Wake Up Earlier with these 5 Simple Tips

Do you ever wish you could wake up earlier?  Do you envy those that are natural morning people?  

I think many of us wish we could wake up earlier, but it’s so difficult to make it a habit.  Luckily, I have 5 simple tips that will help you wake up early and transform yourself into a morning person!

Last week, Nick told me he wanted to start waking up earlier (at 5:00, to be exact), and I was 100% on board!

During my senior year of high school, I woke up early every day so that I could get some things done before I started work at 6:00.  It wasn’t always ideal to have that sort of morning schedule, but honestly, I loved it.  

I love getting up before everyone else, doing a short bodyweight workout and starting work all before the sun rose.

I also know that I do my best work in the morning because in the afternoon and evening I start to get groggy, which doesn’t make homework (or any “brainwork”) too enjoyable at those times.

Of course, not everyone works that way, so if you’re someone that does their best work in the afternoon or at night, don’t force yourself to get up at 6:00 to start working if you don’t want to.

However, there are plenty of benefits to getting a head start to your day, including, but not limited to…

• Watching the sunrise, depending on what time you choose to wake up
• Getting some alone time while everyone else is sleeping
• Feeling like you have more time to get things done

If you are feeling motivated and ready to become a morning person and start waking up earlier, I can’t wait to share these 5 simple tips with you!  

wake up earlier with these 5 simple tips

• Set a reasonable alarm

If you’ve been sleeping in until noon for years, setting an alarm for 6:00 am for a week straight might not be the best move.  Your body is not going to be used to going to bed early enough to get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep in by 6:00, which can result in a lot of issues because SLEEP IS IMPORTANT.

Sleep is how our body rests and maintains its health.  Not getting enough quality sleep can result in fatigue, brain fog, moodiness.  And if this becomes a chronic problem, it can result in more serious consequences, such as high blood pressure, heart problems, and immune system impairment.

So instead of going from waking up at noon to 6:00 am, start waking up at 10:00 or 11:00 for a week or two, maybe longer.  Once you feel like you are better able to fall asleep earlier and earlier, start setting your alarm for earlier times.  Work your way down from your normal time to your goal wake-up time week by week.

Eventually, you’ll be able to get up at your goal wake-up time without much effort! 

• Limit screen time before bed

In order to get high-quality sleep (whether you’re trying to wake up early or not), you should be limiting screen time before bed.  The screens on our TVs, computers, and phones all emit blue light, which disrupts our circadian rhythm by essentially tricking our brains into thinking it’s day time all the time.

Many experts say to not look at screens for the entire hour before you go to bed, but even just putting your phone down 30 minutes before bedtime and opting for a book instead can make a huge difference.

• Go to bed early

As I brought up earlier, if you’re trying to wake up earlier, you need to get to bed earlier!

Depending on your goal wake-up time and how much sleep you like to get each night, decide on a set bedtime and hold yourself accountable for being in bed at that time.

Having a set bedtime (mine is 9:00) every night helps me plan the rest of my day.  I know that I don’t want to have to work on homework or anything mentally taxing after 7:00, so I try to get all of those things done before that time.  

Then, from 7:00-9:00, I can eat dinner, hang out with Nick, go on a sunset walk, read… do all my favorite relaxing things.  I sleep much better if I am relaxed before bed, rather than stressed.

• Charge your phone out of reach

If you read my post about healthy phone habits, then you already know this one. (;

Do you charge your phone right next to your bed?  I’m sure you probably do – or you used to at one point.  I know I did, but since I stopped, my mornings – and life in general – have become so much better.

When your phone is right next to your bed, the first thing we do in the morning is reach for it.  We don’t let ourselves have slow mornings anymore; instead, we immediately check social media and the internet to see what’s going on in the world, and it’s incredibly overwhelming.

But if we charge our phones away from our beds, we have to get out of bed to grab it; and once you’re out of bed, there’s a much lower chance that you’ll crawl back in and fall back asleep immediately after your alarm goes off.

Charging your phone away from your bed not only lets you have a less stressful morning because it’s not the first thing you look at after opening your eyes, but it also forces you to get up and out of bed if you want to check your notifications (which, let’s face it, I know you do).

So charge that phone somewhere far, far, far away from your bed and let yourself wake up and get ready before opening any notifications.

• Have something to look forward to in the morning

I know a lot of people who don’t like mornings absolutely dread waking up because it means they have to get ready for school or work, or maybe they just don’t like getting out of bed.

A game-changer for me has been to have something to look forward to every morning.  

If you have to get up early for work, find a podcast or playlist that you’re excited to listen to during your commute.  If you’re getting up for classes, pick out a cute but comfy outfit to wear so that you feel – and look – great at school. 

If you just want to wake up earlier so that you can have some extra time for yourself, pick up a book that makes you excited and read that while sipping your coffee or eating your favorite breakfast every morning.

Whatever your situation is, there is always something you can be excited about!  And if you don’t think you have anything to look forward to, maybe it’s time to switch up that mindset, your situation, or both! ((:

I hope these 5 simple tips on how to wake up earlier help you transform into a morning person!

If you enjoyed this post, I would love for you to share it so that everyone can learn how to love waking up earlier!