Tips On How To Wake Up Earlier

Before the pandemic, I used to wake up at 4am. I was very much deeply entangled in the 'Hustle Culture' (Which drove me crazy, but this is a story for another day). But because of the depressive state of being in a pandemic and a competition which required me to stay up late, my sleep schedule has gone into disarray and  I have turned into a perpetually yawning sloth. It made me feel horrible and great at the same time. Being sleepy must be one of the greatest pleasure in life. It's equivalent to being drunk to me. I'd confess to crimes I didn't do when I'm sleepy. 

Anyways, I still like mornings better. Sleeping in makes me feel irresponsible and days seem ridiculously shorter. I don't want to waste my youth on sleeping, I get to do that when I die. And of course, sleeping and waking up earlier is essential to be in the pink of health. I'm happy to say that I'm back to a sleep pattern that I like. I've gotten this idea to write this because my friend revealed to me how she's been sleeping at 8am and waking up at 3pm and I understand how hard it is to struggle with messed up sleep schedules and insomnia.

There are no one certain way to repair your sleep schedule. I have failed many times, promising myself over and over again that I will finally stop snoozing the next day, but to fail again when the bed refused to let me go in the morning. The key is to never stop trying. Still set your alarm, still promise yourself you'll do it, and one day, you'll get so sick and tired of your own lies that you'll finally accomplish it. 

So here are the few effective ways that you could try:

1)I know the first main problem is you cannot sleep earlier. Asking you to go to bed at 10pm means 5 hours of tossing and turning on the bed, getting even more restless than rested. I get it, forcing yourself to fall asleep is like forcing yourself to fall in love, what's supposed to be blissful turns exhausting. To solve this, pull an all nighter on one night and trudge through the whole day like the strong person you are, and sleeping early should be easy that night. Make sure you get back some of the sleep you lost. For example, you can sleep at 9pm, wake up at 6am, which means you'll get 9 hours of sleep. And in the subsequent days, try to have naps, but please make sure they don't last for more than 2 hours, if not you'll mess up your sleep schedule even more.

2) The second main problem that I face is lack of motivation. I agree that it's so hard to leave your bed in the morning, especially now that we have no dine-out breakfast to look forward to or morning gym workout sessions, the days blurring together on a monotonous tone. But here's how to get motivation:

a)Plan your day or set a goal before going to bed. Think about what you're going to do the next day and write a to-do list. If there's nothing exciting on that day, add something to spike up the day, which makes you recall back that date easily. For example, if it's a working day and you only have the night free for other activities, maybe plan a video call with your friends that you don't often talk to or try out a new recipe. Another things is, prepare your outfit for the day the night before so that when you see that pile of clothes in the morning, you'll be reminded of the promise you've made to yourself.

b)Use psychology. Tell yourself that it's going to be a good day. Say it out loud. When you're comtemplating in bed whether to hit the snooze after the alarm went off or about to fling the alarm across the room, tell yourself you don't want to miss out the day because it's going to be a good day. Believe me, it works. 

c)Have a friend or your boyfriend/girlfriend to go on this journey with you. Make a plan together and make sure each other wake up at the time you want. Text each other to make sure the other is up, and hold each other accountable. It's easier to go through hardships with someone than alone. But if you're a 'I fight alone' kind of person like me, just make it a goal to wish someone good morning everyday. Sometimes you don't want to get up because everything feels too much to do as soon as you wake up, so a simple thing like sending a text seems doable, and unknowingly, the blue light from your phone and the act of typing would have woken up your brain. 

d)Download Alarmy. Beware, it's effective, but it's pure torture. This app provides certain activities which you can choose to do when the alarm goes off. The alarm will not stop ringing unless you finish the task. I used it before and the task I chose was to complete 20 difficult maths questions and if I took too long, the alarm would start blaring like a siren. I figure it's easier to just wake up by sheer will than brain torture. But you can try.

e)When the alarm goes off, count to 5. Don't think about the reasons why you should or should not get up. Don't try to persuade yourself to have another five minutes. Don't even entertain the idea of sleeping in. Say "fuck you" to that voice and drown it out by counting to 5. "1,2,3,4,5", throw that blanket off, punch the pillow and get up. 

f)Construct and built Mr Bean's elaborate alarm or rear a rooster. 

3)After you've gotten up from bed, what now? You still can't open your eyes, the bed is still warm and seductive, the urge to slump back down is tugging your soul, what now? On the lights, get into a cold shower. Sounds terrible, but yelling and cursing, jumping around under the cold shower definitely will wake you up. I don't do cold shower for health benefits, I do it because it's hard and it callouses the mind (I still retain some old habits from hustle culture)

I hope it helps! Or if you're a friend or family, I'll be happy to give you a call and swear till you wake up.

I love sleeping. It's feels so good to snuggle under a mountain of blankets, drifting into illogical dreams. But people tend to forget that you can still have 7 hours of sleep despite waking up early if you're willing to give up your unpaid and health-deteriorating job as the night watcher and catch the sunrise instead. 

Remember, it's never too late to be better, and to live happier. You might not be consistent, it may take many tries, and it's going to be hard. But if you want to do this, never stop trying. "A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying"-Nelson Mandela, original by Robert Louis Stevenson.

(Tortoise)