Productivity Boost: How to start your day at 5:00 AM

MiGrant says on February 7th, 2007 at 8:12 am

I’m sure my wife will appreciate listening to the alarm for ten minutes at 5 a.m. while I try to clear the cobwebs so I can remember the combination to the @#$~^&* lock!

Bill I says on February 7th, 2007 at 9:19 am

I agree that my wife probably won’t appreciate the amount of time it’s going to take me to turn of my alarm now, but these are good tips. The bathroom is too far away from our room to justify putting the clock there, but on the other side of the room should be enough to get me out of bed and on with my day.

Thanks!!

Sleepy says on February 7th, 2007 at 10:26 am

I keep reading all these articles about rising early, and I, too, would like to start integrating this into my life.

What NONE of the articles mention is how much sleep everyone is averaging per night. If I’m lights out at 10pm, I can get up at 5:30 or 6 no problem. I understand every individual is different, but this is a major facet of early rising that is never, ever covered in these articles.

Chris says on February 7th, 2007 at 12:26 pm

Couple of tips from my experience:

1/ Use a light based alarm clock, see http://www.lumie.com/howtheywork.htm
Its a great way to wake up.

2/ Prepare the night before, so that you don’t have to disturb your partner by turning on the light/being noisy getting dressed.

Gosmelltheflowers says on February 7th, 2007 at 1:16 pm

Well, you’re getting up about five hours earlier than me. I know my productivity is suffereing, but how can I reach the alarm clock to throw it at the wall if I put it in the bathroom? Great tips though and we’ve made a link to this post from our blog.

sellars says on February 7th, 2007 at 1:57 pm

What time do you go to bed then? If you’d get your recommended average 7.5 dose of sleep, that would be 9:30pm. That pretty much would ruin my social life.

Good tips, but not for me

Leo says on February 7th, 2007 at 3:44 pm

Great post! I get up at 4:30 a.m. every day, and set my priorities for the day, exercise, and enjoy the quiet. I’ve been incorporating a morning routine (see my site on more) and it’s been great!

Don’t use this peaceful time for more work, though! Use it for yourself.

Carmen says on February 7th, 2007 at 4:33 pm

Hello,

I’m an early riser too. I work in a factory with flexible hours and I choose to work from 7 to 3, to have more time for me and my family. I have als a tip: a donut can help you to get up :))). Rising early means also a lot of time to burn calories. So early in the morning you could pamper yourself with a little “sin of gluttony”, but don’t exceed :))

Laura says on February 7th, 2007 at 7:01 pm

I recently started a job with a commute that requires me to rise at 5 am. I have had no trouble getting up, but serious trouble feeling awake after rising (try stumbling around for five hours after waking), and much trouble staying asleep due to feeling stress over whether or not I’ll wake up when the alarm goes off, or whether or not it’s set right, etc., etc. The system I’ve been using for years in occasions where I have to get up early involve a ten minute snooze with one snooze- button hit allowed, involving two different alarms set to go off at different times. Yes, complicated, but it works. My point is, everyone has their own natural sleep rhythms and they’ll probably have to design their system accordingly. Now, if I could just get some sleep where I don’t wake up in a panic every hour and a half…

Shriram says on February 8th, 2007 at 12:02 am

Nice post!
You have mentioned that we probably have no problem waking up very early on vacation or during holidays, which is very much true.
I think this is because we are mentally prepared to wake up early and spend as much time as possible doing things we like doing.
Any suggestions on how to go about doing this even on a weekday?

mvk says on February 8th, 2007 at 3:15 am

Excellent post.. Two comments:

1. IMO exercise would contribute greatly to the waking early routine.. Yoga, Qigong, crosstrainer, etc. It’s all good.

2. Who came up with the design of those light-based alarm clocks??? Has anyone heard of similar clocks that look at least half decent?

sweet says on February 8th, 2007 at 4:27 am

Ill try it.

Sridhar says on February 8th, 2007 at 4:34 am

True. But, only for people who like to go to bed at 9pm.

What about people who are night-owls?
Who prefer to work in night for silence and peace around?

Anyways tips are good. Sad, not for me.

Daniel Albinsson says on February 8th, 2007 at 5:32 am

“How to start your day at 5:00 AM” Answer is: Get kids!

eric says on February 8th, 2007 at 7:43 am

You are absolutely right. I’m coming back from my 6:00am workout and saw you’re article. I’ve always been an early guy, my ‘natural’ wakeup time is 10am no matter what. it’s a little tough to get going at 5, but once you do it’s really fantastic. I get just about everything done i need to do by noon.

B says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:05 am

How to start your day at 5 am? Easy: marry someone who lives in Europe and put the phone next to your bed.

dan jolt says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:15 am

Here’s another free alarm clock tip:

My DSL modem/router also has VoIP and a firmware feature to set a phone alarm Monday - Friday. Having all phones ring in the morning until you pick one up does wonders to wake me up. Unlike the alarm clock sound, the phone ringing is something much harder to ignore. Plus you don’t get puniched if you forget to turn it off for the weekend.

Psychic Email Readings says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:16 am

Glad I don’t have to wake up at 5am! Good article though.

Balle Klorin says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:17 am

Agree with Daniel. With kids you won’t sleep until noon.

As for your article, everything you write seems obvious and I don’t think people would get any value from it. Everyone understands that you’ll wake up more if you have to walk a mile to turn off the alarm and such.

A better tip is to quit your job and sleep as long as you like.

tubbyman says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:17 am

Who are you trying to convince, me or you? If you wanna go to bed at 9, more power to you, but I don’t see how it’ll help me land a big account. Late night networking and entertaining is how a large portion of American business spreads, not by waking up to yell at the paperboy, gramps.

Ian says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:18 am

I envy you!! I know that I could get so much more done in the day if I just woke up earlier, yet I just cannot get into the habit. Although, constantly going to bed at 2am or 3am can’t help, I think I need to fix that problem first

Michael Wales says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:29 am

I’m an early riser as well. We have 3 shifts at work - one requires waking up at 0500 because it starts at 0600 - the other two start at 0730 and 0900.

Regardless of the shift I am on I wake up at 0500 - it allows me to get my PT in before work on those days (which I prefer).

ross says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:36 am

You make up a bunch of claims with no references to back them up. “Early-risers…report less stress…”, says who? There are many research papers at PubMed online at the NIH that discuss the differences in people’s sleep patterns.

化工网 says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:37 am

Glad I don’t have to wake up at 5am! Good article though.

Zac says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:46 am

My roomate and I started getting up at 4:00 am every monring and heading to the gym. (After softball and getting home at 1 some night this can be tough). What I have found out is that working out in the morning is like drinking two big pots of coffie and it keeps you going all day even when you are out late… It works.

GiomBee says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:46 am

I trained a monkey to taze me with 500,000 Volts when the alarm clock rings. That’s pretty much the most efficient technique I found so far. Now I can’t sleep knowing that the monkey is hiding under my bed though.

BrentP says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:49 am

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been doing what seems to be the impossible, getting up at 5.00 am, doing an hour of workout and getting into work for 7.00am, a whole hour before normal.

Today, I let myself sleep in until 6.00am, didn’t do my workout and I feel beyond tired now in work. I’m back to the coffe dependancy to get me productive.

So yes, getting up earlier means you’ll hit work with more energy, be more awake and also means you can get more done in your day (I never had the time to work out for an hour before).

It does sound hard, but once you get into the rhythym, you’ll be glad you did.

Mr.Cytizen says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:57 am

Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply well to everyone. I finish work at around 19:00+ every day. At home my fiance is waiting for me and I have interests, hobbies and obligations outside of my job. I arrive at home at 20:00 approximately. Were I to wake up at 5am each morning, it would leave me exactly one hour of recreational time after work before I would have to go to bed. I do cherish my 8 hours of sleep per night very much.

There are more issues, still. My life doesn’t evolve solely around the productive tasks that can be accomplished during the day. There are things I like to engage in with my friends, family and fiance that fall into hours which would clash with the idea of going to be very early.

If you can pass on evening leisures and night time activities, if you can leave your work place at 5pm and have a wife that does all the house work for you, then the 5am-wakeup lifestyle may be for you.

Dan says on February 8th, 2007 at 8:58 am

I find the absolute best way to wake up early is to forget the alarm clock and simply leave the curtains open all night. I find that I wake naturally as the daylight grows brighter, it’s a slow, relaxing and natural way to wake instead of the sudden jolt of an alarm clock. Of course this can’t be done to a specific time but at weekends it’s a great way to wake and it definately feels healthier.

James says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:06 am

I’d add “turn on every light immediately after waking up”. I read that somewhere before and it works amazingly well, especially for people who have trouble staying awake like me.

The reason it works is simple: your body is not use to being sleepy when bright lights are on.

The reverse is also true: 30 minutes before going to bed start turning off lights or dimming them. You’re gradually feel tired.

And if you’re trying to stay up late keep the lights burning.

Alex says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:13 am

One thing that works wonders for me:::

Being a coffee lover, caffeine doesn’t have that huge of effect on me. In fact, I commonly have my last cup of coffee within an hour of going to bed, and I sleep fine. But what it does do is allow me to wake up immediately upon hearing my alarm. If I have a cup of coffee in that last hour of the night, I sleep like a rock, wake up right at my alarm, and never even think about going back to sleep. I feel energized and ready to go right away.

Give it a try!

-A

Chaosician says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:23 am

Surprised I haven’t seen this trick, either–works GREAT for me. I’ve found that drinking about 16oz of H2O just before going to sleep allows it to filter through my system *just* enough so when the alarm goes off early (5:30 for me) there is more than just the need to get up–I also gotta pee!!! This is a great trick I learned in college for getting up early for snowboarding and the only downside is you kind of have to experiment (or learn to listen to your body) with the amount to drink at night–not enough, it’s ok, but too much will see you waking in the middle of the night which sucks!

Shannon Lucas says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:25 am

The alarm that I’ve found most effective is having the radio set to one of the local Hispanic stations. I don’t speak Spanish (unfortunately), but something about suddenly hearing a language I don’t understand seems to switch my brain on right away in the morning.

Burtmail.com says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:28 am

try http://www.sonicalert.com/htm/clock.htm

Patrick says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:32 am

I have found that the advice of Steve Pavlina really helps when it comes to being an early riser, too.

After reading this article, you can compliment it by reading Steve’s at http://www.stevepavlina.com/bl.....rly-riser/

dave says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:42 am

Why is it better to do things like exercise and pay bills 3 hours before I start work at 8 a.m. rather than 3 hours after I leave work at 4:30 p.m.?

Also, all the people who have mentioned that this will kill your social life are right on. This 5 a.m. business is maybe a good plan for people with kids, or people without a social life. You seriously go to bed that early on Friday and Saturday nights? What about your friends? Unless they’re all early risers, I’d think they’d find you a bit odd when you constantly bail on them at 10 p.m. because it’s past your bedtime.

Johansson says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:44 am

I don’t understand how you save time by getting up at 5 am. You lose the same amount of time by going to bed early!

sweetpixiesmile says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:46 am

Great article for those who WANT to be early risers and/or are WILLING to change for it. When I was growing up, I was an early riser. When I went to university, I became a night Owl. When I started work, I became an evening shiner, and at my new job, I am once again an early riser(5:30). Even with a 3hr commute both ways I can achieve most of my goals (see my kids for 1hr, eat for another hour, hang out for (usually) an hour, play 1 hour of Guildwars, then sleep (around 10pm).

The point is that you make your lifemodel, so you live with it. Lifemodels are routines you follow to achieve your true priorities (you want to wake up early, but you want to stay up until 2am socializing / gaming / drinking… NOT GONNA WORK!) If you don’t really want to change your lifemodel, DON’T; you’ll just end up frustrated and unhappy. THAT’S OK, since you’re following who you are and ultimately want to be. For instance, it’s a priority for TUBBYMAN to “land the big account” so he chooses a lifemodel that dictates that he must stay up late networking. No big deal (didn’t have to be rude though, tubby.) Lifemodels are choices; we only say “can’t” and “impossible” when the alternative of not following said lifemodel conflicts with our perspective and priorities.

country mouse says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:48 am

interesting. I’ve discovered no matter how early I go to bed, I’m in very rough shape if I get any earlier than 645. By rough shape I mean I’m out of it enough that I really shouldn’t drive and naps look awfully attractive starting at around 11 a.m.. Caffeine isn’t a solution either because all it does is make me wired and asleep.

John Montgomery says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:55 am

I don’t know about you, but when I used the same alarm last semester for waking up at 7:15 or so, every weekday for classes, that alarm started waking me up whenever I heard even the first note of it (it was a gradually longer beeping). However, in the sense of “waking me up” it also inspired a sense of loathing whenever I heard that first note. But the getting out of bed idea is great, my alarm I had to hop down from my top bunk to turn off, so that always helped to wake me up a bit.

Jumping to conclusions? says on February 8th, 2007 at 10:11 am

“Early-risers have more productive mornings”
This made me laugh out loud… Of course they’ve got more productive mornings, but who has more productive nights if you go to sleep at 9PM?

Some people like to wake up early in the morning, some people like to stay up till after midnight, waking up earlier doesn’t mean you’re more productive. Someone who wakes up at 12, then doesn’t go to sleep till 4 could be as equally productive. They are not related at all.

People’ve gotta learn to find out what works for them and do that, not follow someone else’s diet.

Good article, it’s just slightly inaccurate.

Charles says on February 8th, 2007 at 10:38 am

For those that wish to have a funky alarm clock, this the flying alarm clock

http://crazytopics.blogspot.co.....clock.html

rockyfeler says on February 8th, 2007 at 10:53 am

If I let myself sleep as much as I want and go to sleep as late as I want then I tend to wake up later and later. At 10 am, 12 am, 2 pm, 4 pm. It’s like my day is longer than 24 hours.

Derick Valadao says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:08 am

Good tips, I too am an early riser.

Fortunately, I’m the kind that can live off of 5 hours of sleep.

It’s not just the location of your alarm clock but also the kind, as was said earlier. Something as simple as a flip cell phone alarm clock that requires you to press a specific button will help you wake up by simply requiring you to actually open your eyes and press a button within a number of keys.

Excercise helps greatly with wakefullness. Regardless of when you decide to get that done, I work out during the evenings but I find I sleep far better than when skipping a day.

However, becoming an early riser is not recommended for those who (as said above) network and socialize during the week. Unless you can afford to hit the sack at 11 or 12, you’re best off getting up later. This goes double if the routine makes you groggy and irritable at work or on the rare night you end up going out.

That said, it takes some getting used to. Despite what has been said about our “natural clocks”, the belief that it is hard wired is false. Our circadian rhythms can be altered with routine. The worst thing you can do when attempting this is to alternate days, because your body will be unable to adjust to either routine. Setting aside the weekend for sleeping in, you can easily manage to be fresh and awaky by 5:30 am with a little routine (and maybe some coffee).

Donglord says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:10 am

Made-up health correlations + omitted requirements = amazingly helpful! Oh wait, actually you’d be much more productive if you woke up at 7:30 and got a decent night’s sleep.

Dropkickpuppy says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:12 am

I don’t think you can say being a night person is equally as good as being a morning person. It’s not the time that matters as much as it is whether you’re awake before you go to work and run errands or whether you stay up after that. Studies have found pretty conclusively that it’s better for your productivity and health if you take personal time before the day begins.

Shameless plug for my favorite gadget of the moment: A light-based clock that rotates through different colors. Piercing alarms wake me up already feeling anxious. They’re usually pretty pricey, but Target has one for $15 (make sure you get the cord for it): http://www.target.com/gp/detai.....B000JQXCLY.

Lance says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:19 am

I’ve been fortunate in that I wake up between 5:00am and 5:30am naturally. I haven’t used an alarm clock for over 25 years, and it doesn’t seem to matter what time I go to bed (which is usually between midnight and 1:00am). If I go to bed before 11:00pm, my wife figures that I must be ill.

I remember as a college student, living at home one summer, my parents had me tested for drug use because they couldn’t figure out when I was getting any sleep.

For me, the main benefit of rising early are early work hours (6:30-3:30), which gives me more time to spend with my family in the evening.

David says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:41 am

I’ve been getting up at 5AM for over 20 years and by choice alone. I got into the habit of getting to bed between 10PM-midnight (sometimes 1AM LOL, not to say that I’m not fatigued the next day on these occassions) and just mix it up for how I feel. I don’t actually need to be at work until 8:30AM but I’ve programmed myself to work from 7AM. What I do is get the coffee flowing and read the news papers for 1 hour before readying for work. I’ll vary in a 20 minute excersize routine every couple or few days. With today’s online news from endless sources, it makes for a fruitful morning. These days, it’s even more and more difficult getting away from news stories and articles because I have to get ready for work but I have no interest in getting up any earlier or changing my work hours to later.

This is what works for me.

Blake says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:41 am

I’m not a morning person but I travel all the time so I’m constantly dealing with jetlag. While on the road I’m constantly having to deal with those damn early mornings as well (meetings with clients and such). I also have a pretty active social life so I typically get 3-5 hours (I’m an insomniac normally so I typically can’t get more than this…when I sleep though I am comatose hehe) sleep a night with the occasional lazy weekend to recover lost sleep.

Obviously this took a bit of getting used to…I got to the point a few years ago where I was doing the 5x snooze button pushing so that I had to set my alarm an hour earlier than I wanted to get up just to make it to work. I even got to the point where I would incorporate the sound of the alarm into my dream and dazedly sleepwalk to whatever location I had placed it to shut it off. At this point I put it upside down to confuse my sleepy self, but I learned to unplug it completely from the wall. The main issue with alarms is that I have always been a HARD sleeper when I sleep and none I have ever found are shocking enough to snap me out of my coma.

Finally I found an effective method. I started bringing a pair of $20 speakers with me to plug into my laptop. I set up a scheduled task to play an mp3 in winamp and turn the volume to max. The laptop goes across the room. Whenever it goes off in the morning I instantly rocket out of bed and desperately rush to turn it off. Immediately after, I throw open the curtains, turn on all lights, and splash some cold water on my face and back of my neck. Ever since I’ve started doing this, I feel well rested throughout the day and alert.

I have some strange sleep habits so I don’t recommend anyone follow them, but if you can’t wake up using my method, you have stranger ones still heh.

Scott says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:48 am

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gad.....234945.php
Danger Bomb Clock!

From Gizmodo:
You’ll be shaked out of bed with explosion sound. To stop the bomb, you have to pull out just one code from 3. The safty code is set randomly every morning. So thrilling!

wanker says on February 8th, 2007 at 11:52 am

Great article. i use ‘Have a reason’ -
I like leave some porn by the bed and then knock one out when I wake up and that gets me ready for the day.

lb says on February 8th, 2007 at 1:05 pm

tbh that article missed a really important aspect; how to fall asleep at 8pm/9pm.

basically the way i see it is, first put the mind to sleep, then the body will go to sleep.

come 7:45pm i will usually go in my room and until 8:00 or later listen to relaxation music and relax, think about the day while just sitting down. sometimes with the lights off.

after 20 mins of music ill start to feel sleepy, then literally just un-dress, get in to bed. i usually fall asleep within a few minutes.

Ryan says on February 8th, 2007 at 1:09 pm

After reading a bunch of replies. I think I have nailed it down to this.

People that like their free time will argue to stay up later. Because honestly, who is paying bills, washing dishes, etc at midnight or later. These people are watching tv, hanging with friends or love ones.

People that want to wake up early are definitley more productive. All the stores are open, etc. However, your free time is limited. I assume most of the early risers are either older, have an early morning job, or family.

Just my 2 cents.

theDigitalG says on February 8th, 2007 at 1:15 pm

Here’s how I unintentionally started waking up at 5am (this also happened when I became a father but you also get up at 1am, 2, 3, 3:30..). If you live on the west coast, fly to Europe and stay there for 2 weeks so you get good and used to the time change. Now fly back. When I did this I started waking up around 5am. I found I got a lot done so I told myself to keep doing it (also a key part). Now I am lazier and get up at 5:30am but I still get a lot done. If you live on the east coast, fly to Russia.

Knde says on February 8th, 2007 at 2:51 pm

I just printed this article out for my boyfriend and I’m praying he’ll adhere to it! He works a 7AM to 3PM shift, refuses to go to bed until 1AM / 2AM in the morning and wonders why he’s always tired.

I’ve been a 5 o’Clocker since I was 10 (boarding school) and the habit’s stuck. All four years of college, Monday through Friday, I chose 8AM classes and my day was pretty much done by 12PM. I do like to be in bed at the very latest 11PM on weekdays and so get more than enough hours of sleep. I am much more productive in the mornings and I love having all my tasks for the day completed at the very latest by 3PM.

The 5AM does work for certain people. Thanks for the article!

Ubu says on February 8th, 2007 at 3:04 pm

My suggestions:
1) Go to bed 8 hours before you want to wake up. If you want to wake up at 5am, go to bed at 9pm. This gives you 1 to 2 hours of leeway, in case you have insomnia.

2) Buy a TiVo/DVR/PVR and record prime time and late night shows to watch during the day, at work, or on the bus.

3) Try waking up without the alarm clock going off. You shouldn’t need one. It is a modern invention. Keep the shades up.

4) Wake up at 5am on the weekends too. Don’t sleep in.

5) Don’t try to wake up at 5am in one shot. Work your way there. Start at 7am, and work backwards slowly, in 15 min increments.

Sandy says on February 8th, 2007 at 3:25 pm

Okay, let’s be realistic here, if you’re not a “morning person,” purchasing a ridiculous alarm clock that requires you to be a Jack Bauer at the ass crack of dawn in order to get out of bed, is only going to annoy you, wake you up for a couple of days, and then be thrown in the closet. It takes a hell of a lot more to push yourself to get out of bed, especially when it’s for a mundane day job that consumes the time you’d rather be using for your own creative purposes. Yeah, sure, of course getting up early for vacation is easier, but for must, using “paying bills” and “things that excite you” as your inspiration, these are not strong arguments to live by day after day. Regardless of whatever antics you use to wake yourself up in the morning, after a certain period of time, you will resort back to your natural sleeping/waking rhythms. I do feel that this changes as we age, from observation. However, I am 25 and getting up before 8 a.m. for me is really difficult.

I also have an issue with people arguing the most successful being early risers. This bothers me because I think the image people get in their mind is like a Fortune-500 CEO versus an assistant drowning in college debt, living paycheck to paycheck. Most CEO have so much to do that they end up compromising their personal lives by awaking early and working extremely late. This work ethic may be “successful” for them, but that doesn’t mean that everyone needs to adapt to that same way of life in order to achieve what they define as success. I know a lot of successful people who are quite happy and start at 10 a.m. as well. It’s all relative to the job.

Barbara says on February 8th, 2007 at 3:36 pm

It was always much easier to get up at 5AM than later because of my sleep cycle. After 5AM, I start down into another round and it is hard for me to rouse in the middle of a cycle. Figure out your cycle and adjust your sleep pattern. Now that I go to bed at 2AM getting up at 5AM is impossible.

max kingsbury says on February 8th, 2007 at 4:14 pm

But the real question: how do you get to sleep?

dave says on February 8th, 2007 at 4:38 pm

i find it easier to just go to bed at 5am, and then i have no problem not hitting to snooze button at 3ish in the afternoon.

pete says on February 8th, 2007 at 5:16 pm

What is with you people and ‘opening the curtains’? In the winter the sun won’t rise noticeably until maybe 7am in a lot of locales… 5AM? Never.

KushCash says on February 8th, 2007 at 6:22 pm

Never. Too many sheep to count.

David says on February 8th, 2007 at 6:48 pm

lol…. sleep with curtains open? the requirement to have a good night rest is to have a FULLY DARK room.

I have noticed it … I have recently moved and in my previous house I always had a dark room while sleeping but since the curtains haven’t been installed yet I have to sleep with a bit of (moon)light from outside.

The problem is while waking up I feel sluggish … I wake up but I keep lying in my bed for like 1-3 hours longer.

So… I can’t wait till they’re installed so I can have a good night rest and can wake up better.

I mean who does like it to wake up with light in your face?… I pull the sheets over my head and whoopie it’s 1-3 hours later lol.

Instead of waking up at 5 you can wake up at any time but do one thing… make it dark everywhere.. so when you walk in the living room it’s like it’s still night even if it’s very bright outside.

Then you do some exercises, drink a cup of coffee if you want… and when you feel you’ve wakened .. open up the curtains in the living room.

Also fresh air is important, taking a morning walk can do wonders keeping a window open 24/7 can do wonders too… but most people don’t because they don’t want to feel cold…. but then again it’s healthier.

Luke says on February 8th, 2007 at 10:23 pm

I HAVE to get up at 5:00 every morning for my new assignment and it freaking sucks. Sleep ’til 8:00 for me please.

Michael (Nozbe.com) says on February 9th, 2007 at 8:04 am

Still no success… I’ve even had a week of waking up quite early… but I guess I should change my mindset totally.

The problem is, as everyone mentioned, if you live with someone (ie. my wife) they may not want to appreciate waking up so early and especially listening to happy alarm clocks in the very morning… but we’ll see, I’ll give it another shot.

Keely says on February 9th, 2007 at 10:10 am

Clearly this person does not work till 2.30am. That would leave me with approx 2 hours sleep by the time I got home. Yeah I would be *real* nice to be around…..

kostas says on February 9th, 2007 at 10:30 am

digg more story……

Henry says on February 9th, 2007 at 9:40 pm

This is good advice, unless your a night person. I find that I can’t get anything done that early in the morning. Except for a job I had at a counter top factory, and that did not require too much thinking.
I prefer to stay up late and do my work in the evenings.

chenbo says on February 10th, 2007 at 10:28 am

I am led to here,thank costi,.
sounds nice.
I will have a try. But I don’t think I can succeed.

HyJinx says on February 11th, 2007 at 2:54 pm

For those that like the “wake up by light” idea, but don’t like the looks of alarm clocks with that feature (primarily geared toward hearing impaired folks with little design/function update since the early 90s) might want to look into home lighting control. For example the X10 protocol, not the annoying pop-up web site, has a lot of devices made for it and programable controllers. Starter kits can range from $25-$300 (just using the Smart Home site as an example, there are other dealers):
http://www.smarthome.com/prodindex.asp?catid=4

You could start as simply as the Cm11a Activehome kit (check out the Powerlinc Controller for USB, do a search to find Mac/Linux programming software). Program the Cm11a to turn on a lamp plugged into it say every weekday at Xam and every weekend at Yam. The “on” can be an instant 100% brightness or a gradual ramp up to 100%. Now, set the lamp a little ways away where you have to get up to turn it off. You could then expand your setup and programming to do things like turn on the bathroom light about the time you’d be stumbling from bed to turn off the first light. Etc.

Jose says on February 12th, 2007 at 12:24 am

I have been keeping my alarm clock out of reach from my bed for many years now. I find that having to stand up to turn off the annoying alarm really helps me to wake up. Though I must admit many times I simple went back to bed. But the other tips I read here will surely be more helpful and effective like putting the clock in the bathroom. I’m going to do that tonight. Thanks for the tips!

laboratorian-at-work says on February 13th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

Time and time again, I read the advice here on these other websites on “rising early.” Regardless, this is one thing I fail to understand: this advice is great if you are a code monkey, unemployed freelance web designer, or at some middling, average job.

But what if you’re not? I spend anywhere from nine to twenty hours each day in the office (on one or two over 30 hours), and rarely ever have advanced notice as to what and when I’ll need to pull an extended shift. Chalk that up to poor management and “executives” with shit-level people skills. Like yesterday–courtesty of three small changes and the sudden impatience of a If I don’t start the day with a healthy share of energy–I sleep a little more than six hours a night when I can–the results can be disasterous.

My beef is simple: getting up at 5 AM every day is pretty easy, if you don’t have tremendous demands placed on you at random. But if someone drops an eight-hour project on you at 6PM, things are much different.

So here’s my question–how do those of us in these high-stress positions where we’re often the anvil to the sudden-change-of-plans hammer go about implementing such a plan?

Anastasia says on February 13th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

Nice tips. I’m currently trying the alarm clock on the other side of the room technique, but sometimes I still manage to get up, turn it off, and climb back into bed! All sense of logic and rationality is completely absent from my brain in the morning - usually until I’ve had a cup of coffee…

Snoozer says on February 22nd, 2007 at 3:40 pm

I think for people with partners (wife, husband, girl/boy friend, etc.) the perception of getting up early and getting more done comes from your partners willingness to accept you getting up early to do personal stuff for yourself. The alternative is you stay up late doing your own thing and they tend to get upset because you are not going to bed with them when they are ready. They have no interest in getting up early with you so its no big deal for you to get up and start your day. This is my situation anyways. I am up in the morning at 5:30 or 6am, do my own thing for an hour or so then ride to work for exercise on a bike. I am usually up till 12am every night with a break at 10:30 to put the wife to bed and have some snuggle time. It took me about a month to get used to 5-6 hours of sleep but now I can’t sleep any longer than that. Somedays its annoying when I don’t have anything to really do and everyone else is sleeping and other days its nice to wake early and veg on the couch watching a movie. To each their own. Do what works for you and your partner(s)

Cinseh says on February 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am

Definately agree on the part on ‘Have a Reason’. It is the ultimate push. I have found that getting out of bed at 5am and going for a jog has helped instill a sense of purpose throughout the day. At 5am, the morning is dark, quiet and peaceful, a very enjoyable time to spend alone.

Thymn Sinhell says on February 27th, 2007 at 10:09 am

To those people using the ’social life’ excuse:

The reason this is the rhythm of successful people is because they live their social lives on the weekends.

Well it would seem …

Jeorge Tagnipes says on February 28th, 2007 at 12:24 pm

No one said they wake up to the radio…like in Groundhog’s Day. It’s annoying to be woken up by a repetitive buzzer sound, but waking up to the news and traffic on AM radio is informative and more gradual yet effective.

sassy says on February 28th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

I’d love to get up at 5 or even 6 am but my body won’t let me fall asleep until it’s after 12:00am. Plus, all of my favorite TV shows are on after 9:00pm.

Mike says on March 20th, 2007 at 1:31 pm

I generally go to sleep at midnight, and wake up at 5/6. I seem to be one of those weird people who needs next to no sleep.
I honestly cant understand why people would want more, nor can I understand why people dont get up immediatly after waking up. You are awake, do you have anything to gain from staying in bed? No.

Sleeping Dude says on July 24th, 2007 at 5:14 pm

I liked the puzzle trick - added to my collection of how to wake up early tricks at http://www.howtowakeupearly.com

AH says on December 27th, 2007 at 3:29 am

It doesn’t really matter when you wake up so long as you have a regular sleeping schedule that includes 8 1/2 - 9 1/4 hours of sleep. I tested this method and my energy doubled.