Sleeping is one of life’s greatest pleasures and that is why it is often difficult to get up in the morning, especially when we have to get up early for work or study.

Waking up has become a real nightmare for many people who, they say, are more nocturnal than daytime, but the world forces them to get up early.

If you’re one of those people who sticks to the sheets in the morning and is sleepy all day, this article might interest you. In it you will find several strategies to change all this and know how to get used to getting up early , so that you can take advantage of the day from early on.

How do you get used to getting up early?

Waking up is a very complicated task for many people, especially those who like to enjoy the night. Here are some good habits to get proper sleep cycles, which will help you wake up early and enjoy the day.

1. Understanding why you get up early

Before starting to apply habits that contribute to good sleep hygiene, it is necessary to understand what makes it difficult for us to get up early .

It is important to see what habits in our lives have contributed to our late nights or to the fact that the sheets exert a powerful morning magnetism on us.

It is also interesting to understand why we want to wake up early in the morning, that is, what is the reason that forces us to get up early.

It may be that our work requires us to be awake in the morning, but we may also want to make more of the day.

Whatever the reason for our willingness to get up early, we must be constant and always keep it in mind to help us stay focused on our task of making it a habit to get up early.

2. Bringing forward bedtime

As we have already said, it is possible that one of the reasons why we find it difficult to get up the next day is that we have gone to bed late. This is quite common, and yet many people find it difficult to go to bed at an appropriate time despite having responsibilities to attend to early the next day.

The human body needs between 6 and 9 hours of sleep , being recommended about 8. If you are one of those who goes to sleep at 2 am every day, do not expect to be sleepy at 10 pm. Your body has become accustomed to that time.

For this reason, and to avoid spending hours lying in bed without being sleepy, a good way to get the body used to going to bed early is to bring forward the time for going to bed. For example, going back to the case of people who go to bed at 2 o’clock, a good idea is to go to bed the next day half an hour earlier, and so on until we reach a suitable time.

3. Getting up at the same time

In the same way that we must go to bed at a good time, if we want to get up early we must leave our bed at the same time every day .

If we get used to getting up at the same time every day, the time will come when we will not be able to stay asleep for much longer than usual. That is to say, if we have been getting up at 6 in the morning for two weeks, it will be strange the day we wake up at 8, since our body will have already taken care of waking up before by simple routine.

Maintaining a routine in terms of the time one wakes up favours the biorhythms to organise themselves naturally .

If we’re the kind of people who go to bed early but still wake up late, a good idea is to set the alarm clock earlier each day. It is recommended to advance it by 15 minutes and, when you have gotten used to that time, advance it again by 15 minutes until you reach the desired time.

4. Relax in the evenings

It is very difficult to go to bed and sleep peacefully if you are not calm . To avoid having too much activation, it is advisable to start relaxing in the afternoon.

Practices such as yoga, reading a book or taking a bath can help get rid of the nervousness that the professional day or our own way of being can generate.

It is also advisable to turn off the intense lights , since this type of lighting affects the production of melatonin, a hormone that is behind the circadian cycles and whose production contributes to falling asleep.

5. Planning the day the night before

In the morning it is difficult to think clearly, even if you have slept all the necessary hours. For this reason, the best thing to do before going to sleep is to decide what to do the next day .

Not only does this keep us from making bad decisions in the morning because we are not fully awake, but having in mind everything that needs to be done the next day can be an incentive for us to get out of bed once we have woken up.

6. In the morning, let the light come in!

In the same way that strong lights are harmful if we want to get to sleep, the next day they become our friends, since they help us to wake up .

As mentioned above, light inhibits the production of melatonin , a substance that helps us sleep. If there is light, less sleep we will have.

If you live in a domotic house, program the blinds to let the light in early in the morning, or buy a smart lamp that activates from the desired time. In the market you can find devices that simulate sunrises that can transform having to get up early in the morning into something pleasant and enjoyable.

7. Activate yourself upon waking

Exercises that require a lot of energy, such as strength training or cycling , are ideal activities to do in the morning. They help to activate, contribute to waking up and encourage high levels of attention and concentration in the morning and afternoon.

Another reason why this type of activity is more recommended in the morning is that in the afternoon can activate us too much and delay the time to go to sleep , affecting negatively our sleep hygiene.

8. A good awakening, a good breakfast

A varied and balanced breakfast can give us all the energy we need to start the day in a good way.

If we have also planned the day before what we are going to have for breakfast in the morning, this can be a good enough reason for us to get up in the morning.

But watch out for the caffeine. Contrary to what many people think, drinking freshly brewed tea or coffee is not recommended. It is preferable to drink a glass of water or even a juice . Drinks with caffeine are best drunk two to three hours after waking up. The reason for this is that when we wake up, we naturally generate cortisol.

This hormone helps to activate us, so if we add caffeine to this, we can get overexcited too soon and then generate a very high level of fatigue as a rebound effect.

9. Holidays are not an excuse

On weekends and holidays it is not recommended to sleep more , even if you have no obligations.

As few days as they may turn out to be, oversleeping one or two days a week may jeopardize the very difficult sleep routine we are trying to achieve.

The weekend is a very good time to focus on our hobbies . Read a book, go for a walk, or try to organize the house.

10. Keep the record straight

Obviously, in order to achieve our goals, we need to make sacrifices. Going to bed early and getting up early the next day can become difficult to manage in the long run.

For this reason, we must remain constant, avoid returning to old habits. If you know someone who is also interested in getting up early, you can commit to getting up early together.

Bibliographic references:

  • Boutin, J.; Audinot, V.; Ferry, G. and Delagrange, P. (2005). Molecular tools to study melatonin pathways and actions. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 26(8): pp. 412-9.
  • Martínez, B.; Sánchez, Y.; Urra, K.; Thomas, Y.D. & Burgos, J.L.(2012). Dark Hormone. Rev Latinoamer Patol Clin, Vol. 59(4): pp 222-232.