How To Become an Early Riser

If you’re struggling to utilize mornings to meet your goals or just have time for your passions, here is some advice on how to become an early riser.

To borrow a phrase from one of my favorite authors, Laura Vanderkam, I’ve “turned over to the lark side“.

And I don’t plan on ever going back. I love my early morning time.

Throughout my life I’ve had several periods in which I was consistently an early riser. One of those times was when I was in public school. The next time was when, as a teen, I got up early to meet friends at 7:30 AM for volunteer work (this was a period of nearly 5 years).

Then, for a couple of years when I worked as a barista opening a Starbucks, I had to be at work at 5:30. Getting up early at those times wasn’t a particular struggle, mostly because I had to actually be somewhere, other people were counting on me, and there was a built-in reward.

(I loved school. And meeting your friends early is fun. And Starbucks? Well, free coffee. Duh.)
On the other hand, there have been long periods where getting up early was a real struggle. And I don’t mean by 7 or so. I mean, 8 or even (gasp!) 8:30.

Those times also had something in common.

Mostly, they have a newborn infant in there. Also, a bit of melancholy or depression due to unhappy circumstances, or other problems. One of the most recent was after the birth of my 27-weeker preemie. It got so bad at one point, I was bursting into tears when I woke up in the morning… because the idea of not being unconscious was too much to face.

Note: if this is you, please get to this page asap and sign up for my free ecourse, Make Time For You.

So here’s the pattern: when I had something going on that I was excited about and that was meaningful to me, I could get up early easily.

When I didn’t, it was painful to get up.

So often when I see bloggers talking about their morning writing routine, and recommending that their readers try getting up early, I notice a lot of resistance in the comments.

People say they are more creative at night, or that they just can’t go to sleep early, or they just can’t wake up early.

I have a few thoughts.

Firstly, being an early riser doesn’t make you a better person. But the world isn’t particularly suited to night owls. It’s a lot easier to change yourself than to change the world.

And if you have children, you realize that most of them get up early. (And parents especially benefit from getting up before their kids, because it may be the only time of day in which they are able to be “selfish”.)

Which brings me to the next point: people who are excited about life (like children) tend not to struggle with Mind Over Mattress. People who feel fopeless and depressed do. Of course, not every person who has trouble waking early is depressed, but there is a correlation, and having trouble getting out of bed is a symptom of major depression.

What’s more, if you get up early, you’ll find that you won’t have much trouble hitting the hay – and actually falling asleep- early.

There’s nothing that will cure insomnia like getting up at 5 or 6, and staying active all day. Trust me – I’m toast by 9:30, and practically require my husband to tuck me in by 10.

It takes me a couple of minutes to fall asleep, and my sleep quality is better when I get up early too. There is quite a lot of evidence that our bodies do better with an earlier bedtime. Grandma was right when she said that each hour before midnight was worth two after!

A quick Google search turned up all sorts of research that going to bed earlier is better for weight management, liver health and sleep quality.

Developing Mind Over Mattress: Tips to help you become an early riser

• Go to bed early. Practice good sleep hygiene by not using electronics for an hour before bed. Go to bed 8 hours before your alarm clock is set to go off.
• Lay out your clothes the night before.  One less decision to waste willpower on. Plus, it’s dark in the mornings and if other people are sleeping you may disturb them.
• Know what you’re going to DO with your early morning time, and make those things accessible. (Put your journal or Bible in an obvious place, or take notes/outline a writing assignment, have a to-do list handy, put your walking shoes by the door, etc)
• Don’t use the snooze button. My alarm clock doesn’t even have one.
• Don’t drink alcohol or caffeine at night. Wine with dinner is fine, but not after. Alcohol negatively affects sleep quality. Don’t drink caffeinated beverages after 2 p.m. or so (maybe earlier, if you’re sensitive).
• Get excited about something. If there’s nothing that makes you want to get up and greet the day, perhaps you need to spend some time thinking about your dreams. As a kid, you probably burst out of bed every morning. What are you passionate about? (If the answer is nothing, you either haven’t thought long enough, or you have a health problem or depression and need to see a doctor.)
• Lather, rinse, repeat. The more you get up early, the easier it is. Two reasons: your internal body clock will shift. I wake up before my alarm most mornings now. Second, early rising becomes its own reward. As you get more important goals accomplished, you have those things to reward and continue motivating you.

Laura Vanderkam’s book, What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, is very helpful and contains lots of examples of people who maximize mornings.

Are you an early riser? What do you do with your morning time? Have you ever found it difficult to get up early, and why?

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