Tips for waking up early?

joytron
joytron Posts: 103 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I currently work out for an hour every evening after work, and while that's fine for now I can see my social life rapidly getting in the way as my enthusiasm wears off. I'd like to circumvent this by working out in the morning before work, but I am one of those people who can (and has) stayed in bed through EARTHQUAKES if it means catching 5 extra minutes in the sack. I'm very lazy this way and while normally I can talk myself out of laziness, this simply isn't possible in the morning, in that between-sleep-and-wake mode.

I get enough sleep, I think (7-8 hours), and I don't have to get up ridiculously early for work as it stands (7:45 a.m.).

So ... Please give me all your tricks! Everybody seems to have one, from setting the alarm across the room to dousing oneself with ice water. I wanna hear 'em all! Particularly psychological/self-brainwashing tricks, as I think that may be what's needed here.

Thanks!

Replies

  • ubermensch13
    ubermensch13 Posts: 824 Member
    When I was in gradschool, I had to teach a 7am class one semester. I was always a late sleeper before this and I thought there was no way I'd ever be up in time for that class, but knowing I HAD to be there helped and I used to set my alarm up across my room. The truth is, the first few times were really HARD, but as time went on, I got used to it. Now, I'm up before 6am almost every day, except on Saturdays, I'll sleep till 7. I love the mornings!
  • Dancerten
    Dancerten Posts: 237 Member
    DO NOT HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON. Set your alarm clock across the room if that's what it takes, but when it wakes you up GET UP. Physically moving around will help wake you up and make you more alert. My friend keeps an energy drink next to his alarm clock on days he has to get up early, so as soon as he gets up to turn off the alarm he has some caffeine to get him going.

    Remember, the snooze button is your worst enemy!
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    The only thing I can say is you just have to make yourself do it. If you can do it for one day, you can do it for two. If you can do it for a week, you can do it for another week, and so on. Once you get in the habit it gets much easier. I keep my workout clothes right next to my bed so I can put them on right away.
    You'll have so much more energy throughout the day and it's great to know that you're already done.....you got your workout in and now you're free to do anything else. And it helps me make better decisions. I am less likely to eat a cupcake that my coworker brought in if I know I already ran 2 miles that morning. Why undo that hard work? (Note - I am not against cupcakes! I eat them regularly.....but I don't need one every day.....and there are cupcakes at work almost every day!)
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
    I'm more of a morning person than an evening person so it's not incredibly hard for me, however, it's not easy either. If I don't get up in the morning and do it though it doesn't get done so when my alarm goes off I just remind myself of that. I know that I feel SOOO much better when I've done it so while that brief moment of actually hauling my butt out of bed does suck, it's only a moment compared to an entire day of feeling accomplished and good about myself. Like anything though, it can take a while to form a habit. Keep doing it and it will get (even only slightly) easier.
  • joytron
    joytron Posts: 103 Member
    Excellent tips so far, guys! I intend to put each and every one of them into practice. Workout clothes by the bed and easily accessible caffeine strike me as the most promising. We shall see!
  • Laksmi12
    Laksmi12 Posts: 2 Member
    Since you said you wanted psychological/self-brain washing tips, here's the one I often use. Unless I'm really really really really tired, this one tends to work just fine (and actually I'm kind of paranoid so I often wake up an hour before the time lol).

    Once you turn everything off to go to sleep (never go to sleep with tv on or such), just keep telling yourself "I'll wake up at 6am, I'll wake up at 6am, I *need* to wake up at 6am" until you drift off.
    It might not work for everyone, but it does wonders for me; my internal clock teams up with my hate-being-late paranoia and I wake up with enough time every time I use it.
    If you're afraid to oversleep, it can't hurt to also put the alarm clock, just in case.

    Also if you get some sun in your room in the early mornings, it's good to sleep with the curtains open so that you'll wake more naturally. (Alarm clocks are so noisy :P)

    If you definitely need an alarm clock though, I've heard some people use more than one (one next to the bed, one further away set to like 5-10 mins later, and one across the room also 5-10 mins later, for instance).
  • anghigdon
    anghigdon Posts: 24 Member
    I get up at 3:30 every morning to get to the gym. Now I am a morning person so it's a bit easier but what I remind myself every day when that alarm goes off is how good it feels to start my day knowing that my workout is DONE!!!!
  • Deanna_garnermommy
    Deanna_garnermommy Posts: 118 Member
    coffee pot set to brew and be ready when you get out of bed and the alarm clock across the room.. i set out my jogging attire as well as my ipod the night before so its easier on me in the morning.. coffee, small granola bar... get dressed and go go go!
  • LastMinuteMama
    LastMinuteMama Posts: 590 Member
    Bump

    I could use some of these tips too!
  • KristysLosing
    KristysLosing Posts: 683
    When I was in gradschool, I had to teach a 7am class one semester. I was always a late sleeper before this and I thought there was no way I'd ever be up in time for that class, but knowing I HAD to be there helped and I used to set my alarm up across my room. The truth is, the first few times were really HARD, but as time went on, I got used to it. Now, I'm up before 6am almost every day, except on Saturdays, I'll sleep till 7. I love the mornings!

    lol-one summer I did that because I had a lot of days I had to work at 6am. I was hitting snooze and going back to bed without waking up enough to realize it. One morning I overslept, thinking my alarm hadn't gone off. Then I realized I was standing across the room at my alarm clock. It was crazy. I'm not a morning person. Some people says just don't hit the snooze, but it just isn't that easy for some of us. I need that time to wake up. I don't know what's wrong with me!
  • tattedchic
    tattedchic Posts: 66 Member
    I set my alarm for 10 min earlier than I need to be up cause I know I'll hit snooze at least once or twice. I get to feel like I slept in but I'm right on time.
  • skinnynerd
    skinnynerd Posts: 110
    Since you said you wanted psychological/self-brain washing tips, here's the one I often use. Unless I'm really really really really tired, this one tends to work just fine (and actually I'm kind of paranoid so I often wake up an hour before the time lol).

    Once you turn everything off to go to sleep (never go to sleep with tv on or such), just keep telling yourself "I'll wake up at 6am, I'll wake up at 6am, I *need* to wake up at 6am" until you drift off.
    It might not work for everyone, but it does wonders for me; my internal clock teams up with my hate-being-late paranoia and I wake up with enough time every time I use it.
    If you're afraid to oversleep, it can't hurt to also put the alarm clock, just in case.


    I'm glad that I'm not the only one who does this! Works almost everytime! I even have my 12 year old daughter doing it and it works for her too!
  • kenazfehu
    kenazfehu Posts: 1,188 Member
    I used to use two alarms, one beside the bed that went off early enough for me to hit snooze 2 or 3 times and one across the room. Sometimes I woke up enough from the first alarm that I didn't need the second, but when it did go off, that meant "GET UP NOW!" I had my towel across the chair next to it because next stop was the shower.

    This sounds counter-intuitive, but try it. If it's too hard to get up at the first time you try, set the alarm half an hour to an hour earlier. You do through different cycles of sleep, and some of them are easier to wake up from than others. I once had a job that required the alarm to go off at 5:00 AM. It was soooooooooooo hard to get up at 5:00. Then my boss told me he needed me to come in an hour earlier, and I thought I'd never make it, but turns out it was much easier for me to wake up at 4:00 than it had been at 5:00.
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    My cat howls at my bedroom door every morning at exactly 7:40. I keep looking for his snooze button.
  • sameervasta
    sameervasta Posts: 25
    LIght. Lots and lots and lots of light. Get an alarm clock that slowly fades light into your room instead of sound. Your body reacts to the change in light and will want to wake you up naturally. (Works for me; I wake up at 6am every morning by making sure my light levels are good through the night and morning.)
  • Ezwoldo
    Ezwoldo Posts: 369 Member
    Remove covers swing legs out of bed and sit up ta da your up............ok try putting a second alarm some where else that you have to get your *kitten* out of bed to turn it off and make sure its a very aggressive sound as well.
  • jdstark1
    jdstark1 Posts: 1
    I have never been a morning person either. I'm one of those people who sets the alarm to go off 30 minutes early so I can hit the snooze button a few times before I have to actually get up. It drives my wife crazy, because she get up the first time the alarm goes off.
    However, over the past couple of years this has started to change for me. The biggest changes I've made to help myself are to go to bed at roughly the same time every night and to get up roughly the same time every morning - even on the weekends! You have to make a habit out of it and your body will get used to it. Most times you have to start getting up at the same time before your tired enough to go to sleep at the same time. Which is terrible for about the first week...
    Also, turn off the television, radio, etc. when it is time to go to sleep. Lay there for about 30 minutes. if you can't sleep, get up out of bed and go watch television, read a book, or something along those lines. Never do these things while you are in bed trying to go to sleep. Give yourself a set time to be up (30 minutes to 1 hours). Then try to go back to sleep.
    This is what has worked for me.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
    I'm a morning person, so I naturally get up not much later than 8, but I like to be up by 7. I, however, don't like to get my butt out of bed, so to make sure I do, I set my alarm for 6:30 so I can smack it fifty-million times and by the lime I give up and finally roll out of bed it's 7. I then jump immediately in the shower, which helps wake me up, and then I go about my day.
  • cldaugherty
    cldaugherty Posts: 28 Member
    Just like the others, I have my stuff ready to go the night before.
    I also tell myself that I know I will be mad later if I don't get up and go.
    Something else that works for me is having an accountability partner either physically meeting me there or on line to ask did you go get you work out one this morning.
    Having a goal also helps me and knowing that I am setting an example for my husband and kids.
    My alarm goes off at 4:30, I hit snooze once, then I am up (sleepy) but up and at the gym by 5 most weeks 5 days.
    Good luck to you. Mind you I am not a morning person and I have accomplished this.
  • happycauseIride
    happycauseIride Posts: 536 Member
    Start slow, aim for 2-3 days a week. The next week add a day and so on. I'm up at 5:30 every day and on the treadmill by 6:00 to get my work out in before I got to work. I have gotten to the point now that I feel really crappy if I don't. I'm tired, grumpy and lethargic if I don't get up. So when the alarm goes off and I'm tired and don't feel like getting up, I remind myself of that feeling and get up anyway.

    Also want to add that your food choices the day before are noticeable the next morning. I don't get up in time to eat before I work out, but If I eat right I will have enough energy to get up and go in the morning.

    You just have to do it anyway.
  • orangesmartie
    orangesmartie Posts: 1,870 Member
    Let me know how you get on with this. I'm not a morning person and I've tried almost every trick in the book. I have a natural light alarm clock that is supposed to gently wake me before the noise element comes on. It doesn't.

    I don't hit the snooze button on the noise bit because i can sleep right through it. I've put different alarm clocks in different rooms of the house. i simply switch them off and go right back to sleep. I've tried putting alarm clocks next to, on top and under work out clothes, to no avail.

    I have a dog. He doesn't like getting up early either. If i force him out for a wee, he goes right back to bed when we get in.

    I don't drink caffeine, so the energy drink idea is out for me.

    I posted about this on my timeline just last week and someone said that perhaps I just need to accept that i am not a morning person and forcing myself to get up early, just makes me feel negative at the start of the day and a failure for not managing it. And yet if i have to get up early for a meeting or something, i can just about do it. I just can't seem to do it on a regular basis.

    So for the last week i've been setting my alarm clock for the time I've normally been getting out of bed (2 hours after the alarm has originally gone off) and this is working much better for me. I'm usually up within 10 mins of the alarm going off, i don't feel so grumpy/negative. The downside is I'm not managing to get exercise in before work. But i feel this is the trade off i have to make.

    I also found that if i sleep until i naturally wake up, i'm in a much better mood and more able to take on exercise during the day. I'd far rather sleep til i wake up and then be awake all night long. That was how i studied for exams at uni :)
  • Ta2dchic20
    Ta2dchic20 Posts: 376 Member
    I get up at 3:30 every morning to get to the gym. Now I am a morning person so it's a bit easier but what I remind myself every day when that alarm goes off is how good it feels to start my day knowing that my workout is DONE!!!!

    YES! I agree completely! There's nothing like being done with your workout when most people are just waking up :)
  • SoozieQuarks
    SoozieQuarks Posts: 14 Member
    This sounds counter-intuitive, but try it. If it's too hard to get up at the first time you try, set the alarm half an hour to an hour earlier. You do through different cycles of sleep, and some of them are easier to wake up from than others. I once had a job that required the alarm to go off at 5:00 AM. It was soooooooooooo hard to get up at 5:00. Then my boss told me he needed me to come in an hour earlier, and I thought I'd never make it, but turns out it was much easier for me to wake up at 4:00 than it had been at 5:00.

    Those sleep stages are in hour and a half cycles for most people. So you were probably trying to wake yourself up right in the middle of a deep sleep stage at 5, whereas at 4 you woke up easier because you were coming off an almost awake sleep stage. So, for the OP - think about when to go to bed so that you wake up at the end of a hour and a half cycle.

    Also, I use an alarm on my phone that makes me do math to get to the snooze button. And I hate math, especially in the morning, so that will wake up my brain and my body. It's Alarm Clock Xtreme Free if you've got an Android.

    Oh, and as for the telling yourself to wake up at a certain time before falling asleep - two things - My Dad is a master at this, like down to the minute mark, even when he had sleep apnea! I wonder why I didn't get the morning person gene! Foiled again! Also, this is a trick that the lucid dreaming community use to help them have better dreams or to realize they are dreaming. So, tell yourself something like "I am going to get up at 6am, and I am going to dream about Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt telling me I look hot in that BCBG dress and Louboutin heels I drooled over today." ...Okay, maybe that's a little too extensive, but you get the point. :)

    Keep us updated!

    FOR SCIENCE!!!!
  • painthoss
    painthoss Posts: 63 Member
    Some people just take a long time to wake up. Making the change from asleep to awake takes me about 30 min. I've read that you can train your body to wake up quickly by practicing during the day. Go through your night ritual, whatever it is, set the alarm for 5 minutes after you lay down, and when it goes off, get up. 5 minutes may not sound like a long time, but it feels long enough when you are lying in bed in the middle of the day feeling stupid. :-) Repeat this several times in succession.

    I did this with success when I needed to get up early for work, but went back to my usual habit when my hours changed.
  • loopingcaterpillar
    loopingcaterpillar Posts: 156 Member
    i used to write myself a list of stuff to do in the morning when i was a student, i wrote it just before bed and read it in the morning, i wrote stuff like what i was going to wear and where my keys were and stuff. it worked for a good while.
    now i have a drink if i wake up in the night and im forced to get up to pee :P can't snooze in that circumstance. i put my kettle on on way past for my morning cuppa.
  • ShmoozyQ
    ShmoozyQ Posts: 390 Member
    This sounds counter-intuitive, but try it. If it's too hard to get up at the first time you try, set the alarm half an hour to an hour earlier. You do through different cycles of sleep, and some of them are easier to wake up from than others. I once had a job that required the alarm to go off at 5:00 AM. It was soooooooooooo hard to get up at 5:00. Then my boss told me he needed me to come in an hour earlier, and I thought I'd never make it, but turns out it was much easier for me to wake up at 4:00 than it had been at 5:00.

    Those sleep stages are in hour and a half cycles for most people. So you were probably trying to wake yourself up right in the middle of a deep sleep stage at 5, whereas at 4 you woke up easier because you were coming off an almost awake sleep stage. So, for the OP - think about when to go to bed so that you wake up at the end of a hour and a half cycle.

    Also, I use an alarm on my phone that makes me do math to get to the snooze button. And I hate math, especially in the morning, so that will wake up my brain and my body. It's Alarm Clock Xtreme Free if you've got an Android....

    THIS!

    Use this nifty little calc to help you figure out what a good time to fall asleep/wake up is. It makes a huge difference for me. And I find that I do wake up naturally at the predicted time on mornings when I don't have an alarm set.

    http://sleepyti.me/
  • Leigh_b
    Leigh_b Posts: 576 Member
    I set my alarm for 10 min earlier than I need to be up cause I know I'll hit snooze at least once or twice. I get to feel like I slept in but I'm right on time.

    This is what I do too. But I also mentally walk through my whole morning the night before.... "I need to leave the house at 7:30 so I need to get the kids up at 6:30... so I need to be in the shower at 5:50... so I need to be on the street running at 5:10... so I need to be out of bed by 5:00... so I'll set my alarm for 4:45. If I don't get up by 5:00 I will be late for work." I think about it in terms of making me late for work rather than having to skip the workout. If I mentally make the workout non-negotiable I am more likely to get out of bed because being late for work isn't really negotiable most days either.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Go to bed earlier.
  • LastMinuteMama
    LastMinuteMama Posts: 590 Member
    I set my alarm for 10 min earlier than I need to be up cause I know I'll hit snooze at least once or twice. I get to feel like I slept in but I'm right on time.

    This is what I do too. But I also mentally walk through my whole morning the night before.... "I need to leave the house at 7:30 so I need to get the kids up at 6:30... so I need to be in the shower at 5:50... so I need to be on the street running at 5:10... so I need to be out of bed by 5:00... so I'll set my alarm for 4:45. If I don't get up by 5:00 I will be late for work." I think about it in terms of making me late for work rather than having to skip the workout. If I mentally make the workout non-negotiable I am more likely to get out of bed because being late for work isn't really negotiable most days either.

    Leigh, I like your process! I'm gonna try this!
  • CasablancasTX
    CasablancasTX Posts: 108
    My friend keeps an energy drink next to his alarm clock on days he has to get up early, so as soon as he gets up to turn off the alarm he has some caffeine to get him going.

    I cannot think of anything less appetizing at 6am than warm red bull.

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