So, you want to be on top (and wake up at 5 am)?
Waking up early can be such a life- and time saver.
It doesn’t have to be as early as 4.30 am or 5 am – it can be however early works for you and your lifestyle.
I usually wake up somewhere between 5:30 and 6 AM, as I work full time and need to be at work around 9:30 – 10 am.
This gives me an extra good 3 hours of working on my business and I absolutely love it.
We’ll go through the secrets of how to actually wake up early, get more out of your day and have more time on your hands, and above all, why you should do it.
Studies show that people who are early risers are more proactive, productive and therefore more successful and happy with their lives.
Wow – doesn’t that sound neat?
Let’s dig into these secrets and make you a true morning person. ⏰
Related Reads:
- 8 Ways To a More Productive Morning
- Why Failing Is A Good Thing If You Want To Live Your Dream Life
- 10 Thoughts You Should Never Ever Think And Why
1. Just Keep Going
Ok, secret number one. It’s going to be tough at first, who are we kidding.
Your body is not used to getting up before the sun’s out.
It will take some time to adjust your mind and body, but just keep going.
The key is to make waking up early a consistent habit that you actually stick to.
At first, your mind and body will resist and they do need some talking into.
I’m going to challenge you to do this in 15 minutes intervals.
If you are used to waking up at 7 am, work backward and start waking up at 6:45 am, then 06:30 and so on.
It will make things so much easier for you and it won’t feel like such a shock to your body.
As humans, we are designed to love to do what we’re used to – and if you are not used to waking up early, your brain won’t want to either.
Make it a habit and your brain will catch on.
Even on the weekends, guys.
I know the feeling, Saturday is coming and you just can’t wait to finally sleep in.
If you sleep in (a lot) on the weekends, it will totally mess up the sleeping schedule you’ve worked so hard to get into the habit of during the week.
I am telling you, once you get used to it, you’re body will wake itself up before your alarm goes off.
In the beginning, you are never going to feel like getting up before dawn.
Implement the 5-second rule by Mel Robbins.
Every time your alarm goes off, count backward from 5 and get yourself out of the warm bed, up on your feet and into the bathroom you go.
Keep going and soon enough you’ll be getting up at 5 am per automatic.
2. Master Your Thoughts
If you get this – there shall be no problems and you will jump out of bed every single morning.
This secret is so so so important.
Now you may think that the only thing that will help you to get out of bed is by putting your phone across the room or having an alarm so gruesome it’ll terrify you out of bed.
No. Big mistake.
The reason it’s so hard to get up is because of the thoughts you have about it.
The very first thing you need to do something about is how you feel and what you think when you wake up and your alarm goes off.
Feelings you might feel:
- Dread
- Nervous
- Confused
- TIRED!
- Lazy
- Sad
The root cause of you not getting up is how you feel once your alarm goes off. We need to get to the bottom of why that is and alter your mindset.
So – Monday is (finally) here and your alarm goes off. What do you feel?
Pay attention and take notice. What can you do to change the way your negative thoughts and feelings into something positive? Set your brain to work and find the answer – then do something about it.
Now, this gets into what motivates you and your big fat why. Don’t worry, we will get into that next.
In conclusion, your feelings and thoughts at dawn set the mood for your day. Make sure it is off to a good start.
3. Know Your Why
This brings me to the feelings you should be feeling when you wake up.
You are hopefully experiencing one of the following feelings:
- Excited
- Motivated
- Ready
- Eager
- Committed
You should feel excited and motivated about the day ahead.
It’s a completely new day, with so many possibilities and endless opportunities.
What is your motivation to get up in the morning?
Clearly, state your why.
There is really no point of getting up before the rooster crows if you’re just going to wander around your living room and stare into space.
You need to have a goal, a why, a dream that motivates you and makes you excited about waking up early.
It may be that you want to start your own business, have more time for yourself (me-time), work out, write a book, be creative, write music – whatever it is – make sure your why is obvious.
Motivation makes waking up early so much easier.
4. Have A Plan & Schedule
“ I needed a plan. A plan to get over my man! And what’s the opposite of man? Jam!” – Monica Geller (Friends)
In all seriousness, we all need a plan.
A plan will kick your butt into gear when you are too tired to even think about where to start.
Plan your mornings down to the dot.
You wake up, you might feel confused and not know where to start – this is especially hopeless when you’re up super early.
My tip for you here is to get out whatever planner you prefer and plan your mornings down to the minute.
I personally use gCal and I love it (you can color coordinate as well, which makes it look really pretty).
List your priorities in order of importance and start at the top. I use my all-time favorite planner, the Productivity Planner to prioritize my to-do’s.
- What do I absolutely need to get done today?
- How can I get closer to my goal this morning?
- What little thing can I do today that will add up in the future?
- How can I make this day the best day ever?
Even if you’re just sipping coffee and having some me-time. Plan for it!
Examples:
- Listen to an episode of your favorite podcast
- Read a chapter of the book you always wanted to dive into but never had the time to.
- Meditate for 20 minutes
- Exercise and get in shape
- Drink coffee and read the newspaper in peace
Have a clear schedule in place for those early morning hours, so that you know exactly what to do and when to do it.
Your schedule may look something like this:
- 5:00 am – wake up, drink water and wash face
- 5:15 – put on a soothing playlist on Spotify/iTunes and do a braindump.
- 5:30 – stretch and meditate for 10 minutes
- 5:45 – put on the coffee!
- 6:00 – creative work (and drink coffee)
- 7:00 – eat breakfast and read blogs/books or listen to inspiring podcasts.
- 7:45 – work out
- 8:30 – shower and get ready to kick some ass.
- 9:00 – 9:30 – start your day
As I always say; plan your butt off.
But Why?
So, why on earth wake up so early? If you’re still not sure why after reading this post.. read it again.
All kidding aside, getting up early can help in the following areas of your life.
- Make more time
- Increase productivity AND creativity (we are more creative in the morning and our minds are super-fresh from our beauty sleep)
- With increased productivity comes confidence and self-reflection.
- Get closer to your goals because you are actually sitting down and getting things done before anyone else is even out of bed.
- More peaceful
- You become a planning champion.
- Need I say more?
What an amazing post! I really enjoyed it because I’m trying to change my morning habits and I will definitely try some of your tips!
So glad that you found this post helpful! Good luck changing your morning routine! Be prepared for some serious productivity 😉
I’m so excited that I found this post! It’s the new year and I’m going through my pinterest boards and actually reading them. Gasp! Such an idea. I’m taking notes too. I plan on implanting these steps in the morning.
Thank you for writing this post and sharing.
Annie! I’m so glad that you’ve found this post useful and right on time for the new year and a fresh start. I hope 2019 will be amazing for you!
Mia! This post came at such a good time. I’ve been trying to start waking up earlier for two weeks now, ever since I learned about the benefits from the Youtuber, Annie Jaffrey, and the writer/coach Robin Sharma (he’s also on Youtube). Thanks so much for the helpful tips 🙂 You definitely got yourself a new subscriber! 😀
Sophie! I am so glad you found this post helpful! Good luck !! xx
I’m terrible at waking up early so I will try out these tips!
Amanda! Good luck and start slow by waking up 15 minutes earlier every day 🙂