Waking up early liberates you from a huge amount of stress. Having an extra hour in the morning before your usual routine gives you space for practical or relaxing activities that you wouldn't find the time to do otherwise.
Many people use their morning routine to tackle a personal project. Others focus on organizing and preparing for the rest of the day and a lot of us just focus on exercising, going for a long walk or stretching when we don’t have a lot of time.
☝ Note: Waking up early is not for everyone—and if you're a night owl, you definitely shouldn't feel the urge to wake up early just because someone "influences" you to.
1. Consistency
Whatever you do in the morning is up to you, but if you want to create a solid schedule, understand there’s nothing more important than being consistent. Personally, I enjoy waking up at the same time every day, even during weekends. If I am extra tired on a Saturday, I give myself enough freedom to stay one more hour in bed.
The advantage of consistency is that it slowly builds up your habits, making your body and mind less resistant to your alarm clock.
☝ Neuroplasticity: Your mind forms connections based on repetition. Repeated behaviors and responses become neural traits, which eventually decreases the resistance you feel from your body and your mind when you are trying to incorporate a new habit.
As you strengthen your newly found habit of waking up at the same time, the behavior will require less effort and it will be easier to do it on a regular basis.
2. Pick a good alarm
If you use your phone as an alarm clock, finding the perfect sound and enough distance from your bed is more important than you think if you want to wake up energized every morning. I'm personally not into "classic" alarm sounds and prefer soothing music that builds up until you turn off your alarm.
I also get better results whenever I put my phone out of hand's reach—on top of a dresser—so I’m forced to stand to turn it off.
3. Create an enjoyable morning routine
Waking up early becomes more manageable if you enjoy your morning routine.
A well-balanced and relaxed morning routine will give you motivation to get up in the morning in the same way a stressing and chaotic routine would create more resistance. Creating a morning routine that is both practical and relaxing can have a detrimental impact in your day.
💡 Rule of Thumb: Spend 50% of your morning routine on practical tasks (breakfast, showering), 25% on household chores (dishes, watering plants), and the other 25% on something entertaining (reading or journaling).
4. Prepare everything the previous night
Picking an outfit, preparing containers for lunch, and even setting the table for breakfast are activities that create a solid transition between your evening routine and the following morning. The more practical and easy these activities and routines are, the better—a steady workflow of minor tasks can lead up to to less resistance from your brain and also strengthens your habit of waking up early.
5. Challenge Yourself
You can also challenge yourself to complete a project or a deadline in your morning routine. If you ever wanted to start a blog, create a journal, or just become a runner, you can use your morning time to do it incrementally. Instead of feeling like you're waking up to go to school or go to work, you can change your mindset by stating and acting on the idea that you're now waking up to take care of your special new hobby.