
are used to spending the evening with
your spouse, and going to bed early
means you’re missing out on that time,
you have a few options. One is to see if
your spouse is willing to try getting up
early with you, perhaps to meditate or
exercise together, or just to have coffee
together. That can be really nice.
Another is to cut out that together time
in the late evening, but find time during
the day (if possible), or at least in the
early evening and weekends. Finally,
you could decide that the together time
is too important, and not get up earlier
— or compromise and keep most of
the evening together time, but wake
just 30 minutes earlier.
You’re not a morning person: Some
people think this but just haven’t given
it a try — or they’ve gotten up an hour
or two earlier all at once, and hated
being so tired. This is why the gradual
method is so important — it’s not that
you’re not a morning person, it’s just
that you tried to change too quickly
and are suffering. But finally, it’s true
that some people just are better
focusing late at night (I have some
friends like this) and morning isn’t their
thing — and that’s perfectly alright.
There’s no need to conform to what
others do. I just shared this to show
what works for me.

I'll try it, I pray it works.