Early birds: what has been your breakthrough technique to CONSISTENTLY wake up early?

[Mondsee]

I've tried and failed many times to consistently wake up at 6am. Some times I succeed for a few days in a row, and then something comes in the way, and it isn't always insufficient amount of sleep. Some days I go back to sleep after putting my alarm off, some days I wake up and stay in bed for longer than I had intended distracting myself with my phone or whatever, reasons and circumstances vary, but at the end of the day, I fail to be consistent.

I feel like this is one of the main hurdles that is currently keeping me from succeeding at other goals I have, to those who have reliably conquered the early mornings: how did you do it?

[max duewel]

the understanding that very, very, very little is worth compromising on good sleep. It happened over years to have that realization and I had to quit a lot of negative habits I was still attached to that were influencing my sleep schedule. Also, you need a compelling purpose that makes it worthwhile to sacrifice other things. Sleep will be the foundation of your life, for your mental, spiritual, and physical health. Without proper sleep everything else crumbles

[Salvijus]

I think if you make your mind satvic, you will naturally wake up early and go to sleep appropriately. 

Addictions and overstimulated mind (like gaming and TV shows for example) I believe are your number 1 obstacle in this direction. 

Edited March 19 by Salvijus

[ExplorerMystic]

@MondseeIf you have job which require you wake up early . you will do it . If you have passion for something for example "Running early in the morning" . you will wake up early. But for how many days that passion will drive you to wake up early that's the question mark.

The only thing which work here is creating "Discipline" around it.

[Mondsee]

@ExplorerMystic My job is very demanding, but very flexible with working times, which makes it extra problematic, since I will often start late, and end late.

Practically speaking, how did you go about creating "discipline" for yourself?

Edited March 19 by Mondsee

[ExplorerMystic]

44 minutes ago, Mondsee said:

@ExplorerMystic My job is very demanding, but very flexible with working times, which makes it extra problematic, since I will often start late, and end late.

Practically speaking, ho did you go about creating "discipline" for yourself?

Yes, a Job sometimes becomes a hindrance to our creative endeavors if it is demanding.
Let's not ask how to create “discipline”. For example “waking up early”? but why do we want to create “Discipline” around “Waking Up early”? Let's go point-wise.

- Example 1: You are working on producing music (take any example) in your spare time & publishing it on social media. And it is such a passionate project that you want to utilize every second of your free time dedicated to it. This itself will make you utilize your time in a day very efficiently.
 
- Example 2: You were very athletic in your college days and now for the last few years you have been working in a job which soul-sucking and your health has gone for a toss. Now one day you have decided that enough is enough. I will wake up early and go for a 5-mile run/walk every day + change my diet + look for other opportunities in the job market. Here we are in the planning phase with Motivation peeping in with passion to achieve something.
 
In summary :
-   Motivation acts as a starting point ->
- Then comes passion: How much passion you have around it. ->
-  Now comes “Why do it?” / In other words, what is the “Vision” around this endeavor? / Why do I want this change?
-   And lastly the discipline. To keep doing it continuously.

To make it shorter & more precise. Burning desire with conviction which does not let you sleep will make you start something that “Discipline” will carry forward.

One of the books that came to mind is “Can't Hurt Me” by David Goggins.
 
Lastly, This is not a holy grail. But it worked for this person.

[QVx]

14 hours ago, Mondsee said:

@ExplorerMystic My job is very demanding, but very flexible with working times, which makes it extra problematic, since I will often start late, and end late.

Practically speaking, how did you go about creating "discipline" for yourself?

Sounds like you’re trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. If your job causes you to be flexible with your sleeping pattern then just go with that flow. You’re trying to force something to happen on the ideal that waking up early is good for you.

Focus on getting high quality sleep; a minimum of 8 hours where you feel refreshed when you wake up. There is lots of resource on sleep hygiene across this site and the internet.

Once you are awake, I would highly recommend some form of exercise which increases your heart rate for a period of 30-60 minutes. I personally do weight lifting and running, as I really enjoy those things; however you can of course do anything, the trick is finding what you enjoy

[Mondsee]

@ExplorerMystic Thank you for your reply & book recommendation - I'll check it out!

@QVx My job is not what is causing me to have lack of consistency in my sleeping pattern. I am supposed to work Monday to Friday full time, ideally this would happen from 9am to 5pm, but nobody is micro-managing me, and nobody cares at what time I decide to work as long as the work gets done, which means that if I start working at 11am, I will be done around 7pm, with no time left for much more than commuting back home, cooking, having dinner, and going back to sleep. If I woke up early and started early, then I would have much more time left during the afternoon to do things that I like. I would like to do that consistently, and not sporadically as I do now.

[Hojo]

The way I do is instantly get out of bed the second im awake without even questioning it. Im up before my brain even turns on.

[Rigel]

Coffee. But it’s not what you think.

I just love the taste of great coffee so much. I am wide awake before I even had it, in anticipation of having it. I wake up, drink a huge glass of water, stretch my body & get the blood moving. By that point I am wide awake. I then make the coffee as a ritual & practice in mindfulness. I grind it fresh & shiver from the aroma. After that I poor water on it and literally stand there watching it drain for three minutes. Let it cool down a bit so that my first sip is a taste of the divine(you can’t taste well when it’s too hot).

It’s so rewarding to me. I go to sleep, listening to ocean sounds & I can’t wait to wake up to savour it again.

[BipolarGrowth]

On 3/19/2024 at 2:00 PM, ExplorerMystic said:

@MondseeIf you have job which require you wake up early . you will do it . If you have passion for something for example "Running early in the morning" . you will wake up early. But for how many days that passion will drive you to wake up early that's the question mark.

The only thing which work here is creating "Discipline" around it.

This is what worked for me. I used to identify as a “night owl” staying up until 4 to 5 am every night when I worked as a closing restaurant manager. Just woke up at 6 am to start getting ready for work. Having a fiancée who makes you breakfast in bed every day helps, but you might have to “bring home all the bacon” to get that deal lol

 

This video game character wisely brings up one of my favorite perks to waking up early.  

Edited March 21 by BipolarGrowth

[Mondsee]

@Hojo And do you manage to do so consistently? because sometimes I manage to wake up immediately like you describe as well, but I fail in the long term.

@Rigel Thank you, I'm not really into coffee, but I may be able to find something equivalent that I really look forward to (more than a bit of extra sleep).

@BipolarGrowth Thank you, I never have breakfast hehe let alone breakfast in bed! But the shift in identity/self image may be good to explore...

[Yimpa]

Try light therapy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy

[SamC]

I have struggled with this for quite some time but I'm starting to get the hang of it. What it always essentially boils down to is if want it bad enough? Is it important enough? If it's not important enough yet, you will to need pendle back and forth many times untill you realize what you actually want. This is what Burning thorugh karma  means.

Another perspective to look at it from is that you need to be relentless in whatever you're doing. This means unwawering devotion and commitment to whatever you want to do which implies a strong why. That why can be anything though, but it needs to be grounded in something that is very important for YOU.

Practice something very small and really stick to it. From that you can then apply that same discipline and emotion to other tasks in your life, like waking up early.

Another question to ponder is, is it really that I want to wake up early or is there something else that waking up early allows you to feel or fullfill. Maybe you can fulfill that emotional or practical need in some other way apart from waking up early.

Regardless if you want to wake up early or not - figure out why you want to wake up because that will help you develop a good reason why you want to wake up early.

Good luck!

@Mondsee

 

Edited March 21 by SamC

[Thought Art]

1. Sleep on a regular schedule

2. Make sure you get enough sleep usually 8 ish hours

3. don’t eat 3 hours before bed as it uses energy while you sleep

4. Persistance 

 

[Hojo]

@Mondsee Yes I feel the only reason we feel tired is cause we dread the morning. If you keep your brain off you wont be tired cause you wont be thinking and you have to think you are tired to be tired.

[Bobby_2021]

Sleep early. If you are well rested you will naturally wake up early.

Make it easier for you to wake up early by going to sleep early. 

[BipolarGrowth]

Another thing to keep in mind is that once you can have a consistent sleep/wake time, your body will begin to spike your cortisol (stress/get your ass up hormone) around the time you wake up. The first few weeks of getting up early will be the hardest. Once your body has that sleep/wake pattern established, you will often struggle to sleep past the normal time you wake up. For example, I tried to sleep in until 8 am today rather than 6 am, and I was up around 7 am. I couldn’t have fallen back asleep at that point if I wanted to as my body had already started pumping the cortisol. 
 

This is another reason why it is recommended to wait until an hour or so after waking up before consuming caffeine. The stimulant effect of the caffeine and the stimulant effect of the cortisol will compound each other which is one reason why your energy can crash in the afternoon. 

[Razard86]

You don't control what time you wake up. You don't even control your ability to go to sleep. You can try many things, but when your body wants to sleep it will sleep, and when it wants to wake up it will. When I discovered that I didn't control when I wake up it blew my mind. I discovered this in my 20's. I have always had no problem waking up early and even now I still don't have that problem.

One time I had to wake up for an appointment and I overslept 2 days in a row even though I set multiple alarms to wake myself up. I even went to bed early and did not exert a lot of energy in that day before I went to bed and still overslept. This was an isolated incident only happening those 2 times. But notice what I did....I went to bed early, I didn't overextend myself that day so I went to sleep not overly tired, I set multiple alarms (and I am a light enough sleeper that an alarm will wake me up and I set multiple alarms) and still I could not wake up in time. 

Right now without trying I wake up at the time I needed too back then with ease. So you do not control what time you wake up, (you don't control anything really but I won't go that far in explaining that right now) but you can get out of bed if you care enough. If the situation calls for it you will get out of bed when you wake up. If you have trouble rolling out of bed, you simply just don't care enough to make the change. This issue is a biological and environmental issue. 

You are simply in an environment where your body doesn't think it should get out of bed LOL.

[r0ckyreed]

Read the 5am club by Robin Sharma.