How to Wake Up Early, Refreshed, and Excited!
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It’s easy to see why waking up refreshed and excited is a good thing. But, what about waking up early?
Isn’t that just what people do when they absolutely have to? For example, to catch an early train or plane, make a really long commute, or do some last minute prep work before a big presentation? Not necessarily.
There are actually people who get up early everyday (and I mean 5:00 a.m.), including weekends and holidays, who love it! Why? Well, there are so many good reasons! As Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote, “Let me count the ways.”
REASONS PEOPLE LOVE WAKING UP EARLY EVERYDAY
1. Because it’s peaceful in the early morning.
Before the noise of the rest of the people in the house get up, the neighbors, and the traffic—especially the ubiquitous trash trucks that seem to parade down my street almost daily—I can get up and enjoy the total silence. And not just silence—the total peace that can only come from no demands on my time yet. No cell phones ringing, no one knocking at the door, no one expecting me to call or email them for at least a few hours. I’m not late for anything. I have time to breathe slowly and deeply, to think and relax, and to just be for a while.
My best ideas come to me in this completely free state. I jot them down quickly so I won’t forget them. But, then, I go right back to enjoying my total freedom.
If you want to go for a walk along the beach, in the park, or on a hiking trail, it’s the perfect time to get the ideal—and usually free—parking spot. You can also stroll around your own neighborhood because the dogs are not yet out in full force being walked by their owners and the cars are not yet speeding on their way to school or work. The air is fresh and crisp regardless of the season. The most you will need to watch out for is the lonely jogger or two, so you can daydream freely. Great things come from subconscious minds allowed to wander! See my summary of the classic self help book Think and Grow Rich for more on that point.
2. Because it’s beautiful to see the sunrise.
Watching the sun rise is the ultimate form of stopping to smell the roses. (Sunsets are great for this, too, so I plan my daily walks to catch the sun setting, too. It’s surprisingly easy to carve out two hours a day for anything you want if you get up at five each day!) Sunrises give you a sense of time passing and of time standing still, or at least repeating itself endlessly for all eternity, making you feel insignificant and all-important, all at once, as if the sun was rising just for you.
3. Because gyms, gas stations, and supermarkets are clean and empty.
Five in the morning is the perfect time to hit the gym. Parking is a breeze and usually free before the parking lot attendants arrive. I just can’t emphasize enough the parking hassles in Los Angeles that to be avoided by early rising. Once inside, there’s no waiting for weights or machines. Imagine: Any cardio machine you want and no body odor or dripping sweat lingering around any of them! Bathrooms and showers are still clean, too. It’s the way a workout should be. The only downside is the smoothie stand is usually still closed. Just bring a bottle of water, instead. Or, to simplify further, use the water fountains. Frugal and convenient!
Even gas stations are peaceful in the early morning hours. Pull in, pay, fill up, and pull out. It’s that easy! No maneuvering between several cars—all confused about which way to turn next because everyone is trying to guess which of the car already pumping gas is going to finish first. Supermarkets are fully stocked, or at least getting stocked, with fresh produce, meat, and bakery products. No long lines at the checkout counter. And, of course, great parking spots right up front.
4. Because you get more out of your day.
Getting an early start makes you feel like you’re way ahead of the game because you are. By the time the rest of your city is turning off their alarm clocks, you’ve already been up for a couple of hours and accomplished twice as much in half the time than if you had tried to do those same things at any other time of the day. How? Because no one was up to interrupt you and you had almost exclusive use of all the places you went. Talk about productivity!
Think about it: How much could you get done if you had that kind of uninterrupted time and the freedom to move around with almost complete run of any open facilities? When I was growing up and running errands all the time for, not just myself, but, also, the five other members of my family, I often fantasized about the world magically stopping—everyone freezing in their tracks simultaneously—so I could have more time to get everything done that I needed to get done or just so I could stop and take a break. Believe me, getting up at 5:00 a.m. is almost as good as that. You magically give yourself more time, and, hence, more life.
5. So you never have to be late for work again.
The only thing worse than getting caught in morning rush hour traffic is getting caught in it when you’re already late. That kind of stress is definitely bad for your health. But, if you are up hours before you have to leave for work, you have the luxury of leaving in plenty of time to never be late again. You can even beat all the traffic if you want to get to work early. Once there, you could relax with the morning paper and a cup of coffee at your desk or start in on your work and get double the amount done in half the time till everyone else starts showing up.
HOW TO JUMP START THE HABIT
Don’t be half-hearted about this important goal. If you’re not ready, just be honest to yourself and wait till you are. You’ll know when you’re ready because you’ll be itching to try it. That strong desire is 90% of the game at the beginning. After about one week, 90% will be discipline and desire will have slipped to 10%. But, if you don’t have a strong enough desire at the outset, chances are you won’t make it past the first week. When you are ready, here’s what you do.
1. Commit to the Program
If you keep a diary (and there are many great reasons to do so), make a promise to yourself in it that you are going to give your full 100% to this program. Then, try to follow up daily with what you did, how you felt, and anything else you want to record about your efforts, progress, obstacles, setbacks, and ultimate success. If you don’t keep a diary, make this same promise to a friend and ask them if you can report your progress to them on at least a weekly basis.
2. Commit to 30 Consecutive Days of this Program
The literature on the subject of how many days it takes to form a habit varies from 21 to 30 consecutive days. Let’s be on the safe side and go for 30. Even though, after just a few days, your body should naturally start waking up before the alarm goes off, keep setting it just in case.
- a. Get Up Immediately
When the alarm goes off, don’t fight it—not even for a second. Trust me. The part of you who argues to stay in bed always wins. Best to avoid that discussion altogether. Just turn off the alarm and get out of bed immediately. Go to the bathroom and start brushing your teeth. The cold water and minty flavor of the toothpaste will wake you up faster. Then, go the kitchen and drink some water, tea, or coffee to start hydrating your body. Eat something within the first hour and a half to restart your metabolic engines that have gone cold during the night. You’ll increase energy, prevent hunger, and burn fat more efficiently all day long if you start eating earlier and consume smaller, frequent meals throughout the day. See “7 Quick Daily Nutrition Tips” or “20 Foods to Keep the Doctor Away.”
- b. Save What You Love for the Morning
Develop a morning routine you can’t wait to get up for each day. Whether it’s more relaxing like meditation or yoga, more cerebral like catching up on pleasure reading, journaling, or slowly enjoying every page of the newspaper, or more envigorating like a brisk, morning walk, jog, or, even, a full workout at the gym, make it something you love enough to make it your reward for getting up each morning for 30 days so it becomes your new great habit.
- c. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. On the first day, you are going to feel tired and sleepy all day. Take heart that you can go to bed earlier that very same day (anytime after 9:00 p.m. if you feel naturally drowsy) and it will only take a few days for your body get used to your new sleep cycle.
To improve the quality of your sleep, make sure you sleep in a dark, quiet, comfortably warm room on a comfortably firm, clean bed. And it’s never a bad idea to make one last trip to the toilet just before climbing into bed. Having to get up in the middle of the night for any reason wreaks havoc on the whole point of sticking to this 30-day early rising program. Finally, the best sleeping positions are on your back or on your side with your legs bent. If it feels more comfortable for your back, you can also try sleeping with a pillow between your knees in the sideways position or propped underneath your knees in the flat-on-your-back position.
CONCLUSION
I wrote this article because, not long ago, a reader asked me how to get to the level of happiness expressed in my article “25 Statements for Happiness.” Number 14 on that list is “I sleep very well at night and wake up refreshed.” I remember when I first read this list to a colleague, after I discovered it about seven years ago. He burst out laughing, nearly choking on his lunch, especially at No. 14. He said he’d never—not once in his life—ever awakened feeling refreshed. “Who does that?!” I replied that I sometimes did, but, also, had to admit, not that often. Then, I decided to try this program, and—what do you know?—it worked!
Yes, this program works. But, what works even better is finding a line of work that you really love! Everyone who has can hardly stay in bed. We are all anxious to jump out as soon as we can to get right back to work because it doesn’t feel like work at all. I force myself to go to bed at night so I can stay fresh for the next day because I know this is a marathon and not a sprint. Work you love is addictive! Just ask the inventor, entrepreneur, and factory owner. Or the young founder and CEO of four corporations. Or Warren Buffett. Or Donald Trump. These guys don’t even take vacations because they love their work so much. That’s the best way to become an early riser. But, until you find the work you love, the 30-day method will do you. It worked for me since 2004 while still grinding through my legal career.
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