Google has 65 million suggestions on how to wake up early.
I’m going to save you some time.
It’s simple, really:
- Set a goal for the morning
- Set an alarm
- Get out of bed
- Complete your goal.
But wait, you say — that’s not easy?!
I never said it was easy. I said it was simple.
Here are a few more suggestions that might make it easier.
- Your goal for the morning should be meaningful and personal. It should be something that helps you grow or be happier, and which you will look forward to every night. With that in mind I’d suggest things like writing, exercise, journaling, meditation, or a personal project. But above all, you need to have something to focus on which will make getting up early worthwhile (and ideally it should be the same thing every day.)
- Block 30–60 minutes to work on your goal (or more, if you can).
- Think of your alarm clock as an opportunity clock. What opportunities are you going to miss if you don’t answer that alarm?
- Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends. If you stayed up late, don’t give yourself an excuse to sleep in. At first it will be a bit challenging, but your body will adjust — and you’ll naturally go to sleep earlier.
- Prep your caffeine delivery system the night before. Use the timer feature on your coffee pot, or if you drink tea, set everything out. (Even if your coffee pot doesn’t have a timer, you can still fill up the water and put in the grounds, so that all you have to do is press a button.)
- Unless the thing you are going to do is exercise, do some quick exercises to get your brain booted up. It doesn’t have to be much, just a minute or two. Pushups, pullups, crunches, or jumping jacks will do the trick.
- Get up before everyone else, especially if you have kids. You can’t afford to get distracted.
- Use Pomodoros to keep you focused on your goal.
- Do not read news, or email, or look at any apps on your phone — until you’ve completed your goal.
Also published on Medium.