Waking up early is an ultimate lifehack to create time for what matters most

"The early morning has gold in its mouth." — Benjamin Franklin

Habits

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Tip #29: Put Yourself Under Time Pressure

“Zeitnot” is a German term commonly used in chess to describe severe time pressure or “time trouble”, where a player has only a few seconds or minutes remaining to complete their required moves. In zeitnot, your body and your mind draw on immense internal energy to get through it.

Tip #28: Get a Mentor

This is another “universal” tip that can help you in many situations when you need to learn a new skill or get a new habit, and it may come in handy if you want to learn how to wake up early.

Tip #27: Do Not Go To Bed If You Do Not Feel Sleepy

Okay, this one may sound a little too obvious, but hear me out…

Tip #26: Ask Someone Who Wakes Up Early To Wake You Up

If you are lucky to have friends or relatives who wake up earlier – ask them to wake you up.

Tip #25: Start Slow But Start Now

Some people can’t decide to change a habit because they put too big and too challenging a goal ahead of them. Somehow no one expects to learn a foreign language in one session, yet most people think they should change their wake up time once and forever.

Tip #24: Outrun Your Thoughts

One of the primary reasons why most people fail to wake up early in the morning is that once they wake up and turn off the alarm clock, they talk themselves into going back to bed again.

Tip #23: Avoid Sleeping Pills Unless Prescribed by a Doctor

Unfortunately, when looking for ways to improve the quality of sleep and solve sleeping problems, many people immediately turn to sleeping pills and other medications, without even consulting a doctor.

Tip #22: Set Your Alarm for Bedtime

This smart simple tip was found in the list of 52 Proven Stress Reducers. It is a widely recognized list of practical, evidence-based strategies to manage and reduce stress and anxiety. Originally compiled by the National Headache Foundation and adapted by organizations like Texas Woman’s University Counseling Center and the American Cancer Fund, these tips focus on environmental, behavioral, and mindset shifts.

Tip #17: No Snooze Ever!

This advice on how to get up early comes from Ralph Jean-Paul as found on his Potential2Success blog.

Tip #14: Put Your Alarm Clock Far From Your Bed

It’s simple advice yet many people don’t use it. They keep turning the alarm off while being semi-asleep and then wonder how come they couldn’t wake up and missed an alarm…

Tip #12: Create a Morning Ritual

After using Tip #8 - Have Important Things Planned For The Morning I’ve come up with a few interesting findings. The primary one was that you will not have enough exciting things to do for every morning in your life.

Tip #11: Practice Waking Up

I am a big fan of Steve Pavlina and his blog Personal Development for Smart People. It’s one of the key things that pushed me towards the area of personal development back in 2005, and I have never regretted it. In his article How to Get Up Right Away When Your Alarm Goes Off, Steve offers a very original wake up technique I’ve never seen before, yet it’s quite simple.

Tip #10: Give a Promise

Give a promise to someone that you will start waking up earlier. This works best with family members, close friends, or anyone whose opinion matters to you. Once a promise is given, it should be kept. Otherwise, you risk losing respect in the eyes of those people—and in your own eyes as well.

Tip #7: Create a Reward System for Yourself

An excellent waking-up technique that works very well not only for waking up, but also whenever you want to do something you don’t like or keep procrastinating on, is promising yourself a reward. This tip can often be seen in various self-improvement materials, and it really does wonders.

Tip #3: It Takes 3 Weeks to Form a Habit

Some sources say it takes 21 days to form a habit, some say it’s 24 days, and some say it’s 30. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you do not need to commit yourself to waking up early every day until the end of your life. Just commit to waking up early for … 3 weeks. That’s all. And if you need extra motivation, create a reward for yourself at the end of those 3 weeks. Yes, building a habit takes some time, but 3 weeks will definitely be enough to build a basic early waking habit.

Tip #2: Go to Bed and Get Up at the Same Time Every Day

It’s a good habit that you must acquire – not just to help you wake up early easier, but also to fall asleep faster. This pairs well with going to bed early.

Tip #1: To Wake Up Early, Go to Bed Early

As simple as it seems, this tip can be hard to stick to, which is why we put it as number one. Having enough sleep is important not only for waking up early, but also for feeling energized, productive and focused the next day. It may easily be the best technique to solve your waking up problems.