When waking up early is hard to do and you can’t seem to shake the sluggishness, it’s time to find ways to banish that morning fatigue once and for all. These easy tips can help teach you how to wake up early without feeling tired.
A Guide To Waking Up Early in the Morning
Waking up early has never been my favorite thing. Before I became a mom, I enjoyed lazy weekends sleeping in until 10 am. But getting up during the week at even 7 or 8 am was really difficult.
Then I became a mom and all that changed. All of a sudden I had a new job that required me to wake up at 4:30 am AND get a kid ready to go on top of that.
Keep Reading: How To Get Your Kids Ready For School On Time Without a Fight.
With enough coffee, I could get through my day. But waking up early and getting out of bed seemed to be the difficult part. I was desperate to find a way to get out of bed without feeling extremely sluggish and miserable.
Finding a way to wake up early without feeling tired was actually easier than I thought. With a few changes to my nightly and morning routine, I can easily hop out of bed at 4:30 am and function just fine… without coffee!
This article will help you find ways to wake up early without being super tired, and get you started towards a more productive day.
Why You Need to Wake Up Early
Learning how to wake up early wasn’t just about getting to work on time. It was a lifestyle change that became necessary for my mental health and made me a better parent.
Waking up before your kids is the key to better parenting and being a more patient parent. When I learned how to wake up just 30 minutes before my daughter, my entire day was better.
Those 30 minutes let me enjoy a cup of coffee, check my email, watch the news, and just take a few deep, relaxing breaths before I started my day.
A morning routine will make you more relaxed and productive for the rest of the day. When you wake up refreshed and ready to go, your entire day will run smoother.
Now doesn’t that sound better than hitting snooze a hundred times and drinking several cups of coffee just to get out the door?
Keep Reading: 14 Sunday Habits For a More Productive Week
Get Ready the Night Before:
No screens an hour before bed. It’s the same thing we tell our kids. Too much screen time before bed can cause a disrupted sleep cycle. Meaning… you will be extra tired when you wake up because you never got the proper sleep to begin with.
So put the phone and tablets down and turn the TV off. Try going for a walk or cleaning up around the house a bit. Do a facemask or some stretches. This is also a great time to practice self-care.
Get quality sleep. 7 – 8 hours a night is ideal but that can seem laughable to all the parents out there. Ideally, if you can get that much sleep (or anywhere near it) all the better to wake up early without feeling tired.
If that’s just not possible to do, then try to get as much as you can. And try to get the best sleep you can even it’s for a limited amount of time.
Here’s some tips on how to do that…
Go to bed at the same time every night. If you go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning, your body will automatically get used to it. So make an effort to go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day.
Read a book. Did you know that reading books for just 6 minutes can reduce stress and induce sleepiness? I can literally go to bed without feeling tired and start to read my book and feel sleepy and tired within 10 minutes.
Putting my phone away and reading in bed has become a MUST for my bedtime routine and has helped me fall asleep faster and sleep deeper.
Prepare for the next day. On days when I need to go to work, I bring a certain amount of items with me. A water bottle, my lunch, a cup of coffee in a to-go mug, my book, a sweater, etc. It doesn’t seem like a lot but in the mornings when I’m really tired, it can seem overwhelming to find it all and get it together.
If I prepare the night before so my mug is at the coffee station, my lunch is made, and my sweater and water bottle (and car keys!) are in my work bag, then I have less stress and anxiety in the morning.
How To Wake Up Early in the Morning
Work with your alarm
If you tend to hit snooze more than once, then try some of these suggestions.
- Put your alarm across the room. If your alarm is far enough away, you’ll have to physically get up to turn it off. And once you’re out of bed, you’re up.
- Get a wake-up app. There are several apps that you can install on your phone that will wake you up slowly. They start really low and slowly intensify to wake you up more peacefully and not with a sudden jolt.
- Set an alarm for an hour and a half before you normally wake up. This trick sounds a little odd but research shows that you can get a full REM sleep cycle in 90 minutes. So by doing this, you essentially give yourself 2 full nights of sleep before you wake up in the morning.
Drink Water
Did you know that dehydration triggers sleepiness and mood disruptions among other things? When you wake up, drink a full 8 oz of water right away. It will increase your metabolism and get you started on your day.
Take Some Deep Breaths
When you sleep, your breathing comes shallow and slow and you take in less oxygen. So when you wake up, your body has less than the oxygen required to have the energy you need.
Even before you get out of bed, take several DEEP breaths in and out. Breathe slowly and deeply in your nose and out your mouth (smell the flowers, blow them away). By giving your body some much needed extra oxygen first thing in the morning, you’ll slowly wake yourself up before even getting out of bed.
Stretch Your Body
Give yourself some really good stretches in bed if you can’t get up at all. Stretching releases enzymes that helps circulation and wakens up your muscles.
Once you get out of bed, you’ll benefit a lot from some more stretches and even yoga poses if you can manage them. The best thing about yoga is that you can do just a few poses for a few minutes right on the floor next to you bed.
Wash Your Face
I typically wash my face every morning to have healthy-looking skin. But there’s also just something about splashing cold water on my face that helps wake me up too.
Washing your face with cold (or cool) water helps stimulate blood flow and gives you a cool and refreshing feeling. Even if you don’t care about your skin, definitely wash your face as soon as you wake up.
Eat Breakfast
I know you’ve heard this before but I feel like it needs repeating. EAT BREAKFAST! And I don’t just mean a cup of coffee. Or a donut. Try to have something with protein and fiber and not a lot of sugar.
Wake Up Early and Be More Refreshed and Energized
Waking up early is never easy to do. Or enjoyable. But it can be done without feeling miserable each and every day you need to do it.
For extra motivation, check out the book The Miracle Morning. It’s a great
You Might Also Be Interested In:
- 14 Sunday Habits For a More Productive Week
- This is What REAL Self-Care Looks Like
- How To Use Time Block Scheduling To Get Stuff Done
- 20 Easy Ways To Practise Self-Care That Take Less Than 20 Minutes
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