Becoming an early riser questions.

[EnduranceNinja]

I am at day seven of becoming an early riser. well today I cracked. I slept in till about 9. But you know I napped yeaterday for two hours and still went to bed at a normal time 1030. My body was just shot. Going to bed last night I felt the morning might be tough. I think the motivation is gone and now comes the true test of trying to become an early riser. So any advice to get over the hump. And allergies have been affecting me lately making sleep and getting up harder like today. Should I take an allergy pill before bed maybe? Hopefully allergy season will be over soon too.

Well I gotta get ready for work thanks for your time

[skinnyninja]

I can remember reading Steve's post about it a while back and I remember one of the key points he made was that you have to make it non negotiable. Get it in your head that when that alarm goes off, you HAVE to get up. It's not even up for discussion. Out of bed, now!

I work first shift occasionally and I'm not very used to it, so I have to use the two alarm clock method. I have a REALLY LOUD alarm clock that is set on the other side of the room....forces me to get up, whether I want to or not. If you don't have one, go to Walmart or where ever and get an alarm clock that says "Extra Loud" on it. Trust me, they make them.

Just my suggestions.

[Nahush]

Hello Friends!

I had successfully practiced getting up early at 5 am every day - EVERY DAY I said, right since 8th April 2006 till somewhere in the midst of December 2006, since when due to sickness I had given up the project. But let me tell you that during the period I practiced it, life was just wonderful.

Let me give you a few suggestions.

• The first thing you do on getting up on hearing your alarm is to immediately get out of bed and come out of the room. DO NOT STAY IN THE BEDROOM. If possible go to terrace. Look at the morning dark sky, the stars, the horizon.

• Be there at least for five minutes. Breath in the fresh morning air and feel great.

• If you commit default, then continue getting up at 5 am from the next day. Dont feel guilty for the default.

Let me tell you friend, the period during which I practiced this was wonderful in all respects. I could manage my workday well. I could get fresh morning air full of pure oxygen. I feel I also improved my eyesight. Moreover I felt great for being able to follow a commitment and I used to be on a psychological high. I felt successful.

This simple act of making this post has motivated me to do it once agian. I will do all that again.

Nahush

[Gyanish Gungaram]

At what time do you go to bed Nahush? For how long do you sleep?

[Nahush]

Gyanish asked:

At what time do you go to bed Nahush ?

And that's a very pertinent question.

Well, when I was on the program (of getting up early at 5 am), I used to go to bed somewhere between 10 to 10.30 pm., in order to enable me to have 7 hours' sound sleep.

But even here I observed one thing. When I used to avoid even the slighest overeating (I mean! stopping eating the moment I felt full), then I could manage to sleep less and still keep my commitment.

Nahush

[EnduranceNinja]

I gotta say today eventhough I slept in I was still tired all day. Do you think maybe my body was in shut down mode. But I am not gonna let one day mess things up I plan to get up at 6am tomorrow. Yes, 6am I currently have no plans for 5am 6 works well. Maybe in the future 5 am. One more thing would it be wrong to once in a while sleep in? Maybe once a month. Wife suggested once a week I give myself a break and sleep in.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by EnduranceNinja

I gotta say today eventhough I slept in I was still tired all day. Do you think maybe my body was in shut down mode.

I find that I'm most apt to feel tired when I sleep in. I feel most awake during the day when I limit my night sleep to 3-5 hours, getting up as soon as I awaken, and need only to lay down for a few minutes at some point during the day. If I sleep 7 hours or more (as I did last night), I'll be inclined to sleep even more throughout the day, which is fine as I have a bit of free time and sleeping is fun

[EnduranceNinja]

Well I woke up a few minutes till my alarm. despite that set back yesterday I feel great this morning. I have only been up for an hour but I don't feel sleepy-drunk like. Now I need to get into a routine to do some productive stuff. When I first started to get up I just wondered in zombie modefor a few hours then did work.

[Kaspian]

Congrats on the success! It feels good, doesn't it!

[realignedliving]

I'll throw in my two cents, just a little bit late.

Get it in your head that when that alarm goes off, you HAVE to get up. It's not even up for discussion. Out of bed, now!

I found this to be the most useful tip when I was becoming an early riser. Once that alarm went off, I immediately got out of bed. No second questions; it's now purely a reflex.

[Livgivare]

One tiny question, is an early riser allowed to get up somewere arround 6-7 in the morning? I would guess that my future jobs would start anywere between 8 and 10 and would like to not get up too early (like before 5).

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Livgivare

One tiny question, is an early riser allowed to get up somewere arround 6-7 in the morning?

Why not? This is something you're doing for yourself, so it's your choice when you get up. What time is best varies by the person and his/her individual circumstances.

[Livgivare]

One more question, if you would like to help your mind and body to get tired, so you really get better at being an early riser. What can you do to get yourself more tired on those few times you really are totally awake? Like in the beginning of getting to be an early riser...

Love Leelene

[Kaspian]

You could try a "going to bed" routine: Check that the doors are locked, put on pajamas, brush your teeth, and lay down with a book that puts you to sleep, for instance. Repeating the same pattern from night to night will cue your body that starting the "going to bed" routine means it will be time to fall asleep soon.

[Xin]

Sleep with your Goals

I started writing here, but decided to post an answer to this thread on a separate one, since I thought it could interest more persons. It's really simple, I know. But it did wonders for me. =]

Nahush, weirdly enough, I also feel my eyesight a little bit more 'clear' since I started waking up earlier! I wonder why does this happen...

[EnduranceNinja]

I am still getting up early. A few times due to work I could not. I was at work a few days after 11pm. I don't let it bother me. This is reality and things come up. As long as I keep at it I am gonna do it. even after two days not getting up as early as I wanted I did get up a 620am. My wife is working earlier so maybe since she will be up at 5am I might join her. well see

[tomjen]

I use my cellpone as an alarmclock. I place it 2 meters away from my bed on my route to the bathroom (the first thing I do every morning).

Then when I disable the cellphone, I am more than halfway (studio apartment) to the bathroom - so why not go there? When I am done, I am fully awake so I dont have a problem with not going back to bed.

On the other hand, if I have my alarmclock next to my bed I will wake up, stop it and then wait half an hour before I get out of bed - or more if I am not going anywhere.

[Razo]

I've been an early riser for about five years now and I can definitely that a key factor in its success has been motivation. Think about why you want to become an early riser.

When I started (I was 15), I found it easy because I had such an immense desire to achieve more each day, it was so important to me to do this that I couldn't possibly see how I'd ever want to sleep when there was so much I wanted to do, and I still feel the same, in fact, if possible I wouldn't even sleep at all!

Like many have suggested, i place the alarm away from the bed so I HAVE to get up to close the door, and then I have a morning routine that gets me into fast action straight away. for example, right now within an hour of waking (which is from 5 - 6) I have to clean my room, exercise, shower, groom, breakfast. In order to acheive all these things I have to be quick, which gets me awake! a good side effect of these actions (which are of big priority) is that 1. you'll have to do them eventually anyway, so you may aswell do them straight away, and 2. these actions (like cleaning your room, which means making your bed, having breakfast, and getting changed into your day clothes) are actions that keep you from going back to bed so you'll have no excuse to go back in!

but it all comes down to how important your goals are to you, and how disciplined you are in achieving them.

[EnduranceNinja]

Well on average I have only slept in till 730 in the last week and a half. thanks to my job making me work 5am I have been doing good. I use to work the occassional 5 am but then nap for three hours when I got home. But so far so good. I have taken a few naps but it has not been as long or ruined my sleep time. I might work on getting up at 5am instead of 6. Oh yeah after a the first week i seem to be more awake when I get up and able to do more. The first week I would get up early but feel too tired to do anything but drink coffee and watch tv. Thanks for the help everyone I am glad i found this place.

[Livgivare]

My strongest motivation to get at least a regular sleep (even if 8 am is a bit late for some but not for me as a starter) is to get a regular stomach and secondly is to get energy left during the day so I can manage more things.

I even think that the irregular and late rising that I had before made me allergic to lactose and made me have immence stomach pain. I still think I am allergic, since you can't change that. But at least my stomach is stabilisized allready because I feel hunger when I shall feel hunder during the day and my morning toilette routine is getting a good start. And this only a few days into the routine.

Guess that can help some who have a struggle at the idea of rising up early and/or getting more regullary day rythm.

Love Leelene

[HumbleDee]

My daily routine is sleeping at 12:30 AM and waking up at about 6:15 AM (I don't even use alarm clock I always wake up at this time). If I get out of bed when I woke up, I don't get sleepy during the day. If I stay in bed say till 7:30 or 8 AM. The day can be tough. So my main point is get out of the bed as soon as you wake up. Its a good habit.