Ever since I know myself, I hated waking up early in the morning. We all know Mum’s waking up / sleep hacks: the “Oh, my God! Wake up, it’s already 11 a.m.!”, when it actually is 9 a.m. But since I saw my father waking up at 5 a.m. daily and taking a couple of hours in the morning for himself, to plan and think while everything is still quite around, I started to wake up earlier. Or at least earlier than 9 a.m.
If you experienced the early stages of the day, you know how peace and quite it is. I find it the perfect period of the day for creative people to… you know, create. Your mind is fresh and rested, inspiration and mindfulness will come naturally.
Related: Why Becoming a Morning Person is the Best Thing Ever
Waking up early can be difficult. Not to mention the energy strongly refuses to show up when outside is still dark. Anyway, waking up early and feeling full of energy is amazing and here are some sleep hacks that will help you achieve it!
Start the day before
A wonderful day starts the day before. When you go to sleep, to be more precise. Having a sleep routine, is one of most successful people’s secret. Forming a habit (especially a healthy one) can be tough. So try to do certain things that will let your mind know that it will go to sleep soon. Here are some activities you can take up:
- read a few pages of a book;
- write in a journal three things you are grateful for that day;
- follow your night routine (brush teeth, take a shower, etc);
- do light stretching exercises;
- plan your to-do list for the next day or check your to-do list for the day.
Related: 7 Thigns to Do in the Morning, that Will Make Your Evening Easier
1. Go to sleep at the same time
Useless to say that going to sleep at the same time will help you wake up at the same time and you will form a habit out of it. Depending on when you plan to wake up, set your bedtime. Plan 6 to 8 hours of sleep. Usually, more than 9 hours of sleep a night will do more harm than good. But you probably experienced this already. I do recommend to wake up early (6 or 7 a.m.) for some nice quality time.
Not to mention that you have to do this even during weekends. No sleep in. Sorry.
2. Drink water
There is no secret that a lot of people recommend us to drink a glass of water before going to sleep, but also the first thing in the morning to boost your body’s energy. The before bed glass of water will cleanse your body during the night (you will pee the first thing in the morning). The morning glass of water will “wake up” your organs and your whole body – mind included.
Related: 4 Things to Do Once You Wake Up
3. Eat responsibly
The way I see eating responsibly is to avoid unhealthy foods (fat, fast food, fried), know when to stop eating and when to eat. You’ve probably noticed that you eat a lot right before going to sleep does no good in helping you sleep smoothly. So, even though that burger is delicious, keep the other half for tomorrow. Also, avoid caffeine of any kind in the evening.
4. Stop snoozing
I know that it sounds cruel, because those extra 5 minutes feel like Haven. But snoozing does no good to you or to your overall morning mood.
5. Keep those curtains open
Keeping the curtains open overnight will allow the morning light to surround the room as the sun rises. This will help you wake up naturally and easier because the level of light will grow slowly. We all hate when someone wants to wake us up and opens the curtains all of the sudden. It’s painful in so many ways.
6. Have high-protein breakfast
If there is something (useful) that I’ve learnt in school, that would be that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives you the “fuel” to go throughout the day and you don’t have to worry too much about gaining weight because of a sumptuous breakfast.
Porridge, omelettes or the Instagram-worthy avocado toast are great ideas.
Which sleep hacks are your favourite? Do you apply any of these? Hope you find them useful and that from tomorrow you will wake up full of energy.
55 comments
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Hi, Dami! Nice to have you around. So happy you like my insta! I’ll check yours as well.
(:
Keeping our curtains open has made a HUGE difference, so I’m glad you included that! We also got a puppy almost two months ago, and since he was waking us up in the night early on, we’ve now conformed more to HIS schedule and it’s forced us to go to bed early and wake up early as a result. And we LOVE it!
These are great tips! I’m always looking for ways to make my morning easier and to make it through the day. I don’t know if I can ever stop snoozing.
Great tips! I’m going to try keeping the curtains open to help me wake up more gently in the morning. Also, I need to remember to drink a glass of water right when I wake up.
Great tips. I have been so tired lately, I need these!
I truly hope that they will help you, Samantha!
I’m already a morning person. But orange body soap in the shower helps too!
Thanks for sharing! These are all so important! 🙂 I also like to start the day diffusing peppermint + wild orange. It helps to energize me for the day:)
I totally needed this! It’s been getting harder and harder to wake up and get going in the morning! And I really need to swap out the curtains in our bedroom. Now that we don’t have babies sleeping in there anymore, we don’t need the light-blocking curtains! It’s time to let in some light! 🙂
It’s very hard for me to go to bed at the same time because I have shows that I watch and wait to they are done DVR-ing. I have a hard time doing that.
Yes! I am horrible in the morning & when I do these things they all help SO SO much! Thanks for sharing!
Snooze really is terrible! Those five minutes always kill me! Haha great tips! 🙂
Natural light is so important for me to wake up refreshed. I could get up at 3am if the sun was shining.
Love these tips. I go to bed pretty early..especially with a newborn, so that’s key for me to get some good sleep!
Thanks for the informative tips, I am an early riser and drinking water and having a strict bedtime schedule allows me to wake up weekday mornings at 5 AM. Lovely blog, I hope you have a lovely day!
xo,
I AM YASMIN
Thank you, Yasmin. You’re very kind. Thank you for stopping by.
I’m terrible about getting up. The snooze button is my kryptonite. One thing I really want to get better at is a schedule, because I have none!
These are great things to think about! I’m a big night owl, but I’ve been trying to get better about mornings!
Being in college and trying to get to bed early is so hard for me. I need to change my bad sleeping habits to have more energy in the morning.
I have a crazy sleep schedule because I work three 12-hour night shifts as an L&D nurse a week. So I’m always flip flopping between night/day. I loved when I worked day shift and could get up an hour before everyone else, make a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise!
I love these tips! I am very much a morning person (waking up later than 7:30 makes me feel like my day is already gone haha!), and most mornings get up at 4 or 5. I’ve definitely found that going to bed at the same time every night really helps, and I’ve been trying to keep my phone off right before I go to bed, which helps me fall asleep better too!
I need these tips! I have such a hard time waking up in the morning.
Greta | http://www.gretahollar.com
I am so not a morning person! I have found though that when I go to sleep around the same time each night, it really does help. I have been waking up earlier every morning before my alarm lately. So I guess that is a good thing! Great tips!!!
I need to work on this. My lifestyle makes it really hard for one of the most important steps – going to bed at the same time! Thanks for the tips and motivation to start working at it!
Anytime Christine! Glad you found it useful.
I wake up at 4 because of my long commute and I definitely need to apply some of these! I am definitely not a morning person but I need energy!
One thing I want to accomplish is waking up (happily) an hour earlier each day. The past two days I have accomplished this, but I stayed in bed until I just had to get out of it. The part I am struggling with the most is going to bed earlier.
There’s nothing like a good nights rest to get you going! I include dry brushing in my night time routine along with a hot bath and it really helps.
What a nice idea! I like to take long, hot baths on cold, long winter days.
I am slowly getting used to waking up earlier and going to bed at the same time. I do think it gets easier with time. Nice tips on establishing a nighttime routine!
These are all such great tips! I have been trying to go to bed at the same time every night. It is so hard to stay on a schedule.
xo Jessica
http://www.whatsfordinneresq.com
SO true! I always try to get up the moment my alarm goes off. The snooze button does NO good!
XO,
Chelsea
InspirationIndulgence.com
Never thought about half of these! Great tips. Sleep has always been a astrugglr for me. I especially like keeping the curtains open. I’ve never thought of that! I’m gonna try it! Hope hubby doesn’t mind. LOLOLLL
great tips here! I love that you included how important it is to eat well and not right before going to bed – it’s amazing how much that will affect sleep!
Great tips, could definitely do with a bit more sleep! I’m not a snoozer but I could do with some more reading or workouts before going to sleep instead of watching TV!
Great tips! I am NOT a morning person. I HATE getting out of bed. I’m definitely a snoozer (like until the last possible second). Thanks for sharing this! I’ll try to stop snoozing now…
xoxo Lauren | Glitter & Grandeur
Haha, anytime Lauren. I do snooze until the last moment sometimes, but I hate it afterwards because I’m in a rush and my morning is not piece and quiet anymore.
So many great tips! I’m not a morning person by any means, but my husband wakes up for work at 3:30 and most mornings it’s impossible for me to fall back to sleep. So it’s a tough adjustment trying to get myself to wake up that early with more energy lol but going to bed earlier and at the same time really helps. Same with drinking water and having a good breakfast 🙂
Wow, 3 a.m. IS really early. The earliest I can get up for now is 5:30.
I need to stop the snoozing but it’s so hard! I do enjoy reading in bed before I go to sleep.
I feel like lately i cant seem to wake up with energy no matter how much sleep i get. Gonna have to make i sure i do the other things.
If you can’t find any good hack that will work, maybe you should have some blood samples tested. The lack of certain vitamins in your body could cause it.
Great article! I’m definitely going to try drinking water before bed and early in the morning. I recently fell off of doing morning and night time stretches, but I want to try those things again.
I definitely agree with drinking water… not a lot, but a cup is fine. Sometimes I even just do a chamomile or raspberry leaf herbal tea. 🙂
I love camomile and herbal teas in general. They are great before bed and a perfect and more tasty substitute for water.
I always have protein for breakfast. It really boosts your energy for the day and keeps you satisfied.
Good reminders especially the open curtains one. Nothing gets me up faster than the sun coming through.
Great tips & so perfectly on time because I have been trying to get up earlier and actually enjoy my morning (before the mad rush starts) and be more productive. Couldn’t agree more with every suggestion 🙂 Thanks for sharing, lovely.
xox Nadia
http://www.mielandmint.com
Thank you, Nadia! So glad you enjoyed the article.
Loved your list! Such great tricks to make anyone into a morning person! I already am!
I would add meditation to this list. It helps me turn my brain down at night.
Great tip, Leah! I find it a little difficult to meditate especially during evenings or mornings when I’m usually sleepy.
I needed to read this today! GREAT reminders on how to wake up feeling good! 🙂