Hacks to wake up early every day

Most of us want to wake up early. But we find it difficult to do the same. We use different methods and techniques. Some people succeed and some do not. I have been trying to wake up on or before 5:00AM every morning for the last 1 month or so. And I have been pretty successful. No matter how my day has been, the latest I woke up has been at 5:20AM. In 90% of the days, I have been waking up at 5:00AM or earlier. Here are some of the hacks that have really helped me wake up early in the morning.

1. If you have a strong why, the how becomes easy::

Have a reason or a purpose for waking up early. Have a very clearly defined life goal. You should believe that the goal is achievable. Then, tie up the goal to your waking up by defining recurring actions that will help achieve your goals. This will give a meaning for waking up early. Your waking up early will have a purpose. You will know exactly why you are waking up early and what exactly you have to do after you wake up. This leads to the next hack.

2. Develop a Morning Ritual::

As soon as you wake up, follow a set of activities that will contribute to your long term goals. A morning routine may consist of making your bed, preparing and drinking tea, doing meditation, practicing affirmations, visualizations, reviewing your long term goals, setting up daily goals that supports the long term goals, reading some inspirational books, going for a work out, having a good breakfast, etc. Apart from the benefits that these rituals have, they help in waking up early in an interesting way. Create a checklist with each of these rituals on a daily basis. You can use an excel spreadsheet for the same. Give 1 point to each of these rituals. Add the totals to find the daily score. Keep the score for a month. This will help you invoke the competitive spirit within you and try to score more points each day trying to better your own score.

3. Leverage Social Media::

Create a social network group in whatsapp or Facebook with like-minded people who want to wake up early. Announce your goals to this group publicly. Then support and encourage others in the group to wake up early. Other group members will also encourage you when you succeed and support you whenever you fail. You can ask any questions related to waking up, sleep and post other motivational quotes and posters to the group. Read as many inspirational articles on waking up early, it's benefits, motivational videos and other hacks to keep yourself motivated. Post your daily wake up time to this group. Ask other members to do the same. 

4. Develop a Bed Time Ritual::

A typical person needs 7-8 hours sleep every night. Plan your time to sleep accordingly.  Do  not watch television or use mobile or laptop at least for an hour before bedtime. Eat a light dinner. Make the room dark and use a mildly fragrant room freshener. Then go to sleep. While sleeping, think about the ritual that you have to complete the next morning. This will help put you to sleep quickly and you wake up early, fully rested. 

5. Be Prepared::

This is difficult. This requires consistent effort and loads of patience. You can be sure that you will not be able to achieve your goals of waking up early every day. Some days you will get up late. But don't lose heart. Introspect why you slept late and attack the cause. Try again the next day. One day it will be effortless. 

6. Set Alarm ::

Last but most important, do not forget to set up the alarm. I typically set up 2 alarms, 10 minutes apart, so that, even if I snooze it once, I will wake up the second time. 

These are some of my tips to wake up early. Your life will change if you establish this habit. This is a Keystone habit as many other good habits depends upon this one. 

All the very best for your life changing journey!