HEY-LO!!!!
Wow two posts a day, two days in a row. It feels like the good old days. I told you that my blogging was much quicker now! Thank you Eric, techie genius. ;)
I feel literally ah-may–ZING since I have started NOT multitasking and the Early Rising Challenge. I have an extra kick to my step. I can’t wait to see what I feel like in a few weeks if this has only been a few days. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so that is what I am shooting for.
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Some of you have been asking me how I am getting up early so I thought I would talk about it a bit tonight and tell you what has worked for me so far.
Here are some of my Early Rising Challenge tips:
- GET WARM: If your place is like mine, it is freezing when you wake up. The walk from the bedroom to the bathroom is the most painful thing I experience all day. COLD. I have found that it is much easier to get out of bed if my fluffy robe and slippers are beside the bed. As soon as I get up the robe and slippers go on and I instantly feel a bit (bit) better about getting up. I also have a small space heater in our bathroom that I immediately turn on when I get up. I look forward to the warmth and I stand beside it for a few minutes while I brush my teeth. These little rewards add up in the early morning!
- WAKE UP NATURALLY WHEN POSSIBLE: I don’t use an alarm clock. I have this strange internal clock that I can ‘set’ before bed and I magically awake for that time. I prefer not using an alarm clock because it means that I am more likely to wake up at the end of a sleep cycle– and not being jolted awake in the middle of one! This method is not for everyone of course (i.e., my hubby). If you can’t go without your alarm clock, I suggest putting it across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.
- CAFFEINE: I will bulldoze anything in my path to get to the kettle in the morning to make my Japanese Sencha. It has just enough caffeine to wake me up and energize me. While I don’t suggest consuming massive quantities of caffeine, I think a little bit is nice!
- GET YOUR ENDORPHINS: If you are going to the trouble of getting up early you might as well cross off your workout while you are at it! I feel ‘ok’ after 15 mins. of rising, but I feel especially AMAZING after an early morning workout. I will be honest though, the first 10 minutes of my workout are often brutal and I feel like I have no energy, however after 10 minutes I magically wake-up and it goes pretty well. When I workout in the early morning I have half a Glo Bar or a Run bar to tide my hunger over until breakfast, which is usually 1-1.5 hours later (after workout and showering).
- REWARD YOUR SUCCESS- TWICE! I want a morning reward and a weekly reward for my hard work! My morning reward is having more time for a relaxing, delicious breakfast. I also spend a bit more time reading fun blogs or reading my book. For my weekly treat, I was thinking giving myself ‘permission’ to buy a special item at the grocery store that I typically don’t buy. Nothing motivates me more than good food! ha!!! ;)
- BE FLEXIBLE: A reader named Ariel gave me this great tip. She says to be flexible with the goal time that you set for your early morning. So for example, if Ariel’s goal time is 5am, she won’t be hard on herself if she gets up at 5:30 on some mornings. We have to take into account the fact that some days we will just need more sleep than others and that is OK! Be flexible with yourself and you will be less stressed and happier (this applies to all areas of life too!).
I was asked if I have a ‘goal time’ for the Early Rising Challenge.
The answer is YES.
You know me, I need goals to strive for in everything that I do. I find they are so motivating. My goal is 4:45-5am wake-up time, and a more realistic goal is probably 5:30am, given Eric’s sleep schedule and the fact that I do need to spend quality time with him in the evening! :) I can’t see myself going to bed much earlier than 10pm, but maybe that will change with the earlier mornings. Baby steps…
All in all it is only day two of the challenge and I am already feeling so much more productive and overall much happier. That is in part thanks to my NOT multitasking too! My life is feeling more simplified with each passing day and I am really excited to keep at it and see what benefits I get from it.
Would you like a chance to win a 2 pound bag of CHIA SEEDS from Chia Seeds Direct?
Just answer this simple question below:
- What time do you get up in the morning during the weekdays and WHY!
Contest open to Canadian and US residents only please. Runs until Friday Jan 15th at 8am.
BONNE CHANCE MES AMIES!
See you tomorrow AM for Pumpkin Pie Baked Breakfast Cake.
I’m off to do Whittle My Middle 2 with Eric, then make some din dins. Ta-ta!
My goal wake up time is 6:00a.m., but with me working evenings and sometimes not falling asleep until after midnight, this can be tough. On days when the kids permit later sleeping, I sometimes manage to sleep until 7 :)
I wake up at 6:30 with an alarm during the week, but haven’t been rolling out of bed until 6:46 due to the FREEZING weather in New England. You are 1000% right about the cold being a factor in getting up, Angela! I’ve had an awful time peeling off the covers since the temps have dropped!
Between 6:30 and 7 am , because of school ! :( I’d much rather sleep in till 8 atleast ;). I’ve never tried chia seeds before, itd be so cool to win! :D
I wake up around 7am every morning. My alarm clock is a beautiful and charming two year old asking: “Is it morning time mama?”
I’m up at 5:00am everyday to make it to work for 7:30am! Thankfully I’m a morning person.
Diana
I sleep until 9AM on weekends because I don’t have anywhere to be!
Ass a college student i made the biggest mistake-7:30am class! BAD CHOICE! thus ive been forced to get to bed by 10 and wake up by=6:30 ( thats the goal time) realistically i wake up at 7 and may or may not even go to class :P
But early morning workouts are BEST! for sure!
usually around 6:45…for no reason ugh!
Two pounds of chia! Just thinking about the amount of iskiate I could make with that gets my endorphins going!
I generally wake up between 6 and 6:30 – in part because that’s when my body tends to wake me up, and in part because I’m much more productive earlier in the day than later, so I try to make the most of my mornings.
now that im home from school for winter break, i typically get up around 830-9. but when im at school, its closer to 730-8ish
A week ago, I was definitely the opposite of the “amazing start” example in the Zen Habits article you mentioned. I’d grumble out of bed at the very last second. This week, my fiancé and I are trying the early rising challenge and our goal time is about 6:30. It’s been fun to start our day with breakfast together at home before going our separate ways for the day. Thanks for inspiring two non-morning people. :)
I get up between 7 and 7:30-this is all dependent upon what time my alarm clock (1 1/2 year old son) wakes me up!
I set my alarm for 6:45, and wake up any time between then and 7:15. Lately it has been closer to 7:15. I need to be up that early in order to get ready for work (it takes me forever!) and so that I have time to walk the 45min to the office.
Good luck with your early rising challenge! I don’t know if I could ever be up by 4:45!
I usually wake up at 8AM but I really should be waking up at around 7AM. I can’t wake up for the life of me early enough to get a workout in and yes you’re right – if it doesn’t get done in the morning, it never gets done. So that means I haven’t been working out or exercising at all in probably a month! Fortunately, I haven’t gained a single ounce, and I still wake up in the mornings feeling refreshed and energized, AS IF I HAD JUST WORKED OUT! Seriously. It’s amazing. I have sore muscles and all to prove it.
it depends what day it is, AND what time of the year it is- for this semester: monday or tuesday, i have to be up at 5:15, wednesday i sleep in, and thursday or friday i have to be up at 8:00. this past month (over Christmas break) I have been able to sleep in, and it has been FANTASTIC! nursing school starts again on the 19th of January, and I am going to be rocked! :(
I wake up around 7:30 but am taking part of the challenge with a goal of waking up at 6am!!!
Pre-Christmas I would wake up between 5:45pm – 6:45pm, as my daily schedule changes (I’m a Special Ed. teacher on the move).
Now, post-Christmas, I have a brand new treadmill!!! I am waking up between 5-6am to get in a 30-40min workout!
I too feel completely energized from morning work-outs! After my work-outs I have a tasty green monster with Chia seeds to look forward to!
I have to admit that I am lazy and do not get up until 8. I don’t have a lot to do in the morning so I find myself sleeping in. I am trying your sleep challenge to rid myself of this bad habit.
I so want to be more of a ‘morning person.’ Whenever I get up early, I feel like I get so much more done! Right now, I get up around 8-8:30, but will probably start getting up earlier when I get back to WI… closer to 6:30!
I wake up just before 7 am every morning whether I have an alarm set or not. Not only do I have an internal clock, I have an external cat that’s pretty determined to get me up and out of bed by 6:50. I use the time to fit in short workouts while my breakfast is cooking. I mix and match between playing DDR, pilates/yoga, and doing calistenics. Then after breakfast it’s off to class!