How to Wake Up Earlier: Morning Motivation

If you’ve always been a night owl, teaching your body how to wake up earlier and actually get yourself out of bed may seem far out of reach.

I’m getting up at 5am tomorrow – no matter what. Tomorrow’s my day. I’m waking up early. 

You proceed to set your alarm for 5am before bed and drift off into slumber. You open your eyes slowly the next morning to a bright blue sky, only to see that it’s 8am. Now you’re frantically jumping out of bed, wondering how and when you snoozed your 5am alarm.

Sound familiar?

Waking up early can be hard, especially if you’ve never been a morning person. It requires discipline, motivation, and patience for your body to adjust to a completely new routine. It’s tough, but with the right steps – it’s so doable.

Waking up earlier can result in plenty of positive changes in your life. More time in the morning equals more time to get to the things that usually get pushed down on your priority list (working out, taking time to journal, spending time on your side hustle, etc.).

If you’re looking for tips on how to wake up early, keep reading to get you started. (Or, watch our YouTube video, below!)

How to Wake Up Earlier

Don’t use your typical alarm clock

If you’re trying to figure out how to wake yourself up in the mornings, the first step is sourcing the right alarm. Rather than setting your typical cellphone alarm (with brutal sounds that your body is already clearly traumatized from), try something different.

A personal favorite, is the Mathe Alarm, an alarm clock app that requires you to complete a certain number of math problems before being able to turn off your alarm. You can set the total number of math problems you’d like to complete, along with the difficulty level. Theres no way you’ll be able to fall back asleep after setting an alarm like this. It’s a great way get you to wake up fast and on time (the app is free, too!)

Bonus: Don’t put your phone in arm’s reach the night before bed. Instead, try putting it across the room, so you’ll actually have to get out of bed to turn it off.

Find your motivation or “why”

Truth is, you’re not going to start waking up earlier if you don’t have a reason why.

What’s your motivation? Are you trying to get yourself back on track when it comes to your health? Have you set some serious stretch goals that you’re trying to achieve?

You have to know what your what your reason is for wanting to get up early in the mornings mentally, before your body can commit to it physically.

Once you’ve figured out your motivation, find a way to remind yourself of it every night once your head hits the below. Setting yourself up mentally the night before helps a ton when it comes to waking up early.

Create a routine that works for you

There are lots of articles out there nowadays on what the perfect morning routine is. Newsflash: there is no perfect morning routine.

Reading about a morning routine online and then copying and pasting it into your life is not going to help you get up in the mornings. Some people may wake up at 5am, do a workout, journal, meditate, make breakfast and start their day.

Perhaps your routine is waking up at 6am, working on your side hustle, then getting ready to go to work.

There’s no right or wrong.

Don’t push your body into a routine that doesn’t quite align with your goals or how your body functions (i.e. maybe you’re most creative first thing in the morning and have more energy to workout in the evening).

Try this instead: start with the hardest task of all – wake up, stay up, and get out of bed. Until your body adjusts to the time, spend the first few weeks of your mornings doing something that energizes you. NOT something you dread. Once your body has gotten used to the new time, start changing up your routine to how your ideal morning would look. One step at a time!

Set yourself up for comfort

What are some of the things you absolutely dread in the morning?

Is it the fact that your body’s cold and you just want to stay snuggled under the covers? Is it the thought of making a cup of coffee when you’re still half asleep?

Whatever it is, do everything you need to do the night before to set yourself up for comfort.

For example, if you’re freezing first thing in the morning and you have no desire to get out of your comfy bed, put a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants right beside your bedside so you can toss them on first thing.

Hate the thought of having to grind coffee beans, pour water into your machine and wait? Invest in a self-timer coffee machine, so your coffee is ready by the time you wake up.

There are lots of little things you can do that go a long way.

Look at something that motivates you as soon as you get up

Contrary to the belief that you should not look at your phone first thing in the morning, maybe you should.

If you need something to get your energy perked up as soon as you wake up and that just so happens to be on your phone – just do it.

Maybe it’s an inspirational quote from your fav #girlboss, or photos of your dream house. Take a moment in the morning to energize your mind and soul and start your day off on a happy note. The key here, is not to look at anything that may have the opposite affect.

Stay away from social media or the news if you can. Give yourself some time in the morning to ease into the day before diving into what happened in the world while you were asleep.

Waking up earlier can set your days, weeks, and life up for success – so don’t write it off before giving it a try! Just remember to listen to your body and energy levels and create a routine that works for you. Everybody and every body is different, so customize everything from your wake-up time to what you actually do in the mornings, for you.