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There is something truly sacred about being the first one awake in your home. It’s calm and quiet. You can sip your coffee in peace while admiring the colors of the awakening sky.
This slow, intentional start to the day is what I craved at the start of this year.
There was one difficulty, though: I had become one heck of a night owl.
Nighttime was my time for hobbies after working, cooking, and cleaning each day. I got some of my most focused work done after 8 pm.
After years of staying up late, I had developed an early evening chronotype. Chronotypes are ideal sleep and wake times based on one’s genetics and habits. I gained energy after 6 pm and had an optimal sleep schedule of 11 pm to 8 am.
As many evening types know, work schedules aren’t always accommodating.
I was expected at work by 8 and was equally expected to not look like I just rolled out of bed. This meant I had to wake up 90 minutes earlier to have restorative time in the morning.
For the longest time, early mornings only left me feeling completely exhausted. But now, my 6 am morning routine leaves me feeling more energized than ever.
So how did I do this when I was wired for a completely different sleep schedule?
I switched up my habits to make early mornings easier and late nights harder. Instead of shocking my body into a new schedule, I took it day by day, step by step.
Be warned: this process takes time. There’s a reason I’m posting this in March when I started in January. However, if you want energy to take on each day while you retrain your body, the slow and steady method is essential.
With patience and persistence, you will succeed.
These are the 11 strategies that made all the difference in my journey.
How to Sleep Soundly When Your Mind Is Still Awake
To wake up earlier, you must also go to bed earlier.
This proved to be the hardest rule to follow. My night owl habits weren’t going up without a fight.
These tips improved the quality of my sleep while my quantity was lacking. This way, I could take on my days with as much energy as possible.
1. Get sunlight exposure during the day
Sunlight regulates your circadian rhythm and your sleep-wake schedule. We may not have an abundance of it during winter, but a little goes a long way.
A great way to get sunlight and exercise into your daily routine is to walk 15 minutes each morning and evening.
Sun exposure made the greatest difference in my sleep schedule. My evenings outside helped me feel tired earlier. My morning grogginess left when I stepped outside in the cold morning air.
In the evening, try to limit screen time. Blue light mimics daylight and can confuse your biological clock into thinking it’s still daytime.
If screens are a part of your bedtime routine, try using a blue light filter on your device or 2. Eat dinner earlier and skip alcohol
I use an Oura ring to monitor my heart rate and sleep, which I discuss more in my Routines for Different Energy Levels post. It’s shown me that late meals and alcohol consumption often cause restless nights. When you eat dinner shortly before falling asleep, your digestive system has to work hard while your body is trying to rest. The better option is to eat dinner before 7, allowing 2-3 hours to digest before sleep. If earlier meal times conflict with your schedule, try meal prepping or having quick meals on hand in a pinch. The most common reason I used to stay up late was losing track of time. It’s easy to do some chores or get distracted by something, and suddenly notice it’s midnight. Setting an alarm that bedtime is approaching helps me finish my evening tasks before it gets too late. When it goes off, I go through the following steps to wrap up the day: As long as I stay on top of chores throughout the day, I should be able to get through this list reasonably in an hour. Decide how much time is right for you to wind down. Setting a recurring alarm will help you stay consistent with your evening routine and sleep schedule. It’s a win-win. Once I’m in bed for the evening, the last step is to quiet my mind. I highly recommend Joe Dispenza’s meditation from Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. It’s perfect for winding down and aligning your intentions for the day ahead. There are plenty of options for meditation. You can use an app like Headspace or Calm or search for guided meditations on YouTube. Meditating can even be as simple as focusing on your breath. Thoughts will inevitably enter your mind while you meditate, but they are simply opportunities to release and regain focus. Letting go of thoughts as they appear can help you fall asleep with ease. Early mornings are the perfect way to get a head start on your day. However, they should feel nurturing, not like a punishment. Fortunately, there are ways to make getting up a more comfortable process. Waking up at 5 am has been a popular habit of successful people for years. Let me tell you, every time I have gone from sleeping late to waking up at 5 am, it hasn’t gone well. Instead of feeling successful and ready to conquer my day, I dealt with drowsiness that even caffeine couldn’t fix. I still got my surge of energy in the evening which made falling asleep at 9 pm difficult, so each day I woke up early compounded my sleep deprivation. This wasn’t a sustainable schedule for me, so I ultimately quit. Ask yourself honestly how much time you need for your ideal morning routine and plan your wakeup time accordingly. There is no need to wake up any earlier if it will kill your productivity for the day. My ideal morning routine goes as follows: 30 minutes – get up, warm up coffee, enjoy time outside 10 minutes – read The Pivot Year by Brianna Weist 30 minutes – get dressed, do hair and makeup 30 minutes – make breakfast 20 minutes – commute = 2 hours My morning routine requires that I only get up at 6 am. This was still a jump from my previous wake-up time, but there was a way around that too. Early mornings are difficult when you don’t give your sleep schedule time to adapt. Retraining your biological clock is a slow and steady process. I trained myself to wake up early in small increments. Each week, I woke up 15 minutes earlier until I reached my desired wakeup time. My plan looked like this: Current wake-up time: 7:30 This week: 7:15 Next week: 7:00 Next, next week: 6:45 And so on. It took me 6 weeks to readjust my sleep schedule, but I stuck to it. This method allowed me to alter my sleep schedule without getting sleep-deprived. My morning routine started to stick when I added small, enjoyable moments to look forward to. On a good morning, what are the things you enjoy? Make a list. Pick three things from the list and create strategies to include them in your morning routine. Try to make them simple and easy to implement. Strategy 1: Make a carafe of green tea in my French press each evening so I can enjoy it in the morning with little effort. Strategy 2: Tidy the house in the evening. It’s much easier to start the day when I’m not waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes. Strategy 3: Keep granola on hand to make sure I get breakfast when I’m in a hurry. Now when I’m faced with the thought, “I don’t feel like getting up,” I have three reasons why I do feel like it after all. Past me took care of things that present me gets to enjoy. That’s a good feeling to start the day with. It is all too easy to snooze your alarm in the mornings and be off to dreamland again. However, those 10-minute increments of light sleep do not boost your energy levels. You would be better off getting up at the first ring of your alarm. I broke this cycle of endless snoozing by placing my alarm far away from my bed. By physically getting up at the first ring of my alarm, the hardest part of my morning was over. Alternatively, give yourself an ultimatum if you stay in bed. For instance, you can stay in bed long enough to do a gratitude practice. The process is simple: Often when we’re focusing on leaving something we enjoy, like our bed, we aren’t appreciating it in that moment. Shift your focus to appreciation and you’ll find that it helps! Comfort shouldn’t end the minute you leave bed. Instead, get into the habit of leaving pants and a hoodie next to your alarm. Once you’re up, you can immediately bundle up and get on with your morning. If you have a smart heating system, you can also schedule the heat to turn on at a certain time. Waking up to a warm home will make it easier to rise and shine. This may seem iffy with the current cold weather, but it snaps you awake like nothing else. Cold therapy is excellent for your circulation and brain health. I’m not one for cold showers, but sipping my coffee outside makes me feel wonderfully alive. While I’m outside, I sit with my thoughts and hopes for the day ahead. In that 20 minutes, I have nowhere else to be but where I am. I watch with gratitude as the sun rises over my blooming almond tree. This practice dissolves any tired grumpiness I might feel in the morning and leaves me in a positive headspace to take on my day. For that reason, it’s an unskippable part of my morning routine. The previous tip works especially well if you time it with the sunrise. Watching the colorful sky provides a lovely reward for getting out of bed. If it’s a rainy day instead, you can still enjoy the sound and smell of early morning rain. There is always something to be grateful for. By starting your day with thankfulness, you set the best possible tone for the day ahead. Miracles await you. Instead of my usual conclusion, I wanted to leave you with 10 reasons to take the steps in this post. Early mornings truly changed my way of living in these ways: Chances are if you found this post, you’re already thinking about adopting this habit. This is your sign to do it. Today, set your alarm 15 minutes earlier and plan one thing to look forward to tomorrow morning. It might just change everything. Until next time, I hope you enjoy the slow awakening of Spring and are inspired to follow her lead. 🌸 O&K3. Set an alarm to wind down before bedtime
4. Consider meditating
How to Wake Up Bright and Early
1. Define early on your terms
2. Train yourself to wake up early in increments.
3. Make your early morning routine enjoyable
4. Get up without thinking about it
5. Have warm clothes to put on
6. Breathe in the fresh morning air
7. Watch the sunrise
Bonus: 10 Reasons Why Early Mornings Are Worth It
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