One of the best habits I have ever developed was establishing a pattern about a year ago of getting up at 5:00 am every weekday morning.
I know most of you probably want to stop reading at
this point. But hang with me for a bit. I’m not saying everyone should get up
at 5:00 am every day at all. I’m saying that it has been one of the most
rewarding things I’ve done in my life. Getting up at 5:00 am doesn’t happen every single weekday for me. Especially
during the school year when unexpected assignments can keep me up late, I have
to get sleep when I can. However, it is a great pattern to establish.
Getting up at 5:00 is hard. Definitely. But here are some tips I use that I hope can help you with that very first battle we all face each day.
1.
Establish WHY you're getting up early
Why in the world WOULD you get up at 5:00 am in the
morning? For me, it was because my mornings were busy, and often my afternoons,
and I needed time to get school done. As I rolled into summer, I wanted a time
dedicated to writing blog posts for Morning Glory as well as other various
writing projects. Also, it is so refreshing
to start the day off with my Bible in the peace of a quiet house of sleeping
family members.
It feels amazing to have three fresh, productive
hours before 8:00 am. For me, it makes me feel like a busy day is less daunting
if I have several hours of quiet time with God and my school or writing.
2.
Make a firm decision the night before to get up no
matter how you feel
When 5:00 rolls around, TRUST ME—you will not want
to wake up. You will be lying there, “Do I have
get up at 5:00?? I don’t have anything that needs to get done right now. I can get up early tomorrow.”
NO.
Don’t let those thoughts persuade you to go back to
bed. You must make a firm decision the night before that you will get up. No matter if you feel like
you’ve been mowed over by a truck.
3.
Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room
I’m a hard sleeper and I’m sorry, but having my
alarm clock on the bedside table does not
wake me up. Countless times I’ve flopped over and hit it and gone back to
sleep. I keep it on my dresser on the other side of my room so I physically
have to get up and turn it off. Days that I’m really, really exhausted, I still
might crawl back into bed without thinking and fall asleep. But in general,
physically getting out of bed helps me a lot.
4.
Turn on your light immediately
Sitting in the dark being like, “Wake up! Wake up!”
isn’t going to help at all. Turning on the light helps a lot.
5.
Leave your room to make breakfast and coffee
Again, more movement to wake me up. You could take
a shower or something like that. Making breakfast helps me.
6.
Do NOT read your Bible (or pray) in bed
Just don’t do it.
I have a specific memory of getting up to read my
Bible and deciding I would “pray” in bed. I snuggled up in my warm comforter
after reading the first couple chapters of Acts and started foggily praying,
“God, thank You for…for…for giving the disciples Your Holy Spirit… And… thank
You… Like… I love You…” And the clonk I was asleep.
Don’t do it.
7.
Have someone keep you accountable
My dad usually wakes up between 4:00 am and 5:00
am. He gives me a hard time if I sleep in later than 5:00. It is really
helpful.
8.
After breakfast and quite time, get to work
No crawling back in bed. No lying on the couch or
even floor. Sit down at your desk and get work done. It became such a joy to
sit down at my desk at 5:30 and write for two hours before the house woke up.
9.
Make it routine
It’s crazy hard to get up at 5:00 am one or two
days a week. You have to get up every day or every week day consistently so
that your body gets used to it. After a few days, it gets a lot easier.
10. Discipline yourself to go to bed early, at a pre-planned time
I still needed to get sleep every night. It’s
extremely hard for me to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5:00 and it’s not
healthy. Going to bed earlier makes it easier to wake up earlier.
Is this something you would like to work on in your life? If you do already wake up early, what are some
helpful things that you’ve done? Share in the comments!
Oh, I so needed this! I always promise myself at the beginning of the school year that I am going to get up at 5:00 every weekday morning. But towards the end of the school year, I get up later and later. You have inspired me! I am going to get up a 5:00 tomorrow! Hopefully :)
ReplyDeleteYes! Going to work on this for sure. I had a 6am routine going for a while and then I got sick a while back and had to get extra sleep so I got out of the habit...also it's so hard for me to go to bed early, but I'm going to start fresh and get back into this habit. Thanks for the inspiration!! :)
ReplyDeleteI love it!! This is totally how I am in the morning when my alarm goes off. 😄 As Sunny said, thank you for the inspiration! I notice on days when I get up early to when I don't get up early that I lose soooo much time in which I could do so many things!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteLol!! We all hate the moment our alarm goes off. :P Yes!! The days that I wake up early are by far the most disciplined and productive days. :) I'm so glad you enjoyed the post! And thanks for commenting!
DeleteI used to get up at five every morning for a few months about a year ago, but I always wandered listlessly around the house like, "I'm not doing anything. I might as well sleep." Now, I want to try again using your first tip to establish a reason why I want to get up early. I want to have my devotions, talk to God, shower and get ready for the day, and write! I know the moment my alarm clock goes off tomorrow I will be so against it, but I need to start this habit back up. Thanks for the encouragement and tips! I think I will finally be able to start writing more consistently if I set a time each morning specifically for writing.
ReplyDelete