How do you make yourself get up early?

I have always wanted to be able to get up early, to get my exercise out of the way for the day and other such things. However, every time I set my alarm for early, I end up snoozing it until the last minute and rushing to work. What can I do? Going to bed early doesn't help, I still end up doing the same thing.

Help!
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Replies

  • Sinisterly
    Sinisterly Posts: 10,913 Member
    Superglue that snooze button. It's the devil.
  • jesmith86
    jesmith86 Posts: 46
    Hi,

    I generally have everything packed and ready to go, i then get up and sit on the couch for a couple of minutes until I wake up, then get food ready and get changed and push through it for the first week, getting my body used to it. This works for me, just by getting out of bed straight away and moving to the couch and generally checking FB wakes me up enough to get to the gym. the first 3 days are the hardest, but perseverance is key. Maybe even get a friend to help, send each other texts or meet at the gym or a place to run?
  • SusanUW83
    SusanUW83 Posts: 152 Member
    Find someone to work out with in the morning. Meeting someone has always been a strong motivator for me -- I don't want to be the one not to show up. Or even have them call you when they get up -- harder to ignore.
  • lottee1000
    lottee1000 Posts: 447 Member
    I set two alarms. one by my bed, which is a five minute warning, and one which is in another room, but it's super loud, so I have to get up and turn it off before it wakes all my neighbours! Annoying every day, but it works...
  • HarrietSabre
    HarrietSabre Posts: 186 Member
    Hi,

    I generally have everything packed and ready to go, i then get up and sit on the couch for a couple of minutes until I wake up, then get food ready and get changed and push through it for the first week, getting my body used to it. This works for me, just by getting out of bed straight away and moving to the couch and generally checking FB wakes me up enough to get to the gym. the first 3 days are the hardest, but perseverance is key. Maybe even get a friend to help, send each other texts or meet at the gym or a place to run?

    That would definitely work, but I have no-one to work out with in the morning because all of my friends work different shifts. Hm.
  • SuperC_85
    SuperC_85 Posts: 393
    Deactivate the snooze button :smile:
    I'm up at 6am every morning, but if I have a snooze button i will use it, so I deactivate it and now I have no choice but to get up.

    Try putting your alarm a little further from the bed, then you physically have to get up to put it off.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    You just have to practice and it will become easier over time. Try doing a few days at a time then add another day then another, etc.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    I used to have put my alarm on the other side of the room. To hit snooze, I actually had to get out of bed.

    Anymore, I have a 2 year old who generally wakes me up well before my alarm goes off.
  • TheSlorax
    TheSlorax Posts: 2,401 Member
    Set my alarm and get out of bed once it goes off... there's really nothing else to it.

    I'm not a morning person and I do not sleep well (average of 4 hours a night) and I still get up to go to the gym. It sucks but it's what I have to do.
  • zeussmith718
    zeussmith718 Posts: 29 Member
    I set 3 alarms, phone that goes off at 4:07 in the kitchen, 1 in the living room that goes off at 4:05, and one in my bedroom that I have to get up to shut off goes off at 4:09. I hit the snooze's until 4:30ish, all are very loud and annoying... usually have to be at work 45minutes away at 6am, sadly on the weekend I cant sleep in past 7am even if I stay out late and often wake up naturally around 5am.
  • sami_83
    sami_83 Posts: 161
    I don't. I've tried and failed and it just bums me out. My body clock is just like 'NOPE'. I work out in the evening instead and it's a much better option for me.
  • I used to have put my alarm on the other side of the room. To hit snooze, I actually had to get out of bed.

    ^ This... there is no way around getting out of bed to turn the alarm off ;)
  • SarahxApple
    SarahxApple Posts: 166 Member
    Book an early class, I never worked out in the morning when I was just going for a run and needed to be up at 5.30am, now I do a CrossFit class at 6am and I am up at 4.45am 3 mornings a week. Personally the idea that I would a) feel like I'd let people down by not being in the class I booked and b) the financial loss was a BIG motivator.
  • wannakimmy
    wannakimmy Posts: 488 Member
    I will apologize in advance for how this is going to come out, because I do not intend for it to be taken rudely.

    It has to matter enough to you. You have to make yourself do it, if it is something you really want.

    If it were a job, and you had to get up at 4, would you do it? Is a job more important than your health?

    JMO, good luck to you :)
  • 294Rich
    294Rich Posts: 171 Member
    First of all, to get up earlier, you have to go to bed earlier. If you are too tired to exercise and then get through the day, then you probably need to go to bed sooner. Make sure that your exercise gear is ready and available before you go to bed. Then, the rest really is up to you!
  • brevislux
    brevislux Posts: 1,093 Member
    Get to sleep early and get up fresh.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    There really isnt a secret to getting up early and doing your exercise.

    It is just plain discipline.

    That is it. If you want it bad enough you will do it.
  • Iknowsaur
    Iknowsaur Posts: 777 Member
    I registered for morning courses while in an overly optimistic mood, and my fear of losing my honors scholarship shames me out of bed every morning.
  • Dube11
    Dube11 Posts: 93 Member
    If your alarm goes off while you are in REM sleep you are going to feel tired and groggy. The trick is to time when you go to bed and when you wake up. Each sleep cycle is roughly 90 minutes so if you can wake up at the end of the cycle you'll feel more awake when the alarm goes off and more likely to get out of bed.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    ..and to expound on my post.....


    It is like the chicken and the egg. What comes first? Going to bed early so you can wake refreshed early and workout, or get up early so you feel tired enough at night go to bed eary?

    Personally I found it easier to bite the bullet, get up early and do it and then you get into a cycle where you will feel tired and want to go to bed earlier in the evenings. First couple of times it was a little difficult but soon you feel like going to bed earlier because you were up early.

    I never was able to start out my routines by just going to bed earlier...just wasnt tired enough, so I struggled a few days to get up early with much less sleep and soon your body adjusts.
  • HarrietSabre
    HarrietSabre Posts: 186 Member
    Set my alarm and get out of bed once it goes off... there's really nothing else to it.

    I'm not a morning person and I do not sleep well (average of 4 hours a night) and I still get up to go to the gym. It sucks but it's what I have to do.

    please be careful with sleeping 4 hours a night...it sounds like a dream to most people but it has been linked to permanent differences in brain structure that can cause memory loss.
  • HarrietSabre
    HarrietSabre Posts: 186 Member
    I don't. I've tried and failed and it just bums me out. My body clock is just like 'NOPE'. I work out in the evening instead and it's a much better option for me.

    That's what I generally do, I am a night person anyway but I want to start doing 30 minutes in the morning and an hour a night to be able to fit more in, plus I think 30 minutes cardio in the morning might actually help me wake up...if I get up in the first place!
  • EMTFreakGirl
    EMTFreakGirl Posts: 597 Member
    I gave up trying to get up early. I love nothing more than a 10pm moonlit run on the lakeshore. I have 24 access to a gym. I finally just decided to accept that I am a "nightwalker" and go with it. Even on days that for some inexplicable reason I AM up early, I make coffee and enjoy the sunrise. I am much more focused in my workouts if I do them late. Listen to your body and do what's right for you. If that "right" is getting in an early workout then you will figure out a way to get it done. :flowerforyou:
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
    I have always wanted to be able to get up early, to get my exercise out of the way for the day and other such things. However, every time I set my alarm for early, I end up snoozing it until the last minute and rushing to work. What can I do? Going to bed early doesn't help, I still end up doing the same thing.

    Help!

    Just wake up ... not sure what to say here... stop hitting the snooze button deal with the tiredness for 3 days or so while you adjust and your good from there... takes about 2 weeks to fully adjust to waking up early but once you do it's the best!!!

    They say the most successful people in the world wake up early and work out in the morning... No idea where that came from but I liked it and it made me start working out in the am.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I have always wanted to be able to get up early, to get my exercise out of the way for the day and other such things. However, every time I set my alarm for early, I end up snoozing it until the last minute and rushing to work. What can I do? Going to bed early doesn't help, I still end up doing the same thing.

    Help!

    Just wake up ... not sure what to say here... stop hitting the snooze button deal with the tiredness for 3 days or so while you adjust and your good from there... takes about 2 weeks to fully adjust to waking up early but once you do it's the best!!!

    They say the most successful people in the world wake up early and work out in the morning... No idea where that came from but I liked it and it made me start working out in the am.
    I have heard that as well.
    So does it mean that to be successful you need to get up early and work out?
    No.
    Just means that it takes drive, discipline and motivation to be successful.
    Just like i ttakes drive, discipline and motitvation to work out in the morning.
  • ktaisey
    ktaisey Posts: 3 Member
    I was a notorious snoozer myself....

    I wanted to get all my workouts done in the AM so I did not have time to make excuses for why I couldn't work out at night. It was hard the first oh 2 weeks but by the 3rd it was easier.

    I also started using the "silent alarm" on my FitBit Flex and it seemed to wake me up more easily - I was less shocked awake and more eased into being awake.

    Hope that helps!
  • TheGymGypsy
    TheGymGypsy Posts: 1,023 Member
    I always lay my work out clothes right next to the bed, or even sleep in them so that when I wake up I am reminded of what needs to be done!
  • daliyanin
    daliyanin Posts: 93 Member
    We are creatures of habit... i wake up at 3:45am, 4 times a week so that i can work out in the morning. Just set your alarm, don't think about it when it goes off and literally jump out of bed. I've noticed once i start thinking about it i end up talking myself into going back to bed. Keep doing it and eventually you will want to get to bed earlier. You'll get used to it if you keep doing it.
  • spoiledpuppies
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
    I pack and lay out clothes the night before. I also try to go to bed early.

    The main thing for me is that in the morning, there's only one excuse for not working out: I'm tired, and I can get past that. In the evening, there are a million excuses: I'm tired, I have errands to run, I have other commitments or something comes up...

    Getting it done in the morning:
    1. Ensures that it gets done
    2. Sets me up for a more mindful/healthy day since I know I started well

    Yesterday, I had to reschedule and go to the gym in the afternoon. While eating my breakfast, I was cursing out the reschedule because typically while eating my breakfast, I luxuriate in the fact that I've already had an awesome workout.

    You get used to the early alarm, and you'll actually end up regretting hitting snooze because you'll miss the energy that a morning workout will ultimately give you. (Of course, this is in my opinion, and some people may never prefer mornings.)
  • mandylanerocks
    mandylanerocks Posts: 100 Member
    Its hard at first but it does get easier. I usually prelog my days the night before. So if I'm planning on getting up early & working out I plan to eat more food that day. I usually plan bigger snacks & special treats for myself. So when I wake up I am reminded that I need to work out so I can eat those things I planned. Especially like a good yummy breakfast. Apparently I am motivated by more food ;) haha but it works. I love working out in the mornings now & try to do it as often as possible. Its good for your metabolism!