10 Tips on waking up and getting out of bed earlier

You can have all the good intentions in the world, but sometimes those early morning starts get the best of us as we succumb to using the Snooze button, our only ally in the morning to the cold, dark world that is life outside our warm comfy bed. Here are 10 tips to make that process a little bit more manageable!

Positive Thinking:
Reset your mind from thinking you’re not a morning person to thinking of the possibilities of what you can achieve by waking earlier. Thinking about what you can accomplish. The early workout or simply getting a head start on everyone else rather than dreaming of what you’re going to do and then getting stuck in the morning commute with nothing done.

One small step at a time:
If you get up at 8 usually, don’t jump to waking up at 4:30am immediately. You’re destined to fail as it is too much of a jump too soon and you’re probably up till 12 so your sleeping time is nearly cut in half. Get up at 7:45 or 7:30 instead and gradually change your sleep pattern.

Get your sleep in:
If the plan is to wake up earlier, you’re going to have to see slightly early too. Your body can do cray things when it has to, but it still needs rest. Make sure you’re still getting close to 8 hours a night if possible. More on the amount of time you should be sleeping to follow. 

Snooze button: 
DO NOT USE IT! Not even once. You will become too reliant on it. I don’t know about you but whenever I think I am too tired and I use the snooze button, I just lie down, half concentrating on when the phone will go off again. The fastest damn 9 minutes in the world. You’re not resting and it’s not doing you any favours. So set your alarm for when you need to get up and get up straight away before your brain has a chance to even process what just happened.

Have your phone away from you when you sleep:
Your Facebook feed is not going to be that exciting over night that you have to keep checking on it. Actually, it's just insomniacs complaining they can't sleep... or people staying up on US time, spoiling the newest episode of Game of Thrones. You don't want spoilers. You want sleep. You will also have to physically get out of the bed to stop the alarm in the morning until your body clock gets more use to waking up at that hour. 

Preparation:
Our minds can play awful tricks on us when we feel tired in the mornings. The effort of finding clothes to wear. The effort of that daunting task! The effort in finding something to eat in the kitchen. Sure a 9 minute lie on and then using a flask for having a coffee on the go will do for breakfast we might think. 9 minutes extra after 8 hours in bed and caffeine for breakfast will suffice. You know, that extra 2% longer (if even) in bed and then no breakfast is going to be so worth it when you reach for anything in the shop later! And you won’t feel any more rested. So prep your clothes the night before and your breakfast too. Have your morning routine in your head with enough time to do it without rushing around but at the same time, not as much time that you think you can “rest” another few minutes. 

“One day won’t kill me”:
When you’re trying to break a habit and create a new routine, at some stage, this is going to enter your brain. They say it takes 21 days to have a new routine so stick it through with no excuses. Don’t let your mind trick you into staying longer and that you need the extra lie on. You don’t.

Sleep cycles:
I’m not too sure exactly how this works to be totally honest, but I have read through various different sites and studies that your body has a 90 minute sleep cycle (REM Cycles - Rapid Eye Movements) You fall into a deep sleep near the end of the first 90 minute cycle. It might be a good idea to sleep in multiples of 90 minutes before your wake up time. So, by this logic, ideally you would be getting 9 hours of sleep a night. That can be unrealistic for some during the week so try 7 and a half hours. 

Nutrition before bed:
Avoid large Meals and caffeine before bed. The caffeine should be obvious enough and you don’t want to feel sluggish, digesting a large meal when your body is suppose to be at rest. 

Alarm Tone:
If the sound of your alarm tone makes you want to throw the phone off the wall, chances are you’re going to be in a bad mood to start the day and might not want to get up. Change your tone. Stick on a cool song you like or have the radio wake you up in the morning

Exercise:
A great way to get up is to have a motivating reason! Getting your workout in is definitely one of them! Have your morning exercise routine planned out and do something enjoyable in the workout so you’re not dreading it!

Wake Up, Get Up:
You ever find that if you wake up in the middle of the night, that it is much easier to get up and go get a drink or go to the toilet than if your alarm wakes you and you can’t get out of bed. That’s because your mind knows the difference between getting up for a few minutes and the day as well as you were gradually woken up earlier. Stick to the same time each day and make sure you get up! Your mind will eventually be use to waking up and getting up at that time without the need of an alarm. 

Still use an alarm though. In fact multiple to be sure you wake up. Unfortunately I learned that the hard way years ago. My ass was chewed out so much for being 90 minutes late (kind of a big deal when you're the only one expected in to open up a gym) that not even a month of squats could help! Bonus tip to end this blog on!