Written by: Tomas Svitorka, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
There's no doubt that waking up early in the morning (or at least earlier) has a number of benefits and can get you a good start on the day. But, as we all know, getting up early is not always easy. However, with the right approach and methods, you can make waking up early much easier and even enjoyable
In this article, I'll share with you 10 quick tips that will help you roll out of bed earlier than you normally would and use those extra hours (or minutes) to start the day right, make some extra progress with your goals, and overall improve your performance.
1. Have a good reason to wake up early
Since waking up early is not necessarily fun or easy, in order for you to be able to do it, you need to have a good reason. Just because others do, it is not good enough. And at the end of the day, why would you care?
Since you're reading this article, the idea of waking up early has probably been on your mind already. Great. Now, why?
If you gain an hour or two every day, what would you do with it?
How would it help you?
Would it help you start the day better?
Would you be able to finally make progress with goals you haven't had time for?
Would these be good enough reasons to get up early?
You must be able to easily justify waking up early otherwise, when the alarm goes off, and you will just snooze it and go back to sleep because losing sleep will simply not be worth "it."
2. Set the intention to wake up early the night before
This may seem like a bit of a woo-woo tip, but trust me, it's not. Setting the intention to do something is a bit like a brain/mindset preparation. Remember the time when you had an early morning flight that you couldn't miss? You probably set your alarm and thought about the importance of waking up on time just before going to sleep. The odds are that you actually woke up before your alarm. This is exactly how setting intention can help you.
3. Use an alarm you cannot fool
Let's face it. If you use the alarm on your phone or watch, the chances are that you'll just snooze it and go back to sleep.
For that reason, I recommend alarm apps like Alarmy (or similar, there are many), where you have to "complete a mission" for the alarm to switch off. My favourite is a mission where you must scan a preselected barcode with your phone camera. The trick is to choose a barcode on an item (a book, for example) you can place in another room, say your living room. That way, you have to physically get up and go to the living room for the alarm to stop. And once you're standing in the living room, it's so much easier to stay up. Plus, you're kind of awake at that point.
4. Make your bed
Making your bed sounds like a too simple step, but there is a reason why this "action" is being so often recommended. There are even books written all about the importance of making your bed first thing in the morning.
Making your bed is simple to do.
It's a mental signal that the "sleeping activity" has been finished.
When you make your bed, you make it harder to go back to sleep because you'd undo the whole effort.
Making your bed is a great way to practice your self-discipline.
5. Start your morning routine with the right action
As exciting and hardcore as it might sound to jump out of bed and hit the gym hard or run 10km, it's not as exciting to do. One of the reasons why people don't follow through with their morning routine is that it's too hard to do. My recommendation is to start easy. Start with actions that have very little resistance and gradually build up through your morning routine. This is my personal list. Notice how it builds up in how demanding the tasks are.
Drink a glass of water
Meditate for 10 minutes
Make tea and toast
Read for 30 minutes
Plan my day
Write for 45 minutes
Do push-ups and planks
Get ready for the day
I start easy and turn on the difficulty as I go.
6. Avoid common traps
Treat your morning routine time as a "holy YOU time." Avoid activities and traps you know you may get stuck on. These may be:
Your phone
Social media
Work email
TV, YouTube, etc
These things are designed to get you hooked and keep you hooked.
Don't make it difficult for yourself. Stay away from it till later.
7. Make it all about you
If you're waking up early, make it worthwhile. I recommend you focus purely on yourself, your goals, your hobbies, personal growth, and the things you don't get time to do during the day. This specifically will make the morning routine much more enjoyable and easier to wake up for.
8. Be realistic
One, be realistic about how much earlier you are going to wake up to start with. If you're waking up at 9 am now, shifting to waking up at 5 am will be too hard. Your body needs time to adapt to the new routine. To make it easier for yourself, shift your wake-up time by 30 minutes a week until you reach the wake-up time you want. That way, you'll gradually transition to it and make it much easier for yourself.
Two, be realistic about your new routine. If you take it to the extreme and start with a 3-hour morning routine that will include: Yoka, meditation, journaling, visualization, HIIT workout, green smoothie, reading, and who knows what else, you won't last very long. It's too hard to start with. Make it easy for yourself, and start small and easy. Once the easy routine is established, you can build upon it and add other activities.
I've seen many people start too eagerly and quit just as fast. Don't make that mistake.
9. Don't cut down on sleep
If you decide to wake up earlier, make sure you adjust your bedtime as well. You don't want to be cutting down on sleep unless you feel you're sleeping too much. A healthy adult typically needs somewhere between 6-8 hours of sleep. If you've found the right amount of sleep that works for you, then I recommend you keep it and adjust your bedtime by how much earlier you wake up. You don't want to feel like a zombie.
10. Make it your own
And finally, since there are many books and gurus with strong opinions about what the perfect morning routine is, I suggest you read and listen to these for inspiration rather than taking them as a prescription. Everyone is an individual, and different things work for different people.
Experiment and try different things. Figure out what works best for you. Waking up early should not make your life miserable. Your morning routine should be worthwhile making an effort to wake up. And, if you struggle, I recommend you find a great life coach to help you through it. I hope this helps!
Read more from Tomas!
Tomas Svitorka, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Tomas is a peak performance coach, business mentor, speaker, and award-winning entrepreneur. He is the founder of the OK is NOT enough coaching method and the Unbreakable Self-Discipline Bootcamp. He’s highly passionate about helping ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs achieve the highest level of personal and professional performance.
Tomas has built his reputation by coaching hundreds of clients, including industry leaders, billionaire entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley CEOs, rising stars in global corporations, and influencers at the top of their game.
Tomas has been interviewed in dozens of podcasts, including The Unconventionalists, and has been featured in various publications such as The Guardian, GQ, Virgin Media, Coach Magazine, and Vice.
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