Become an Early Riser

Becoming an early riser can be difficult if you're used to sleeping in and dislike mornings. But the saying “the early bird gets the worm” has real life merit, as studies show that early risers are more proactive and more likely to succeed.[1] By making adjustments to your morning routine, your sleeping habits, and your daily habits, you can train your body to get used to rising early in the morning and possibly even become a morning person.

Steps

Adjusting Your Sleep Habits

  1. Maintain a regular sleep schedule. Create a sleep schedule where you wake up and go to sleep at the same time everyday, even on weekends or days off. Sleep requirements vary from person to person, but on average, you should be getting between seven to nine hours of sleep to function at your best during your waking hours.[2]
    • Some people think getting just one less hour of sleep won’t affect their daily functioning or that they can make up for lack of sleep on the weekend or a day off. But any changes or shifts to your regular sleep schedule will only have a negative effect on your sleeping habits and lead to oversleeping or being overly tired when you wake up.[3]
    • Keep in mind extra sleep at night cannot cure you of your daytime fatigue. The quantity of sleep you get every night is important, but the quality of your sleep is more important. You may get eight or nine hours of sleep a night but you will not feel well rested if the quality of your sleep was poor.
  2. Shift your wake up time gradually. Rather than set your alarm to one hour earlier and hope that you will avoid the snooze button, shift your wake time in increments over a period of time. This will help your body adjust to a new sleep schedule and ensure that your sleep habits adapt long term to your new wake up time.[4]
    • Start with adjusting your alarm so it is set five minutes earlier than usual. Go to bed five minutes earlier than normal and try to wake up with your alarm. Do this for several days to a week and then push back your wake up time by five more minutes. Try to wake up for several days to a week with the new wake up time. Repeat this process until you reach the wake up time you desire.
  3. Avoid consuming caffeine four to six hours before your bedtime. About half the caffeine you consume at 7 pm is still in your body at 11 pm.[5] A known stimulant, caffeine can be found in coffee, chocolate, soft drinks, non-herbal teas, diet drugs, and some pain relievers. Limit how many cups of coffee you have several hours before bed, or try to eliminate caffeine in your diet all together.[6]
    • Alcohol also prevents deep sleep and REM sleep. It will keep you in the lighter stages of sleep, causing you to possibly wake up easily and have a harder time falling back asleep. Avoid consuming alcohol 1-2 hours before bed to ensure you get a good night’s sleep and don’t oversleep in the morning.[7]
  4. Turn off all electronics and distractions a few hours before bed. Switch off your television, smartphone, iPad, and computer or keep all electronics out of your bedroom completely. The type of light these screens emit can stimulate your brain, suppress the production of melatonin (which helps you sleep), and interfere with your body’s internal clock.[8]
    • Another option is to shut down your computer on a schedule. This will automatically sleep your machine and prevent you from working on your computer too late or too close to your bedtime. There are sleep features on both PCs and Macs that you can activate. As well, if you want your computer to be ready to go in the morning, once you wake up, you can schedule a startup time too.
  5. Set an alarm to remind you it’s time for bed. If you tend to get wrapped up in evening activities or conversations and forget to stick to your sleep schedule, you can set an alarm on your phone or computer to alert you 1 hour or 30 minutes before bedtime.
    • If you prefer to shut down all electronics a few hours before bed, you can use an alarm on your watch or ask someone you live with to remind you of bedtime 1 hour before it’s time.
  6. Do a relaxing activity before bed. This could be a warm bath, reading a good book, or having a quiet conversation with your partner. Doing a restful activity will help to trigger your brain to start relaxing and shutting down.[6]
    • If you find yourself tossing and turning in bed in the dark, don’t lie there and stare up at the ceiling. Instead, do a relaxing activity in bed to calm down and get your mind off your inability to sleep. Doing a restful activity may in fact end up causing you to fall asleep.[9]
  7. Put your clothes out for the next day right before bed. To save you time in the morning and help you feel less stressed when you wake up, spend time the night before coordinating your outfit. Lay out your clothing on a chair in your closet or by your bed so you can wake up in the morning and not waste time trying to figure out what to wear for the day.[10]
  8. Keep your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet. Put up heavy curtains or shades to block the light from windows. Cover any electronic displays, like tvs or computers so the light does not glow in the room. You can also use a sleep mask to cover your eyes to help you sleep.[8]
    • If you have difficulty sleeping due to loud noises outside your window or a loud sleep partner, consider investing in good earplugs, or a noise machine.
  9. Wake up with the sun. You can also set a timer so bright lights come on in your room in the morning at the same time every day. If you are trying to wake up earlier in the morning, adjust your timer so bright lights come on earlier in your room. Sunlight helps your body’s internal clock to reset itself each day. This will also help you avoid oversleeping in the morning, as the sun will cause you to wake up.[6]
    • Sleep experts recommend exposure to an hour of morning sunlight for people who have trouble falling asleep.[6]

Adjusting Your Morning Routine

  1. Avoid hitting the snooze button on your alarm. Though you may be tempted to sleep for just five more minutes in the morning for some extra sleep, hitting the “snooze” button on your alarm will in fact make you more tired. When you hit snooze, your brain goes even deeper into your sleep cycle. By the time you hit “snooze” several more times, and finally wake up, you will feel groggy and even more tired than if you got up with your alarm.[11]
    • If possible, get an alarm without a snooze button. Or disable the snooze option on your existing alarm.
  2. Make your morning routine positive and consistent. Stretch and get up, open the curtains of your room and let the morning light in. Treat the morning like a positive experience and commit to looking forward to your day.[11]
    • You may also start a routine of getting dressed and eating breakfast within a certain time. As you get ready, plan out your schedule and your tasks or commitments for the day.
  3. Try waking up without your alarm. If you stick to a consistent sleep schedule and maintaining a regular sleeping pattern, you likely will be able to get up on your own at an earlier time, without an alarm.[11]
    • Going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every night will program your body to get used to a regular sleep schedule. Over time, your body will act as its own alarm clock, and you should be able to wake up on your own at the same time, every day.

Adjusting Your Daily Habits

  1. Don’t nap after 3 pm. The best time for a nap is usually mid afternoon, before 3 pm. This is the time of day you will likely experience afternoon sleepiness or a lower level of alertness. Naps taken before 3 pm should not interfere with your nighttime sleep.[12]
    • Keep your naps short, between 10 to 30 minutes. This will prevent sleep inertia, which is when you feel groggy and disoriented after a nap that goes on for longer than 30 minutes.[13] This will also prevent you from oversleeping the following morning, as naps under 30 minutes should not interfere with your sleep schedule.
  2. Use sleeping pills only when necessary. When you take sleeping pills for a brief period of time, and based on your doctor’s recommendations, they can help you fall asleep. But they are just a temporary solution. In fact, sleeping pills can often make insomnia and other sleep issues worse in the long term.[8]
    • Use sleeping pills and medications sparingly for short term situations, like traveling across several time zones or when recovering from a medical procedure.
    • Using sleeping pills only when necessary, rather than on a daily basis, will also prevent you from being dependent on them to help you sleep every night.
  3. Be aware of over-the-counter medications that can lead to insomnia and sleep issues. Many of the side effects of these drugs can have adverse effects on your sleep patterns and daytime alertness. Common medications that can disturb your sleep include:[7]
    • Nasal decongestants.
    • Aspirin and other headache medications.
    • Pain relievers that contain caffeine.
    • Cold and allergy medications containing an antihistamine.
    • If you are taking any of these medications, try to reduce your dosage. Or research alternative methods to treat these issues so you can stop taking these over-the-counter medications.
  4. Start a sleep journal. A sleep journal or diary can be a useful tool to help you identify any habits that may be keeping you awake at night and causing you to sleep in. You may also be able to also pinpoint if you are displaying symptoms of a sleep disorder. Update your sleep journal with notes on:[8]
    • What time you went to bed and woke up.
    • The total sleep hours and quality of your sleep.
    • The amount of time you spent awake and what you did. For example: “stayed in bed with eyes closed” “counted sheep” “read a book”.
    • The food and liquids you consumed before bed and the amount of food and liquids you consumed.
    • Your feelings and moods before bed, such as “happy” “stressed” “anxious”.
    • How long it took you to get up the morning, and how often you hit the “snooze” button on your alarm.
    • Any drugs or medication you took, such as sleeping pills, including the dose and time of consumption.
    • Notice any triggers that start to repeat themselves in your sleep journal and see if there are ways you can prevent or limit these triggers. For example, maybe you often get a bad night’s sleep on a Friday after drinking two beers, or you tend to sleep in after watching tv past midnight. Try not to drink at all the following Friday or skip your late night television routine and see if this improves your sleep.



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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://hbr.org/2010/07/defend-your-research-the-early-bird-really-does-get-the-worm
  2. ↑ http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/sleep/healthy_sleep.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.helpguide.org/articles/sleep/how-much-sleep-do-you-need.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/how-your-body-clock-affects-your-sleep.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.sleepeducation.org/news/2013/08/01/sleep-and-caffeine
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm#Tips
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://sleepcenter.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=61
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 http://www.helpguide.org/articles/sleep/sleep-disorders-and-sleeping-problems.htm
  9. ↑ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/summer12/articles/summer12pg20.html
  10. ↑ http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/sleep-drive-and-your-body-clock/page/0/1
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 http://www.levo.com/articles/lifestyle/how-to-prevent-oversleeping
  12. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/napping/art-20048319?pg=2
  13. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/napping/art-20048319?pg=1
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