So I didn’t think this blog post would be that interesting of a topic but the vast majority of you voted that you wanted to hear about this so here we are!

The other week I wrote a blog post about how I stay organized, on schedule, and basically get sh*t done during the day. There are several tools I use, but one of the things I talked about that has made a huge difference is my “schedule” during the day. So my “schedule” is basically the same, like, I’m doing the same things during the day, but just at a different time. So to recap, my old schedule was wake up around 7:30am and go to bed around 11/11:30pm. Now, I wake up at 5:30am and go to bed around 9:30/10pm. I talked about this in the other blog but long story short, even though I’m working on the same tasks during the day, I feel like I finish everything so much quicker and therefore end up having more free time/don’t feel super pressed for time during the days like I used to. Since from 5:30am-10am my time is basically interrupted (especially because I’m on EST), it really streamlines my workday. I get my workout done and a good amount of work done within this first part of the day.

So with that being said, how did I start waking up earlier? The main thing is just to go bed earlier and give your body time to get used to it LOL. I will admit the first few days were rough. I remember the first day I was so tired after waking up that I took a 30 minute nap on the couch at 7am, whoops! But by the end of the week I was feeling much better and the second week in I felt great–not tired at all in the mornings, and actually energized. But yeah the main thing is you just have to get your body accustomed to a new schedule which is hard at first when you’re used to a certain sleep schedule.

For me, I just got into bed around 9:30/9:45pm and tried to force myself to fall asleep. The first few days I couldn’t fall asleep until like 10:30 or later but I just forced myself to get up at 5:30am. I eventually was tired enough later in the week that my body wanted to go to sleep earlier (9:30/10pm) and so then it was easier for me to get on my desired schedule. I know people say it can be really helpful to just adjust your sleep schedule by 15 minutes a day and slowly work your way into your new schedule. So if you normally wake up at 7:30, set your alarm for 7:15 for the next few days (and go to bed 15 min earlier), then set it for 7am for the few days after that, etc. Until you get to the new time you want to wake up at.

I know it can be so hard to wake up earlier, especially if you’re not a “morning person” or your body just isn’t used to it. Whenever the alarm goes off, I typically lay in bed for 15 minutes (my schedule is alarm goes off at 5:30, snooze until 5:45, get up, and start workout around 6:15am), and whenever I’m tempted to just stay in bed, I remind myself of how much better my whole day feels when I’m up earlier. It’s painful in the moment but it’s like, 5 minutes worth of feeling “uncomfortable” waking up that early, or having the entire day feel “uncomfortable” because I slept later and ended up being so much more pressed for time. Another thing that can help incentivize you to get up is to put your phone/alarm somewhere that you can’t reach it in bed. Your alarm gets annoying really quickly when it’s blaring nonstop! Lol.

With all that said, you have to find what schedule works best for you. I tried staying up later (like 1am) and working into the night, and then waking up later but I didn’t love how I felt doing that. I’d wake up and constantly feel behind and I didn’t feel particularly well rested either. But maybe that works for you! I would however definitely try waking up earlier and seeing how you feel during the day. Give it a solid 4 weeks and see how you feel and if you don’t like it, don’t feel more productive, etc. then that’s okay! But I know for me it’s made a huge difference in my work days and clearly y’all were curious so figured I’d share!