How to Wake Up Early: The Definitive Guide

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How To Wake Up Early: The Definitive Guide

by Mehdi on December 3, 2009
Most successful people are early risers. Think of Tiger Woods and Donald Trump. One reason why waking
up early is correlated with success is that you get more work done in the morning. Thats one benefit of
waking up early.
But how do you build the habit of waking up early without feeling like a mess in the morning? Especially if
youre a night owl? This post will give you 12 powerful tips to become an early riser within 30 days and
wake up early consistently.

1. Wake Up At The Same Time Daily. Youll become an early riser by waking up at the exact same
time for 30 days on. Youll be less likely to sleep in and might even wake up right before your alarm goes
off. Heres how to get started:
Wake Up At The Same Time. If you have problems catching sleep, lying awake at night while
feeling tired, start by waking up at the same time daily. Even if its late. This will stabilize your
circadian rhythm.
Wake Up Earlier. I recommend at least 2 hours before leaving for work. I wake up at 6am to start
working at 8am. Many early risers wake up at 5am or even 4am. Nap for 30mins around noon if
youre tired.
Dont Gradually Wake Up Earlier. Youre body gets used to waking up early fast. Dont wake up
15mins earlier every couple of days until you wake up when you want to. Go directly for your goal
wake up time.

2. Set Your Alarm. Use something loud, but not annoying. I use the alarm on my cellular phone (off at
night) because I dont like music, a radio or a buzzer. Use whatever works for you.
Put your alarm out of arm reach so you cant hit the snooze to sleep in. You must have to get out of bed to
stop your alarm.

3. Jump Out of Bed When Your Alarm Goes Off. The longer it takes you to get up, the more likely
youll try to sleep in. And hitting the snooze to lay in your bed longer only makes it harder. Get up the first
time your alarm goes off.
Stop Rationalizing. Dont lay in bed thinking of reasons to sleep longer. Get out of bed even if you
feel tired. You need consistency to build the habit of waking up early. Dont make exceptions.
Stop Snoozing. Sleeping in for 10mins leads to another 10mins. Before you know it
youve slept 2h more. And because you broke your sleep any extras are low quality and
can make you even more tired.
Leave The Room. Have a warm sweater or a bathrobe ready if its cold season. Then leave the
room and dont come back. Ignore the voice in your head that tells you to go back to sleep in.

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4. Get Light Exposure. Light stimulates dopamine production which increases energy, motivation &
productivity. Lack of light causes winter blues & tiredness. Unfortunately home/office lights arent bright
enough. You need sunlight.
Open Window Blinds. This gets you sunlight exposure when you wake up and during the day. If
you work in an office: open the window blinds and place your desk so your eyes get sunlight
exposure.
Walk Outside. A 30 min walk in the morning sunlight will stimulate the production of dopamine.
Do not wear sunglasses: UV is low at sunset. Your eyes will be safe unless you look directly into the
sun.
Use a Sun Box. If your place doesnt have big windows to let sunlight in or if its winter/cloudy or if
you cant get outside in the morning, then use a light box like this one for 30mins after you wake up.

5. Have a Reason To Wake Up Early. Use your extra time in the morning to do things that matter.
Not for surfing the Internet or doing other tasks that wont make a difference in the long-term. Heres
what I recommend:
Eat Breakfast. Key to building healthy eating habits: youll be less likely to eat junk food the rest of
the day if you eat a healthy breakfast. Read the benefits of breakfast and build the habit of eating on
waking up.
Cook Food. Preparing your own meals gives you total control over their ingredients and thus over
your results. Prepare breakfast and your food for the day on waking up. This takes about 1 hour.
Exercise. You wont miss workouts if you train in the morning: whatever comes up, youve already
trained. Wait 1hour before lifting weights. This gives your spine time to dehydrate and lowers risks of
lower back injury.

6. Write Your Goals Daily. Most people dont have goals. And those who set some forget about them
within weeks. By writing down your goals daily, youll never forget them and theyll be your reason for
waking up early.
Set Goals. If you dont know what you want: start with what you dont want. Your goal is the
opposite. Aim high, choose 1 goal and be specific. Example: I dont want to be fat I choose to have
10% body fat.
Know Why You Want It. Avoiding pain/frustration is the best motivator. Compare the pain of
waking up early to staying fat/skinny, experiencing humiliation as a result and dying young because
of your unhealthy diet.
Write Your Goals 2x/Day. On waking up and before going to bed. Use them as affirmations (read
Beyond Positive Thinking): I choose to easily wake up at 6am, I choose to eat breakfast and
exercise each morning.

7. Build a Morning Ritual. This daily routine will get you strong for your day by setting the right
context (read Power of Full Engagement) and is your reason to wake up early. Mix tips 1 to 6 and do them
daily in the same order. Example:
Wake up at 6am. Drink water. Open window blinds & windows.

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Eat breakfast and cook your food for day.

Review your goals and write them down.
Go the gym, come back, eat, shower, get ready for work.

8. Commit For 30 Days. It takes about 30 days to build a new habit. Commit yourself to wake up at the
exact same time for at least 30 days weekends included. Consistency is the only way to build a habit.
Use Willpower. Youll meet lots of internal resistance during the first 10 days. Use willpower to get
through these. It gets easier once you begin experiencing the benefits, which is after about 20 days.
Focus on 1 Habit. Changing many things at once usually leads nowhere. Start with waking up
early, eating breakfast and exercising. Once you do this consistently for +30 days, you can build
another habit.
Be Consistent. Self-discipline isnt something youre born with. You build it. Waking up early will
build self-discipline which youll be able to use to build other habits. It starts here. Dont skip a day.
No matter what.

9. Go To Bed When Youre Sleepy. How much sleep you need depends on your activity levels, sleep
quality, diet, But youll most likely need 8h sleep/night on average. Which means some days 6h, some
days 9h.
Thats why going to bed at the same time each day wont work. Focus on wake up time, not bedtime. Listen
to your body and go to bed when you feel sleepy. Avoid anything that prevents you to feel tiredness. Tips:
Get Downtime Pre-bed. Stop working, internet surfing & watching TV 1h before you go to bed.
Read a book and go to sleep when you cant read without losing concentration. Or do meditations
and breathing exercises. If you think a lot in bed: write it all down so it gets out of your head.
Set Bedtime Deadline. Staying up late makes it hard to wake up early. Youll usually end up
sleeping in and quit. Set a bedtime deadline and go to bed at that time even if youre not tired yet. No
matter what.
Stop Trying to Sleep If You Cant. If it takes you longer than 10mins to fall asleep, youre not
tired enough. Stop trying and keep yourself busy. Read a book or do some meditations. Dont stress
about it.

10. Get Quality Sleep. Deep sleep & REM are quality sleep. Youll wake up more easily, need less sleep
and have more energy if you have uninterrupted, quality sleep. Tips to improve your sleep quality:
Stop Stimulants. Coffee, alcohol & nicotine mess with your sleep. Drink green tea instead of coffee,
water instead of alcohol. Stop smoking.
Avoid Big Meals Pre-bed. Theyll stress your digestive system and lower your sleep quality. Have
a small pre-bed snack. Dont wake up at night to eat: you wont lose muscle, starvation mode is a
myth.
Avoid Drinking Pre-bed. Waking up to go to the toilet interrupts your sleep and lowers its
quality. Stop drinking water 2h prior bedtime.
Avoid Exercise Pre-bed. Exercising less than 3 hours prior bedtime can keep you awake.
Schedule your workout earlier.

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Set Right Conditions. Good mattrass & pillow. Cool, dark & silent room (wear ear plugs & a
sleeping mask if you have to). No electronics.
Check the Power Sleep Program for a definitive guide on how to improve your sleep quality so you feel
more energized & productive while sleeping less.

11. Make Yourself Accountable. If people commit orally or in writing, theyll be more likely to honor
that commitment. Even if motivation is removed after theyve agreed, theyll continue to honor the
agreement. Robert Cialdini, Influence.
This is because you tend to care about other peoples opinion and dont want to be embarassed for failing.
Although I advise to stop caring about what people think, heres where it can be useful.
Tell family or close friends youre going to wake up early for 30 days.
Make a deal that if you dont wake up early each day for 30 days youll do something you dont want
to do (like writing them a 1000$ check).
Report to them daily for 30 days: call, text or email them. And if you skip once, stick to the deal
youve agreed on.
If youre thinking: Id never do that, thats because you know that making this kind of commitment will
force you to follow through. Proof this works.

12. Stop Believing The Myths. I always thought I was an evening person. As a student I woke up past
noon unless it was school. Then I started to wake up earlier to go the gym, but anything before 8AM was
still killing me.
About a year ago I built the habit of waking up at 6AM because I realized that you get more done if you
wake up early. Ive been waking up consistently at 6AM since. And now I see that the whole morning
person thing is a myth.
Theres nothing like a morning or night person. Human bodies can adapt to anything. You just have to
be consistent to get used to waking up early.
Start tomorrow. Dont deviate. Youll become an early riser within 30 days.
Excerpted from How to Wake Up Early: The Definitive Guide
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-wake-up-early-the-definitive-guide/

An Arc90 Laboratory Experiment http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability

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