How About Some Help!?
Posted by: Tom
I thought I would compile a few links (I'll add more in later posts as I find them) of blog posts/articles on waking up early. I figured I should start with Steve Pavlina's site, I visit his site often, and I'm using some of his tips to great success!
First, How To Wake Up Feeling Totally Alert
Summary of tips ...
- Decide your going to be excited when you wake up. This one was a mental breakthrough for me. I used to decide that I would "try" to get up early, but was never excited about it. No wonder I continually failed. Not only has it been easier to get up, but I'm excited about all that I can get done with the extra hours of total quiet in the morning.
- Fix your diet. I mentioned before about eating smaller meals at dinner, that has helped a ton. So has cutting way back on sugar and carbonation.
- Exercise daily. I do this first thing in the morning. I don't think this is helping me get up at this point, but it keeps me up by getting my body going quickly.
- Get up at the same time, including weekends. This seems important the same way tip #1 does. If I tell myself that I'll take a break on weekends, then weekdays seem like a chore ... not so.
- Go to bed only when you're sleepy. I love this one, as I'm often not sleepy right now until about 11pm, some more quiet time and opportunity to get some extra work done!
- Develop a pleasant morning routine. I wouldn't say my mornings are pleasant, yet. I work out, which is nice, and then usually jump right into work. Work is such right now that I don't have much choice, but hopefully someday I can take some time for "pleasantness".
Second, How to Become an Early Riser
This post starts with a quote from Aristotle, "It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom." Hey! I could use some of all of that!
The basic idea in this post is that you must establish a consistent "up" time in the morning and then let your body tell you when to go to bed at night. You eventually settle into a pattern that is natural and easy to keep.
Next, How to Get Up Right Away When Your Alarm Goes Off
This post is basically about a trick that Steve used to get started waking up successfully to an alarm clock. I've never tried this whole thing, but it might work for those really struggling.
Also, if you don't like his tips on getting up early, you could try Sleeping Polyphasically:)