Early bird gets the worm, right? But what if that bird is like super tired and has zero energy and has to use every ounce of strength in their body to not press snooze?
Learning to wake up early and not feel like absolute crap feels like one of the hardest challenges for a lot of people, including me.
Tell me if this sounds familiar:
Ideally, you want to be able to wake up as soon as your (early) alarm goes off, hop out of bed with immediate energy and jump straight into your day.
Realistically, you’re stuck resetting your alarm for ‘just 10 more minutes’ on repeat. Or if you do get up, you feel like an absolute zombie.
Whether your goal is to start waking up a lot earlier than you’re used to, or just to become less of a zombie when you do wake up, keep reading.
We’re going to get into some realistic ways to wake up early without feeling like the worst version of yourself.
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We’re going to break this post into 3 sections. First of all, things you should do to prepare the night before to set yourself up for success. Then we will talk about what to do in the morning when that alarm goes off. And finally, the long-term habits and shifts that are going to help you be successful with waking up earlier.
What to Do the Night Before
I’m sure you’ve heard it before- a good morning routine starts the night before. And it’s absolutely true.
There are only so many things we can do once our alarm goes off, so making sure we’ve prepared well is crucial. Here are some things you can do the night before to increase the chances of you being able to wake up early and feel good.
6-8 hours before bed: Stop consuming caffeine
How well we wake up has a lot to do with how well we slept, and caffeine can disrupt our sleep big time. So cutting the caffeine 6-8 hours before you go to sleep gives you time to let the caffeine effects wear off.
1-2 hours before bed: Put the screens away
Just like with caffeine, the light and stimulation from our phones, TVs, computers, etc. have an effect on our brains. And that effect can disrupt how fast we get to sleep, and the quality of that sleep.
Aim to make the last 1-2 hours of your evening screen-free and your sleep will improve, trust me!
1 hour before bed: Start a nighttime routine
A nighttime routine is a MUST HAVE if you want to get good sleep.
Having a nighttime routine gives us a ‘wind down’ that basically signals to our brains “hey it’s time to get in sleep-mode now”.
There are so many types of night routines you can have, and so many habits you can add to them.
But here are the basics: make your morning routine a collection of habits that allow you to wrap up the day in relaxing way. If you aren’t sure where to start, here is a simple night routine I would recommend:
Turn down all the lights in the house (small lights only) & put your phone away
Take a warm shower
Wash your face & put on facial moisturizer
Stretch for 2 minutes to release any tension in your body
Do a brain dump for 5-15 minutes
Do a relaxing activity like reading for 5-15 minutes
Time for sleep
Total time: Up to 1 hour
30 minutes before bed: Do a brain dump
Have you ever just stayed awake at night with thoughts running around your head that won’t seem to stop? Yeah, me too.
Dealing with anxiety and depression, that became the norm for me. It felt like falling asleep was a battle between my desire to get rest and my brain’s desire to rehash everything that had ever happened.
So I started brain dumping. In fact, brain dumping is probably the tip you’ll see come up the most on this site, because I love it and swear by it that much.
It’s simple: Take a few minutes (5-15) to dump out whatever’s in your brain.
This could be journal style with pen and paper, or chatting to your spouse, or even praying. I’ve done all of these methods, and they all work great.
You technically can do this on your phone or computer, but we’re avoiding screens at this point in the evening. 😊
There is no method or rulebook here, just get out your thoughts, your feelings, your worries and anxieties and questions.
Going into bed with a clear mind is going to drastically improve your sleep.
Bonus: Change the way you fall asleep
If you’re one of those people who can just put your head on the pillow and be asleep within 15 minutes easily, you can skip this section.
This tip is for those of you who, like me, have had some bad ‘falling asleep’ habits. My bad habit was playing phone games or scrolling on social media until I dozed off. Yours might be watching TV or playing video games or just staring at the ceiling thinking about all of the embarrassing things you’ve ever done.
Action step here: find a better, healthier way to fall asleep. This could be reading, or meditating, or praying, or doing some visualization techniques (cue a cheesy TV therapist saying “picture your happy place”).
Find something that relaxes you AND won’t negatively affect your sleep.
Hot tip: If you read, try reading fiction. This type of book is the easiest for our brains to disconnect from once we stop reading, which is crucial if you’re trying to get to sleep.
Make sure you’re not ruining your sleep with these bad nighttime routine habits:
6 Nighttime Routine Habits to Avoid for Better Sleep
What to Do the Morning Of
Knowing what to do when your alarm goes off is important. So here are some tips & tricks for actually being able to wake up and have a good start to your day.
The 5 second rule
This one comes straight from Mel Robbins book ‘The 5 Second Rule’, which was one of the biggest game-changers for me being able to wake up earlier.
The ‘5 second rule’ this book is talking about is basically counting down from 5, and taking immediate action before your brain can talk you out of it.
Applied to waking up, that means don’t give your brain the time or opportunity to think of all the reasons you’d rather stay asleep. Once the alarm goes off, it’s 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, out of bed.
This rule can feel hard to implement, but is a HUGE contributor to me and so many others across the world being able to get out of bed without hitting snooze a million times.
Have a morning routine to look forward to
Waking up earlier is a lot harder when we dread our mornings.
If we can set ourselves up something to look forward to each morning, it’s going to become a lot easier for us to want to wake up.
One way to do this is with a morning routine that we truly enjoy.
I’ve done a deep-dive into morning routines lately on this blog and have written guides on just about every type of life-improving morning routine to help you find the perfect one for you. You can see those posts here: Your Ultimate Morning Routine Guide
Long-term tips for waking up early
Waking up early is going to get easier as time goes on. Here are the long-term habits and tips you need for making this actually work.
Go gradual
Give yourself time to get good at it.
Getting our bodies into a new rhythm can and will take time. So if you aren’t a morning person after one week of waking up earlier, don’t stress.
Things like this can take time. But if you stick with it, and make it a habit, your body will come around.
Consistency is key.
Our bodies can carry what’s called a ‘sleep debt’, which is basically a running total of all of the quality sleep you’ve missed out on.
And a sleep debt isn’t something you can pay off in a few nights. It takes consistent quality sleep over a longer period of time before our bodies can start to feel like they’re caught up on sleep.
Depending on how big your sleep debt is, this could take a couple of weeks or a couple of months.
So give yourself and your body some time to start feeling like things are sticking. You will get there.
Keep a routine, no matter what
We just talked about how it takes time for waking up earlier to become second nature. But the thing that helps us finally reach that goal is having a consistent routine that our bodies get used to.
Depending on your schedule, a sleep/wake up schedule might be hard to maintain. Maybe you work varying hours or have responsibilities that get you up at different times each day.
But find what is the most consistent possibility for you. If you can, aim to go to bed and wake up at the same times each day, including weekends.
The better we can be at keeping up this routine, the faster we will get to the point where we can wake up earlier without feeling miserable.
Using the tips above, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a morning person.
If you can prioritize quality sleep, stick to a consistent routine, and give yourself something to wake up excited to each day, waking up earlier will become second nature in no time.
And let me know in the comments- what is your favorite ‘falling asleep’ method?
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