How to Wake Up Early and Become a Morning Person, According to Experts
You'll want to stock up on cherries (really).
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I used to hate waking up for work. Three alarms, two cups of coffee, and one commute later, I'd still feel groggy and unproductive a few hours into my day. My solution: Stop waking up for work and start waking up for myself. Now I get up earlier, but to head to the gym — not the office. Rethinking mornings as time for myself made getting up so much easier and, yep, now I count myself firmly in the morning person camp.
Waking up earlier isn't for everyone, despite the Silicon Valley techies who prescribe "sleep hacking" and subsisting on five hours per night.
"Our sleep needs are biologically determined," says Pradeep Bollu, M.D., a board-certified sleep specialist and neurologist with MU Health Care. "In order to feel refreshed in the morning, we need to pay off our sleep debt i.e., the biological sleep requirement every night. "Most adults require about 7-8 hours of shuteye per a 24-hour period. Less than 5% need less than 6 hours, and another 5% should actually get more than 8 hours.
In other words, in order to wake up earlier, you'll have to go to bed earlier too. Short-changing yourself on sleep can affect your judgment, mood, ability to learn, and in the long run can lead to health problems like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, according to Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine.
But if you're ready to skip your fave late-night shows and join the morning bird crowd, there's a lot you can do to make the rise-and-grind easier. Here's where to start:
Keep a consistent sleep schedule.
The key to becoming a morning person is going to bed and waking up at relatively the same time every day — even weekends. "This will help our brain understand when to go to sleep and wake up," Dr. Bollu says. "By doing this, we are letting our internal or circadian clock run during specific hours during the daytime and letting it be inactive during the nighttime." Try gradually moving your schedule back 15 or so minutes at a time to help your body to adjust.
Skip caffeine after 4 p.m.
Coffee and other stimulants like tea and chocolate can mess with this internal clock when you have them later in the day. Opting for decaf at least 5 hours before bedtime will make following the same schedule easier instead of tossing and turning at night. Stick to about 300-400 mg caffeine (about three 8-ounce cups of coffee) daily if you're having trouble sleeping, says Jaclyn London, MS, RD, CDN, Nutrition Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute.
Snack on pistachios and cherries.
Really! These foods have a rep for inducing sleep thanks to nutrients like vitamin B6 and magnesium. They contribute to melatonin production, the hormone that regulates sleep, London says.
But don't eat dinner too late.
Snacking less than an hour before bed can keep you up at night, too. "Your stomach produces acid to start digestion, which means if you're lying down you're more likely to get reflux," London says. The worst reflux-inducing culprits to avoid: anything breaded or deep-fried, processed meat, fast food, and rich desserts.
Set a digital curfew.
Exposure to bright lights and screens (like a laptop or cellphone) before bed can also throw off your circadian rhythm and compromise sleep quality. Enact a "digital curfew" that signals when it's time to put down your phone and click out of Netflix — the earlier, the better, says the National Sleep Foundation.
Limit the booze.
It's true a glass of red wine may make your eyelids feel heavy, but you certainly won't feel more refreshed when you wake up. "Alcohol disrupts the sleep significantly, resulting in a state of sleep fragmentation and deprivation," Dr. Bollu says.
Lay out everything the night before.
Make your morning stress-free by gathering up everything you'll need ahead of time. Check the weather for tomorrow, pick out your clothes, and pack your lunch and anything else you'll need. You'll get to sleep in a little later, and you're less likely to run the risk of forgetting something.
"Think of it not as making breakfast but organizing breakfast," London says. Some of her favorite energizing morning meals: Wild Friends Oats and Nut Butter cups, two hard-boiled eggs with a piece of fruit, or two frozen whole-grain waffles with 1 tablespoon peanut butter.
And your coffee.
Same goes for your morning beverage. Program the coffee maker in the p.m. and the thought of a hot, ready-made cup can entice you out from other covers. Or brew a pot and stick it in the fridge for the iced version.
Ever heard of sun salutations? "Getting a good light exposure (preferably natural sunlight) after waking up enhances our internal circadian clock and improves alertness," Dr. Bollu says. If you've pushed back the curtains and your room is still dark when you wake up, try a sunrise alarm clock. The Good Housekeeping Institute likes BEDDI Glow Intelligent Alarm Clock.
Don't linger in bed.
That means no hitting snooze, checking email, or whatever else you're tempted to do to squeeze in extra minutes under the covers. "The bed should be used only for sleep and not for work," Dr. Bollu says. "This subconsciously tells the brain that it should be doing nothing else but sleep when the body is in the bed." If popping out of bed feels impossible, reevaluate your bedtime. "When you meet your biological sleep requirement, you will automatically wake up feeling refreshed," he adds.
Find your motivation.
Without an a.m. shift at work or quick-to-rise kids, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule can get tough. To borrow a phrase from Marie Kondo, find a way to spark joy in your routine. Sign up for a new workout class, walk the dog in a favorite peaceful spot — maybe shopping in an empty grocery store makes your least-favorite errand less stress-inducing. Whatever it is, take advantage of what the morning has to offer and early won't feel so early any more.
