Do you remember when you were a kid, how you felt going to bed on Christmas Eve? Like you couldn’t wait for the morning? Well, that’s me almost every night now. I can’t believe it.
Transformation is possible!
I used to think I’d be a perpetual night owl who couldn’t wouldn’t shouldn’t get up early because biologically it wasn’t in my nature. However, I’ve changed and now I love getting up early. I can even say I crave it. I go to bed and my last thought before I sleep is – I can’t wait to get up. Crazy, right?! Never in a million years did I ever think those thoughts would cross my mind, but now this is my reality.
Read on to hear my journey and learn how I overcame my early morning struggles and for a guide on creating a no fail early morning system for calm energy.
Why did I start waking up early?
I got to a point that I needed (not just wanted) ‘me’ time for peace and quiet. As a busy working mom, there was a lot of chatter around me. And not just physical sounds (toddler only has one volume and that’s SCREAM) but internal chatter aka restless mind that made me feel on edge, morning until night.
I needed to find a way to reduce that.Â
I also felt there was something missing which I couldn’t pinpoint but I didn’t have the time or energy to figure it out. All I knew was that I needed to get some consistent and sufficient time on my own to focus with no responsibilities or distractions. With that … SPACE …. maybe I could identify what was missing?
So what did I do?
Being a proponent of developing positive habits and routines, I knew I needed consistency – something that occurred daily.
The only consistent time that could be carved out on a daily basis was the beginning of the day or the end of the day. So should I wake up early before the kids or stay up late after they’re in bed?
Stay up Late
Staying up late was my natural and more comfortable tendency. It was the path of least resistance. Once the kids were off to bed I stayed up later doing my own thing. I wrote down the things I looked forward to:
– Making a calming night time drink
– Journalling
– Working on long forgotten hobbies
– Take a long relaxing bath
The first night I made lavender chamomile tea and lighted a candle. But while my hot water was boiling I decided to turn on Netflix. And you know how this story ends! 🙂
My late night tactics quickly spiraled out of control because I stayed up really late doing unproductive things not on my list like binge watching the season of Love is Blind and then regretting it in the morning when my kids woke me from a deep sleep.
After many nights of this, I transformed into:
I tried to learn from my mistake (no more Netflix or mindless internet scrolling) and instead would draw a bath while preparing my tea. I definitely was not going to waste a hot bath. This was a much better outcome. I could turn on a Podcast and enjoy a long bath in quiet. Afterwards, I was very tired and had a deep sleep.
The following nights I attempted to extend my time to focus on a personal hobby.
However, I found it to be very difficult…I don’t know about you, but by the end of the day my mind is filled to the max. I have completed a full days work, managed kids drop offs and pick ups, prepared and cooked meals, tidied up, ran errands, planned and coordinated family logistics, caught up on texts/calls with friends and family, among other things, that I have completely depleted my energy.
Thinking of working on ‘personal hobbies’ (which sounded great in the AM) now sounded exhausting in the PM.
With that, I decided I had to move on and try the dreaded early morning wake up…
Wake up Early
So staying up late was not working for me AT ALL. But waking up early was the path of most resistance – I knew it would be difficult so I had to develop an early morning system that would drive positive momentum – A no fail system.
I used to think I needed stronger willpower to accomplish the things I wanted. But it’s been proven that willpower is overrated. You don’t need willpower – in fact you have very little of it. What is willpower is actually the power of routines that become habits. But how do you create a habit of waking up early in the first place?
The key is effective preparation that helps you get up as easily and with as little resistance possible.
3 Steps to Effectively Prepare to Get Up Early
1. Start with the beginning and end of the day. What time do you want to get up? Work backward however many hours of sleep you need to feel optimal, and that should be when you go to bed.
2. Think of a scenario that you’ll be super excited to wake up for. For now, this will be something you allow yourself to do only in the morning. It’s got to be something that you’re so excited about that you hardly need any push to get up.
Like many dogs and children, I’m food motivated, so what worked for me initially is creating a coffee/tea station and loading it up with different coffee and tea concoction ingredients. Another tactic I’ve used is going on a jog/walk or driving to a destination for a specific purpose (hello Philz @ 6 am!).
3. Identify a secondary motivation that is aligned with your personal values. This will keep you going after the initial excitement from Step 2 wears off. I think of values as how you execute your purpose.
Values are HOW you do your WHY for living. Need an easy way to identify your values? Read my Progress is Perfection post.
One of my values is spending time nurturing my creativity so in the morning I enjoy writing, working on new designs, coming up with a new recipe, etc.
Need some early morning activity ideas? Skip to the end.
4. Find an accountability partner(s). If you know someone that already gets up early or wants to get up early around the same time – set up an exchange where you’ll confirm the night before and/or at the time you’re planning to get up.
My accountability partner is my husband who gets up early too. If he wakes up earlier than I do then I tell him to make a lot of noise in the bathroom and leave the lights on. I’ve told him to take the blankets off the bed too. Wait. I just thought of something…if I told him to leave the faucet on, I would totally jump out of bed immediately!
Once you’ve identified what time you need to go to bed, why you want to get up and what you’ll be doing in the morning, you’re ready for the specific steps on how to make the actual getting up easy!
No Fail Early Morning System
You’ve decided why you want to wake up early and the thing(s) you want to do with the extra ‘me’ time.
Great!
As part of developing a new habit, it helps to remove as many barriers as possible from doing the thing. It’s also about ensuring all the conditions are supporting your early morning wake up. Let’s get to it!
1. Set up the optimum environment to help you go to bed at the time you’ve indicated. Evening activities should be calm and relaxing to support a smooth sleep and get you to dreamland faster.
- Eliminate blue light by not using technology or wearing blue light blocking glasses at least 1-2 hrs before bed.Â
- Set your favorite song as your alarm and move it into the bathroomÂ
- Drink a calming night time drink while reading or writing in a journal. I’ve enjoyed adaptogenic teas with Reishi. FourSigmatic has been a go-to of mine too.
Prepare your nightstand:
- A relaxing roll-on essential oil to put on your wrists and temples before bed.Â
- A lip sleeping mask that softens your lips and also smells really good.
- A thermos of water/tea. If you want something warm, fill up the tumbler with boiling hot water/tea and in the morning it’ll still be warm. If you want a metabolism boost in the morning, fill a stainless steel tumbler with ICE WATER.Â
- A cold wet towel in a bowl.
- An energizing facial mister or organic room spray – I use a plant mister with water and a drop of peppermint essential oil
2. Set up the optimum environment to help you get out of bed – and support a quick painless wake up that gives you calm energy.
- When your alarm wakes, think about what you’re looking forward to doing.
- Put the cold towel on your face.
- Spray your aromatherapy mist in the air around you
- You’re forced to get out of bed to turn off the alarm. It helps that it’s in the bathroom.
- Immediately sip your water while you head to the bathroom to turn off the alarm. Since you’re in the bathroom, might as well use the toilet and start brushing your teeth.
- Keep the momentum going and keep thinking about what you’re looking forward to doing
- By the time you’ve started brushing your teeth – you should feel like you don’t want to crawl back into bed
Once you’ve been successful with early wake up for about 2-3 weeks, it will get easier. After one month, you’ll get up naturally at your desired time. Even if you go to bed later than usual, your body will develop a new set point and will wake you up at your desired time – no ALARM NEEDED!
This means that you won’t even need all those things to wake up early.
You’ll have developed a habit that was created by the routine. And now that it’s a habit – you don’t need the routine. Nice!
Once you’ve developed the early morning habit you won’t want to go back. You can then layer on additional beneficial habits, which I’m excited to share the techniques with you. So subscribe to be the first to know!
Common Barriers to Waking Up Early
What if my significant other gets woken up early by me? The main point of getting up early is to have time to yourself with no distractions before the start of the day. So if your significant other cannot go back to bed after you get up you can provide the option that you can wake up at the same time but then you need X amount of time to yourself before you take on any other tasks.Â
I love going on long runs in the morning on the weekend and my husband cares for the kids until our agreed upon time. This works because I know I have from whenever I wake up to that time to focus on myself. It also means the earlier I get up the longer I have on my own.
What if I co-sleep and leaving the bed will wake up the child(ren)? Getting up early doesn’t mean you have to leave the bed – You may need to get creative but here are some ideas – listen to a podcast, read a book, journal, sketch, meditate, listen to a book on tape.Â
What if the baby/toddler already wakes up super early? You may need to adjust your wake up earlier than you’d prefer. I have adjusted my wake up to 4:30 am to account for the 6 am wake-ups from my screaming toddler.
What if I didn’t get enough sleep due to insomnia, middle of the night awakenings, etc. Should I still get up early to continue the habit or try to sleep in and get some more shut eye? You know your body best – treat it gently and with care. I believe in prioritizing rest, recovery and sleep! However, in my experience, sometimes the sleeping in makes me more tired because I never can get back into that restorative sleep before I have to get up. Also, I found that if I get slightly less sleep for a couple days in a row, it’s much easier for me to fall asleep the following night.
Early Morning Activity Ideas
If you’re having trouble thinking of what to do in the early morning, here’s a list of ideas. What may keep you going is receiving positive reinforcement from your decided activity.
- Get a new morning mug and make a drink you’ve never had that you really want to try.
- Get a morning candle that you only light in the morning
- Research and plan for your next day off, trip or event
- Try a new self care product
- Try a new workout/meditation/stretching routine
- Read a book
- Write in a journal
- Try a new recipe
- Be crafty – Create something for your own personal space or for someone else
- Learn something new – Sign up and take a course
- Learn a new musical instrument (headphones + keyboard)
- Get your finances on track – Identify how much money comes in and comes out and create a family budget
- Organize your pantry / work space
- Research and plan a remodel 🙂
- Create a family photo book
- Digitize old family photos
- Research and plan date nights
Congrats on making it to the end! Let me know if these tips helped you! Follow me on IG or comment below and let me know!
MOMents with Karen
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