How to wake up early every day
Day 64 / 365
Last year around October I had this realization that my life had shifted to an autopilot mode. I used to wake up at around 10 AM, leave for work by 11 AM and get back by 9 PM. After that, I usually wasted time on the internet and went to sleep at around 2. I knew I had to do something to change this, and the first obvious thing that came to mind was to start getting up early.
Since then, barring some exceptions and weekends, I have gotten up by 5:30 AM each morning. This gives me a few extra hours every morning to exercise, meditate, and read. I almost never miss breakfast now. Overall if your morning is productive, it just sets the tone for the rest of your day.
But I agree that not everyone is a morning person. And waking up early can be hard. I came across this post on Reddit which helped me a lot.
Some of the tips which I applied are -
No tea/coffee after 4 PM
Caffeine has a half-life of about 5–6 hours. So If you have some around 6 PM you would be struggling to go to sleep before midnight.
Make your bed a sacred space
Lose the habit of eating, watching youtube or working on your bed. Keep your bed just for sleeping.
Cut down on Screen time before sleeping
The more time you spend on your laptop or your phone at night, the tougher it will be for you to get to sleep. Instead of watching videos, you can read a book before you go to bed.
The same goes for when you wake up as well. Don’t quickly reach out for your phone as soon as you wake up.
This story is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here
Yesterday’s blog — Susanna M. Salter, America’s first female mayor