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.
[Source]
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!
normally I get up at about 8am and I stay up until about 12 or 1… I am a night person but I also love early mornings :)
My alarm goes off at 5:20 a.m. and then I get out of bed at 5:33 a.m.
I get up at that odd time because it works for me. The reason I get up is because I go to a community boot camp class M-F. In addition to having 10 other people waiting for me, I am doing this for my health.
I may be changing my work schedule to accommodate for my training for a 15K in April. That means waking up earlier but I would be working out in our garage area. It is worth it to me!
I really would LOVE to try the chia seeds. Please pick me!
I get up at 5:30 on weekdays, because that’s when my 6 mos. old wakes me. Actually, I got up at that time pre-baby as well, and got my workout in. I love it – I’m totally a morning person.
I wake up around 7:00 am everyday. If I wanted to work out in the morning it would need to be closer to 5am. EEK!
I wake up at 6:30 about 3 days a week and 8 the otehr days…I HATE waking up w/ anyting starting w/ a 5!!! or a 4!?
I like to wake up around 6:30. I love a quiet campus and house then!I walk to the gym that opens at 6:30, and can come home and shower for a walk to class at 9 am. Sometimes I even make it to an early morning yoga! ( xmas break i just sleep so deep at home- naturally waking up at 9am!urrr!oh well)
i aim to be up by 6-6:30ish. this give me time to get to the gym in the morning & hopefully get home with enough time to shower!
I get up at 4:28 AM!!!! I have work at 5 in the morning. Haha and yes those 2 extra minutes help! PS: I wake up to the soft music on the radio and not blairing beeps! It’s a little more comforting.
I am usually up between 5 or 6am. Thats when my 2 month old son likes to eat his breakfast. :)
What time do you get up in the morning during the weekdays and WHY?
I wake up between 5am and 7am during the weekdays, depending on how much I have to do (and not much later on the weekends)
I have always been a morning person, so it’s easy for me to get out of bed, also I believe that it’s much harder to put something off (gym, work, chores) if they’re already done by the time everyone else finally wakes up.
I wake up at 5 am every morning, I have to be at work at 6:30! Yikes!
I get up between 10 and 11 because I work until midnight and usually can’t wind down enough to sleep until 2 a.m. :)
and now I feel like a complete bum with everyone else getting up before 7 a.m. ….
I get up at 4:30 am. I have 3 kids and I teach 4th grade in a town that is 30 minutes away from home. I like to have time to run, shower, and eat before I have to get my kids up and ready for school. It’s sounds crazy, but without that “me time” in the early morning hours, my day is so unproductive. My early morning workouts give me the energy to be ready for my kids and my students.
I try to get up at 6am. Unfortunately, my snooze button and I have become very acquainted and I usually jump out of bed closer to 6:30am. Then I have to rush through the rest of my morning because by that time, I’m running late!! I hate it but I just can’t seem to rise any earlier. My husband used to be the one to wake me up because it takes awhile to even hear the alarm clock going off but he didn’t like the fact that I wouldn’t get out of bed and he’d have to keep pressing snooze! lol I have faith though. One of these days….years….I’ll be able to set the clock and actually get up!!
I get up at 5am because it’s the only way I can work excercise into my schedule!
Really, I can spell exercise properly…
I set my alarm (definately NOT one with an internal alarm) for 5:52am, but then hit snooze and get up anywhere w/in 2-15 mins of that. I am not an early riser, much more of a night owl, I usually have to force myself to go to bed, but I do what I have to for work.
Depending on what office I am in that day- I work in three different counties- I either get up at 5, 5:45, or 6:30. How’s that for variety :)
i wake up at 6:45am its the absolute latest i can get up, shower, make breakfast and run to my bus stop to go to work.
I wake up every morning at 7am without an alarm clock. I get up at that time because I leave for work at noon. That allows me enough time to eat, workout, shower and run errands. I go to sleep at 11:30pm. I always feel great and refreshed in the mornings!
Getting up at 5:15 a.m. every morning allow me to get in a good 45-60 minute work-out before work. I like to get up and make breakfast for my husband and kids before everyone starts their day. Angela, you would love to hear that I have my 20 year old son (a vegetarian for 8 years) lovin’ the green monsters. I can really load his up with extra peanut butter and other goodies since calories aren’t a prpoblem with him.
One last good thing about early morning risin’…one shower a day!