8 psychological strategies for getting up early
Sometimes it's hard to get out of bed, but this change of habit can be relatively bearable.
Getting up early is one of the most difficult habits for some people, especially on days when it's freezing outside and they feel like staying in bed.Especially on those days when the outside temperature is freezing and you feel like lying down and enjoying the comfort of your bed and pillow.
I'm sure it has also happened to you that despite setting the alarm with the best of intentions and knowing that you needed to be up and about soon to complete a number of tasks, you have stayed in bed. In fact, you've even turned the alarm off and not even noticed.
Differences between morning and evening wakefulness
Although a Semmelweis University study found that people with a high IQ preferred to live at night, being smart, in fact! comes down to adopting healthy sleep habitsThe results of this research show that early risers can help you be more productive during the day, perform better and enjoy greater overall wellbeing (you can learn more about this research by clicking here).
However, some experts claim that the differences between people who wake up early and those who don't is that some are morning people and others are afternoon people. People who wake up early in the morning have a great difficulty in waking up in the morning, and in the afternoon or evening they have a great difficulty in waking up in the afternoon or evening.and in the afternoon or evening they feel lucid and energetic. This seems to be related to the "clock" gene, which secretes melatonin at a different rate than others. Now you have the perfect excuse to stay in bed until late.
You can learn more about this topic in this article: "Smart people prefer to live at night and find it harder to sleep".
Strategies for getting up early
However, it is possible to adopt a series of strategies that will help you get up early, it is possible to adopt a series of strategies that will help you get up early to be able to reach everything. They are as follows.
1. Get up with music
The classic alarm has gone out of fashion. Now it is possible to program some alarm clocks with songs in the morning. You can program, for example, a heavy metal song that will make the walls of your room rumble and get you out of bed quickly. You will have no choice but to turn off that annoying alarm so that your ears don't suffer. However, this strategy is not very useful if you live with other people or if you sleep with your partner.. Unless they also want to get up at the same time as you.
If you are not a big fan of heavy metal, you can try other types of songs. A good alternative are motivational songs and songs that positively affect your mood. In the article "The 20 best songs to get out of bed, according to the University of Cambridge" you can find a wide variety of musical themes that will help you get up better and be more lucid during the first hours of the day.
2. Put the alarm clock away from your bed
The main problem with getting up early when you are tired is that, despite setting the alarm, you tend to postpone your early start by changing the alarm time or simply turning it off almost without realizing it. This is something that has happened to all of us, and that we tend to do when we don't really feel like getting up, we feel lazy or our body needs more hours of rest.
A good strategy to avoid this situation is to set the alarm far away from the bed so you need to get up to turn it off. so that you need to get up to turn it off. If you combine this with the previous point (i.e., playing songs at a high volume), you will quickly get up and turn off that song that wakes up the whole neighborhood.
3. Use an app
With the irruption of new technologies in our lives, there are many applications that we can download to make our lives easier. This also includes getting up early. That is why in the app store of your device you can find some curious apps like "Puzzle Alarm Clock.
The feature of this application is that to turn off the alarm users must perform a series of special actions, for example, complete a mathematical operationfor example, complete a mathematical operation. This requires great concentration, so it will be necessary to be wide awake and you will lose the desire to continue sleeping.
4. Go to bed early
You may be able to get up early one day if you follow these tips, but if you want to be able to get up early on a regular basis, you need to start going to bed at a decent hour.
Don't expect to get up at 7 am if you go to bed at 2 am.. "An important factor in being able to wake up easily at the desired time in the morning is to have your circadian rhythm or body clock under control," says researcher Leon C. Lack, a professor in the School of Psychology at Flinders University in Australia. To wake up early, much of what we do the day before (or days before) has a lot to do with it.
5. Avoid caffeine after 6:00 a.m.
This point is closely related to the previous one, but it is necessary to remember it so that you understand that it is not positive to take stimulants at night. Experts advise not to drink caffeine after 6 p.m., to avoid a counterproductive effect on nighttime sleep. Remember that not only coffee contains caffeine, but also other foods or beverages other foods or beverages such as Coca-Cola also contain this substance..
6. Take care of your environment
If you want to wake up early, you should take care of your environment. This means that you have a correct temperature in the room, a comfortable mattress and a comfortable pillow that allow you to sleep well and have a good night's sleep. that allow you to sleep well and have a quality and restful sleep..
You should also avoid having the TV on when you go to bed, because if you like what you watch, it will probably take you longer to fall asleep and you may have to wake up at night to turn it off.
7. Have a light dinner
If taking care of your environment is important to fall asleep at a good time and not to wake up in the middle of the night because you are sweating too much or because you have to turn off the TV, having a light dinner is important. Why? Well, because large meals at night can cause insomnia and hinder restorative sleep. and hinder restful sleep.
8. Work on sleep hygiene
Sleep hygiene is a set of practices that allow you to sleep well. It refers not only to the quantity of sleep, but also to its quality. Having good sleep hygiene influences the well-being and performance throughout the day..
Good sleep hygiene is key if we want to wake up early and be productive the next day, and there are many causes that can hinder it: work schedule, bedtime habits, lifestyle, etc. Therefore, the goal of sleep hygiene is to go to bed and wake up respecting a schedule throughout the week, but it is also its purpose that you sleep in a healthy way, that is, respecting the 6-8 hours recommended by experts.
If you want to go deeper into this topic, you can do so in this article: "10 basic principles for a good sleep hygiene".
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)