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!
This is a great question! I recently changed jobs and my new one starts at 9AM. My old one started at 8:30 AM. My commute is now slightly shorter (time-wise) so I am getting used to being able to sleep later!
I now aim to get up at 6:15 and hit the gym before work. Before I was getting up at 5:30/5:45 to do so. I still can’t quite make it to 6:15 when my alarm is set, this week I’ve been waking up naturally at 6.
I get up at 5am. For a while, I was doing my workout right after that, about 5:30am – but I have since gone back to working out in the evenings because even getting up that early, I was still rush-rush-rushing to get to school on time (I am a teacher). Now I use some of the AM time to read blogs, catch up on email, and do a bit of yoga and stretching. I am dying to try Chia Seeds – I have been reading about them for a while and want to give them a try! :)
I get up around 5:45 every morning so that I can get a morning workout in before I have to go to school/work. I LOVE working out in the mornings first thing. It gives me the best energy to get me through the day and I am so much more happier!!
I get up at 7 on Tuesdays and Thursdays for class and closer to 9 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday because I can! :)
I’m up at 5:00 so I can get a workout in, and get myself dressed and ready before I have to wake up the rugrats! Plus, it makes the fact that the kids wake us up at 7:00 on weekends seem like an incredibly decadent sleep-in! ;)
I am in grad school, so my mornings can be flexibly on the later side. I like to get up by 7 so I can fit in morning yoga before class!
Great giveaway. I’m a teacher, so work starts early. I wake up at 6:10 and am out of the house by 6:50.
It’s completely dependent on my work schedule, but if I don’t set an alarm I’m usually up by 7–because that’s when my body says, I’m bored, stop sleeping!
I used to get up at 5:30 to work out, but it made me sick! Now I get up at 7:30, just in time to get to my ballet class at 8:30.
My mini alarm clock (my 16 month old) goes off at 7am every single morning. We eat breakfast and then head to the gym by 8:30ish :)
I wake up between 5:30 and 6 every morning because I like to spend a looonnnnggggg time eating breakfast before my 8am class! It always tastes so much better when it’s spread out over an hour or so :)
i get up at 5:45 to work out and do yoga before I get ready for work, which starts at 8. It’s hard some days, but it makes a HUGE difference in my day!
Pick me please :)
I wake up at 6:30am so I can hope into my car and start my 45 min commute to work and get there by 8!
Since I am in college, what time I wake up varies every day. It does not do good things for my sleep schedule…now that I think about it I should probably try to wake up earlier on days that I do not have my 8am classes just to stay on track.
Hey Angela!
I love your blog! I read it everyday! On days when I workout, I get up at 5:45am. All other days it’s shamefully much closer to 7am. I am not a morning person :( But I LOVE chia seeds!
Well, now that I’m pregnant I’m up between 6 and 6:30. I go to bed at 9:30! I love it :) Before I got pregnant, I was up at 5 every morning to work out and then have a slow, relaxing breakfast before work. I <3 the morning!
During the week I have a 6 am internal clock wake up call..been getting up at that time for about 5 years now and I can no longer sleep in!
My alarm goes off at 6:10, but I stay in bed and start to wake up until my husband is out of the shower. I have a lot of trouble just jum,ping right out of bed, so my alarm is set earlier than it has to be. This way I give myself 50-60 minutes to get ready for work!
I get up between 6:30 and 7:00 to get myself and the kids ready for the day. I am absolutely NO morning person but am a teesny bit inspired to put myself to the challenge too after seeing your success. Good luck with 5:30, you will get there!
Summer
I just started a new job so I have to get up earlier than normal, that being said I am NOT a morning person but I am trying to get up at 6am every day to shower, get ready and then have a good breakfast. I find that by the time i get to work I am fully awake, a huge change from my past behavior or sleeping in and then rushing to work. So far I feel great!