The Hustler's Digest StaffWe may need to get up early for a variety of reasons. It could be for work, getting your kids ready for school, or taking care of a family member. Perhaps you simply need some time to work on a hobby or run errands before a busy day.
But, if you’re not a morning person by nature, how much flexibility do you have in changing your wake-up time?
In essence, your biological clock, which dictates your circadian rhythms, is baked into who you are to some level, but a few behaviors can make getting up earlier less of a burden.
Early risers are frequently portrayed as dynamic problem-solvers who manage corporations, organizations, and even nations. Have you ever wondered how a morning person manages to do so much in just 24 hours? Getting up early provides you with an advantage over the rest of the day.
Night owls, on the other hand, may disagree. They may argue that extra work can be completed at the end of the day. While this may be true for some, the great majority of us have been socialized to believe that we are most productive in the morning.
The science behind morning wakefulness and nighttime sleepiness
After dark, our bodies are programmed to create the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. Our circadian rhythms, or internal clocks, manage our sleep-wake cycle by interacting with the light and darkness in our environment. When our retina detects light, it tells our body’s biological master clock, the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, to block melatonin production, resulting in wakefulness.
We are naturally wired to be more aware and receptive in the morning and lethargic and tired at night.
9 benefits of getting Up early
Before you start waking up early, you should be aware of the advantages that come with it. If you’re used to getting up early, you already know what the mornings have in store for you, aside from the lovely sunrise. Here’s a rundown of the many benefits for folks who aren’t morning people.
1. Enhanced organizing skills
Because you have uninterrupted time to yourself in the early morning, this is the most productive time of day. When you are not distracted, you can complete any task faster.
You can utilize this quiet time to plan your day ahead of time, giving each task a specific time frame. Mentally planning your day before you begin improves your organizational skills and increases productivity.
2. Eat healthy foods
Getting up early allows you to prepare a nutritious breakfast. Smoothies, salads, and fruit bowls don’t have to be complicated; they only take a few minutes to create. Early risers have the opportunity to make a quick and healthy breakfast for themselves and their families. If you’re late for anything, you’ll likely be late for everything else as well, creating a domino effect. When you’re in a hurry, you’ll typically grab a quick breakfast like a doughnut or muffin, or skip breakfast entirely.
Breakfast is a vital meal since it provides you with the energy you need to begin your day. When you skip this meal, your body craves energy, so you consume something high in sugar or fat to satisfy your hunger.
3. Exercise regularly
Exercising first thing in the morning is recommended because it boosts your adrenaline levels. Adrenaline boosts attentiveness, which aids in overcoming drowsiness. Furthermore, if you work out first thing in the morning, you’re less likely to skip it because you’re preoccupied with something else. If you exercise in the evening, for example, you are more likely to miss it owing to extra hours at work, a get-together with friends, or weariness.
4. Beat peak traffic commute
If you get up early, you can leave your house early and avoid rush hour traffic. You don’t lose time sitting in traffic on your way to work or picking up the kids. You’ll also be punctual for the rest of the day’s appointments.
5. Stay stress-free
Getting up early allows you to plan your day ahead of time. You’re not running through your day in a cloud, your head muddled. Planning ahead of time reduces the stress that comes with hurrying to complete tasks. Furthermore, waking up early gives you more time to engage in stress-relieving leisure activities, allowing you to begin your day with a peaceful and composed mind. You’ll be better able to prioritize and handle problems, which will help you stay stress-free all day.
6. Enjoy quality sleep
Early risers are more likely to fall asleep quickly. To sleep, you don’t need to count sheep. When you get up early, your body becomes sleepy quickly, allowing you to have a good night’s sleep as soon as you go to bed. You become acclimated to the natural circadian cycle, which causes you to go to bed and rise early.
Longer waking hours result in enough adenosine buildup. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that inhibits neuron activity, causing tiredness. Getting up earlier causes adenosine to accumulate faster, making you sleepy later in the day. Going to bed early increases your chances of completing all four stages of sleep throughout four to six sleep cycles, resulting in a more relaxed and renewed feeling.
7. More energy
Because they are more likely to complete all stages of the essential sleep cycles, early birds have greater sleep quality than night owls. They have greater vitality in the morning than night owls, who don’t receive enough time to complete all stages of sleep.
Completing sleep phases and cycles is beneficial to one’s physical and mental health. During the deeper stages of sleep, growth hormones are released, which cause tissue repair and regeneration.
8. Feel happier
Because they are more likely to complete all stages of the essential sleep cycles, early birds have greater sleep quality than night owls. They have greater vitality in the morning than night owls, who don’t receive enough time to complete all stages of sleep.
Completing sleep phases and cycles is beneficial to one’s physical and mental health. During the deeper stages of sleep, growth hormones are released, which cause tissue repair and regeneration.
9. Better grades
Getting up early may also increase your chances of outperforming others in the school. Students who got up early in the morning obtained better grades than those who stayed up late, according to a recent study. The early birds had a whole point higher GPA (grade point average) than the night owls on average.
How to wake up early if you sleep late
You now understand why “getting up early and going to bed early can make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” With this knowledge, you may be enticed by the prospect of increasing the productivity of your day.
It could take anything from 30 to 60 days to get into the habit of getting up early. You won’t need an alarm clock once you’ve adjusted to your new sleep schedule.
Here, we’ll give some advice and walk you through some stages to help you develop the habit of waking up early without sacrificing sleep.
1. Start gradually
Set realistic goals for yourself and don’t start your day at an odd hour. It’s best to take things slowly at first. Start by setting the alarm for 6:45 a.m. if you’re used to waking up at 7 a.m. You can increase the time by 15 minutes if your body is accustomed to the adjustment. Taking it one step at a time will help your body adjust to the change. You won’t detest the thought of waking up 15 minutes earlier than normal, and you won’t feel sleep-deprived if you do it.
2. Keep the alarm clock away from the bed
If you keep your alarm clock away from your bed, you’ll be less likely to hit the snooze button. You can put the clock on a shelf or a table on the opposite side of the room instead of on your bedside table. You’ll have to walk up to the alarm to turn it off when it goes off. Taking those few steps to your alarm clock may be enough to wake you up.
3. Get out of the bedroom as soon as you wake up
In the bedroom, your brain has been conditioned to feel tired. When you get out of bed as soon as you wake up, you are less likely to go back to sleep. While attempting to become early risers, many night owls succumb to the lure of returning to bed after spending time in the bedroom.
4. Motivate yourself
You will be more likely to get up early if you have the motivation to do so. You could wish to get up early to go to the gym or spend some time gardening, for example. Try to maintain something linked with your inspiration in front of you at all times. Keep your exercise clothing or gardening gloves, for example, at a place where you can see them as soon as you get out of bed.
5. Reward yourself
You may reward the system by training yourself to get up early. You can pamper yourself with a cup of your favorite coffee or some additional time in the shower. Make yourself feel special by doing something you don’t often do to celebrate your achievement of getting up early. Rewarding yourself encourages you to keep practicing.
6. Follow proper sleep hygiene
Create a nightly ritual to signal to your body that it is time to sleep. Take a nice shower, read your favorite book, or reflect on the good things that happened during the day. All of these things assist you in relaxing and preparing your body for sleep. Taking a warm shower prepares your body biologically for sleep. The hot water boosts your body temperature, which subsequently declines as soon as you exit the shower. Because your body temperature drops as you sleep, a warm bath can help you sleep more easily.
7. Stay away from blue lights
Melatonin production can be suppressed by blue light from the television or electronic devices. This sleep-inducing hormone’s synthesis may be insufficient or delayed, which can have a detrimental impact on your sleep quality. You must sleep early in order to consistently wake up early.
Avoiding blue light for at least an hour before night will help you reach your objective of sleeping early. This habit also keeps you from scrolling through your phone or tablet or binge-watching your favorite show. All of these activities may stimulate your brain, even more, preventing you from sleeping.
8. Be kind to yourself
If you’re sick or tired, take it easy on yourself and don’t force yourself to get up too early. This adaptability will keep you from hating the thought of getting up early.
9. Eliminate excuses for sleeping In
It’s natural to want to sleep in on a rainy or cold day when you’re trying to train yourself to wake up early. Avoid giving in to such reasons since it will be tough to stop the habit and you will have to retrain yourself all over again if you do.
10. Eat a light dinner
Heavy, spicy meals may make you feel drowsy for a short time, but they take longer to digest, interfering with sleep.
Acid reflux and heartburn might occur if meals aren’t properly digested before you lie down. Furthermore, the additional calories are stored as fat in your body. Dinner should contain no more than 500 calories. A simple lunch of lean meat or fish with some vegetables should suffice to keep you full and prevent late-night munching.
Salmon, chicken, eggs, spinach, and almonds, which are high in tryptophan, may help you sleep better. This amino acid, tryptophan, is the source of the hormone melatonin.
How to wake up early naturally
1. Light
The most effective technique to induce your body to feel awake is to expose yourself to light when you first wake up.
Sunlight suppresses the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin, which helps to regulate your internal clock. If you live in an area where the mornings are dark, a broad-spectrum light box can help you replicate sunlight and make your body feel more alert.
“When you’re exposed to bright sunlight, your melatonin production shuts down, signalling to your body that it’s time to get up.”
In contrast, don’t expose your eyes to intense lights at night, especially blue light from screens. Those lights will tell your body that it’s still daylight, which won’t help you if you’re attempting to sleep.
2. Movement
Another technique to remind your body clock that it’s time to get up is to exercise or simply get your body moving in the morning.
3. Consistency
Whether you’re an early riser or a night owl, you’ll agree that maintaining a consistent sleep routine is essential. It can even make a difference if you eat around the same time as you go to bed.
If you have to get up early for work during the week, aim to get up at least a couple of hours later on weekends.
4. Naps, caffeine, and melatonin can help, but be cautious with how you use them
- Naps
Despite our best efforts to go to bed early enough to get a healthy seven or eight hours of sleep, waking up early frequently results in sleep deprivation. This is referred to by sleep experts as “sleep debt,” and it, like credit card debt, must be paid off in order for your body to operate properly. If it doesn’t, you may experience the more significant side effects of sleep deprivation.
Naps are an excellent method to get some extra rest. (Sleep studies have shown that even 10-minute naps can make a difference!) Try to take naps in the middle of the day or early in the afternoon, and keep them under an hour.
- Caffeine
Why not use caffeine to help you get through an early morning? Caffeine should only be used in the mornings, and it should be avoided within six hours of going to bed.
- Melatonin
In response to darkness, our bodies create melatonin, a sleep-regulating hormone. Melatonin levels usually rise in the hours leading up to bedtime.
Melatonin pills can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep for an early wake-up call if taken in tiny doses two to three hours before bedtime. When you’re trying to change time zones or reset your body clock, the supplements come in handy.
5. Reward yourself and take it slow
Make it more appealing to get out of bed in the morning. Perhaps it’s a mindfulness exercise to remind you of who or what you’re getting up early for. It could be as simple as promising yourself a toaster waffle as soon as you get out of bed.
Then, try waking up a few minutes earlier than you normally would. Mornings will go more easily if you give yourself an extra five minutes rather than racing out the door.
Consider waking up early as a skill that you’re honing, and begin slowly: Try going to bed 20 minutes earlier tonight, or don’t click the snooze button the next morning. Soon enough, you’ll get the hang of it.
6. Be patient
Finally, keep in mind that waking up early is a gradual process. Make an effort to be patient with yourself.
Some mornings may be difficult, to begin with. But if you’re doing a good job of keeping your behaviors in check most of the time, you’ll be able to tolerate the odd lousy night of sleep.
“If every night had to be perfect for us to function, it would be a dreadful system.” Because even if every night isn’t ideal, we still manage to function. As a result, we shouldn’t expect our sleep to be perfect in order for it to be ideal.
Know why you want to improve your wake-up routine
Any change in your life, including getting up on time, requires a clear definition of why it is important to you.
What is your driving force? Do you want to get up early enough to have breakfast with your family, get some exercise, or simply reflect for a few moments to be better prepared for your day? Perhaps you’re simply sick of the stress of being late every morning.
Once you’ve figured out why you want to change, take the next step and tell your family or housemates about it. Accountability, like an alarm clock, is quite beneficial.
Some people are born with the ability to get up early. Others prefer to sleep in later in the morning by staying up late. Late risers, on the other hand, may find that typical job and school schedules are not always accommodating.
If you want to improve your sleeping habits so that you can get up earlier in the morning, consider what you find the most difficult about getting up early. Then, look at your present sleep patterns and create new ones that will help you obtain a better night’s sleep.
Reasons you struggle with waking up in the morning
For a variety of reasons, you may find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Perhaps you don’t consider yourself a morning person. Perhaps your sleep routine is dictated by your job or social obligations. However, if getting out of bed early is a daily effort, there may be underlying health issues or lifestyle choices to blame.
1. Sleep disorders
Many sleep disorders affect your ability to feel well-rested. Even if you want to wake up early, your body may feel like it needs more sleep to function.
- Sleep apnea: Throughout the night, people with sleep apnea experience temporary breathing cessation. As a result, they wake in the morning feeling unrested, possibly with a headache. Sleep apnea can also cause difficulty concentrating and excessive daytime sleepiness, in which you feel overwhelmingly sleepy or fall asleep during the daytime.
- Narcolepsy: Narcolepsy causes excessive daytime sleepiness, often accompanied by muscle weakness or cataplexy. This disorder can cause arousals at night, leading to fragmented or poor sleep. Narcolepsy can also cause sleep attacks that last a few minutes.
- Hypersomnia: People with hypersomnia sleep excessively at night for as long as 14 to 18 hours. They also experience excessive daytime sleepiness during the day. They struggle greatly to wake up from sleep, and they are often compelled to nap during the day at inappropriate times.
2. Circadian rhythm disorders
The circadian rhythm governs our sleep-wake cycle. Circadian rhythm disorders disrupt your sleep schedule and can make waking in the morning difficult.
- Delayed sleep-wake disorder: Common among adolescents, those with delayed sleep-wake disorder struggle to fall asleep and wake up early. They may also experience excessive daytime sleepiness. People with the delayed sleep-wake disorder often cannot fall asleep earlier, even when they try.
- Jet lag disorder: After traveling across two or more time zones, you may find it difficult to adjust to the local time. If you travel eastward, advancing your circadian rhythm, waking up with the local population may be difficult. Experts recommend preparing for travel by adjusting your sleep schedule ahead of time to match the destination time.
- Shift work disorder: Shift work or irregularly timed shifts can contribute to daytime sleepiness. These shifts might make it difficult for you to establish a consistent sleep schedule. If your job requires shift work, you might also cut your sleep short to attend social events, leading to sleep debt.
3. Poor sleep hygiene
The term “sleep hygiene” refers to the healthy behaviors that aid in getting enough sleep. A lack of a nightly ritual, a poor sleeping environment, and excessive use of gadgets can all have an adverse effect on your sleep.
Poor sleep hygiene is exacerbated by other lifestyle choices. Late use of caffeine or alcohol, for example, can make falling or keeping asleep more difficult. Furthermore, revenge bedtime procrastination entails staying up late solely to enjoy personal time, despite the fact that it will have a detrimental consequence the next day.
4. Depression, anxiety, or stress
Depression, worry, and stress can all have a negative impact on your sleeping patterns. Both early rising and oversleeping are symptoms of depression. Untreated stress and anxiety can lead to sleep deprivation or deficiency, forcing you to sleep later or sleep excessively during the day.
Other sleep disorders may be exacerbated by certain mental health issues. Sleep deprivation can also affect your emotions, leading to despair and worry.
Some people are born with the ability to get up early. Others prefer to sleep in later in the morning by staying up late. Late risers, on the other hand, may find that typical job and school schedules are not always accommodating.
If you want to improve your sleeping habits so you can wake up earlier, first evaluate what you find most difficult about waking up early. Then, it may help to take a look at your current sleep habits and build new habits that help you get a better night’s sleep.
When to talk to your doctor especially if you want to know how to wake up early for work
Talk to your doctor if you’ve improved your sleep hygiene but still have trouble waking up early especially for work. They can make sure you don’t have any underlying health issues that are driving you to sleep in longer than you want.
Keep a sleep diary and record your sleep and wake habits in the weeks leading up to your doctor’s appointment if possible. Include how refreshed and aware you felt when you first woke up. Your sleep journal can help your doctor get a better picture of your sleeping habits. You and your doctor can work together to figure out why you’re waking up late and devise a strategy to help you get up sooner.
