I feel that I've successfully embraced the habit of waking up early. I tried instigating it about a month ago. After a week of setting my alarm before the rooster crowed, my body crashed and I went back to sleeping in. I wasn't going about it properly, and this was reflected by my feeling sluggish, sick, and stressed. About a week or two ago I tried again, using different techniques. I am happy to report that I love waking up early now (hence the title of the post), even on weekends.
Here's what I was doing wrong before:
- Went to bed too late: 11 or 11:30 p.m.
- Drank coffee as late as 2:30 p.m.
- Launched into the task too abruptly; set my alarm too early in the beginning of this exercise
My success now hinges on:
- Going to bed at 9, no later than 10 p.m.
- No coffee past 1 p.m. -- tea only
- Started with an 8 a.m. wake-up, and gradually kicked it back to 6 or 6:30
I feel I have embraced this habit permanently (I hope!) and have reaped rewards for doing this. I can hit the mountain early for snowboarding and not crash or need a coffee; I get tasks done before heading to work, instead of madly trying to do it on my lunch break; my social life hasn't suffered, as I had feared earlier-- I just take disco naps to compensate on the night of an event. I really love waking up early!
