7 Tips to Help You Wake Up Earlier Every Morning

It’s no longer news that being an early riser has a lot of benefits. But just in case you’re not sure what you stand to gain from rising up early each day, before giving you early-rising tips, I’d like to first discuss the benefits of being a ‘lark’ – as opposed to being an owl (a late riser).

Waking early obviously gives you enough time – and energy – to do a lot of things before your usual daily activities start. For example, you’ll be able to have breakfast (which is good for your health and improves your performance) and do some exercise (benefits of which need no introduction) before going to work.

Early risers are generally found to be more productive, remain alert, and be in happier moods throughout the day. They’ve also be found to be better planners, great problem solvers, and they enjoy great health overall.

Now that you know the benefits you stand to gain from waking early, here are 7 tips to help you wake up earlier every morning:

1. Sleep earlier

It just makes obvious sense that when you sleep earlier you tend to wake earlier. You can’t want to wake up 5am and sleep 1am. Even if you do, you’d remain groggy the whole day, and your productivity level might take a nosedive.

The goal is to wake up earlier, not to get less sleep. You should get between 7 – 9 hours of sleep daily, as an adult. Sleeping earlier is what gives you enough sleep and still allows you to get up earlier.

2. Never snooze

You don’t have to be told to get an alarm clock to help you in your journey of early rising, at least for a start. The main point here is to never press the snooze button when the alarm sounds. Keeping the alarm clock far from reach can help you achieve this, so that you’d have to get up to reach it, and be fully awake by the time you’re done.

If you’re a heavy sleeper, ensure you find the best alarm clock for heavy sleepers. These have additional functions like louder sounds, bed shaker, lesser snooze time, etc.

3. Avoid caffeine or alcohol at night

Caffeine and alcohol shouldn’t be taken at evenings. Caffeine will set back your body clock and keep you awake longer, while though alcohol can make you sleep, you won’t get the right quality of sleep needed to wake up early and at alert.

4. Avoid heavy meals before bed

If you must eat before bed, make the food light or small. Your digestion slows down when you eat, so taking in too much before bed overworks your digestive system and reduces the quality of your sleep. More so, it can cause you heartburn, and have some negative effects on your waistline in the long run.

5. Avoid electronic devices before bed

Avoiding bright lights generally before bed makes you sleep early and improves sleep quality overall. But exposing your eyes directly to light from electronic devices like TV, computer or mobile phones can lead to sleeplessness, as the sleep hormone, melatonin, is suppressed.

Keep all devices away at least an hour before bedtime.

6. Do a relaxing activity before going to bed

Read a book, do yoga or meditation, enjoy a glass of warm milk, just do whatever makes you relax before bed. The relaxation will definitely lead to good sleep, and in effect, early wake.

7. Go gradually

Wake up few minutes earlier everyday till you hit your waking time goals, instead of making a sudden jump.

For example, if your current wake time is 9am, start by waking up 8:55 tomorrow, depending on how ambitious you are, and then few minutes earlier the next day, and on and on like that, till you start waking 6am, or whenever you’d like to wake up.

Following these 7 tips religiously will surely make you an early riser in no time, and you’ll begin to enjoy the dividends of rising early. You’ll find out first hand that it’s a better life than words can describe.