Not everyone wants to be an early riser, but I always did.
Most of the people I wanted to emulate with my life were waking early in the morning, making the most of their day and life. It was something I desired to be true of me, but was never able to accomplish—until my mid-thirties.
Roughly a decade ago, I decided to change my habits. I don’t wake up at 4:00am like some stories I hear, but most mornings nowadays, I wake up at 6:00am cheerfully and excited to get started with the day.
And everything changed in just one month’s time.
If you’ve ever wanted to become an early riser, here are the exact steps I took:
1. Set a 30-Day Experiment.
I learned the value of 30-Day experiments from Steve Pavlina.
When it comes to changing habits, in his words, “We often psyche ourselves out of getting started by mentally thinking about the change as something permanent — before we’ve even begun…
But what if you thought about making the change only temporarily — say for 30 days — and then you’re free to go back to your old habits? That doesn’t seem so hard anymore.“
30 days is a long enough period to see if you like the changes in your life. And, after 30 days, if you like the change, it is easier to mark the behavior as already a habit.
You can try the 30-day experiment for any life change you are interested in. For me, it became the month-long experiment that turned me into an early riser for good.
I chose a 30-day period and committed to waking up every morning at 5am. “It’s just for 30 days. Surely I can accomplish that.”
And so can you.
2. Feet on Ground, Look Out the Window.
Every morning when my alarm went off, I gave myself only two instructions:
- Feet on the ground. (Stand up).
- Eyes out the window. (Look outside).
These were the only two disciplined steps that I required of myself each morning. Not burdensome, not difficult. In my head, I’d just repeat that phrase, “Feet on ground, eyes out the window.”
Those steps became incredibly effective—especially on the days that I struggled to get up. They weren’t difficult. But once you complete those two steps, you’ve won 80% of the struggle. At that point, it requires a conscience decision to go lay back down and fall sleep.
Plus, depending on when you choose to wake, if there’s sunshine outside, the sunlight boosts your serotonin and biologically helps you stay awake.
But even if there is no sunlight: “Feet on ground, eyes out the window.”
After completing those two simple steps, buoyed by my desire to be successful in my experiment, I was up, awake, and out of bed.
3. Go to Bed When You are Tired.
Waking up earlier will mean that you get less sleep if you keep the same bedtime.
The most important change to become an early riser is to learn going to bed earlier.
But what time should that be? Let your body tell you.
Change your thinking from, “I go to bed at x pm” to “I go to bed when I feel tired.” And let your body tell you when that is.
It’ll take a little getting used to, especially if you are used to wasting hours at the end of the day watching television or scrolling social media. But remind yourself that you are only trying this out for 30 days.
I can almost guarantee that after a few weeks of learning to listen to your body and going to bed when it asks you to, you’ll love the new approach to bedtime—rather than letting the clock tell you how late you should stay up.
4. Find a Motivation for the Morning.
Waking up early is easier when you have a purpose to it.
In most cases, your home will be quiet when you begin waking up early. So use that time intentionally.
During my 30-day experiment, I was working to minimize the sentimental items that had collected in our basement. It was a project I wanted to complete, but knew would take time. I also had two young children and didn’t want to sacrifice time away from them in the evening after work.
So decluttering the basement became part of my morning routine. I’d wake up at 5, declutter a box or shelf in the basement for an hour, and then make breakfast, get ready for work, and be fully ready by the time my kids were up getting ready for school. I would also use occasional mornings to write when appropriate (growing this blog actually), but I always knew what I wanted to do when I woke up.
Maybe you would enjoy extra time reading, praying, painting, exercising, journaling, baking, meditating, or doing yoga. The choice is yours. Don’t pick an activity that you dread, but pick something that will help you stick to your experiment and wake-up time.
5. Awake is Awake.
There’s a difference between awake and cheerful. And some mornings, that was helpful to remember.
There were certainly some days when I felt alive and excited to be up. But there were other mornings where I was simply dragging myself out of bed. (I was the only one awake in my home so my sloggy mood didn’t affect anybody else).
I’d often have to remind myself that my goal for the 30-Day experiment wasn’t necessarily to be a Fully-Joyful Joshua at 5am. My goal was to be awake.
Over time, as I appreciated more and more those early hours in the day, joyfulness came more naturally.
6. After 30 Days, Adjust.
After 30 days, make a decision on how you want to continue. You can keep your designated wake-up time or you can adjust to a new one.
If you have enjoyed the mornings, believe you are living more intentionally, and don’t feel like you are missing much late at night, almost certainly you will have begun reshaping your sleeping habits.
You can keep your designated wake-up time (5am, for example) or adjust to a new one.
After my 30-day experiment, I had completed most of the work in my basement, but still enjoyed the writing that I was doing in the early mornings. So I kept my 5am wake-up for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. On Tuesday and Thursday, I’d wake up at 6am—which is when I wake up most days still.
John Dryden is quoted as saying, “We first make our habits, then our habits make us.” Becoming an early riser was a habit I always wanted to make for myself. And through the steps above, I accomplished it. You can too.
Natasha says
Thanks for the great tips, Joshua! They sound very practical and doable–just the thing!
Kate says
Inspiring article on becoming an early riser. I especially appreciated how you said “this is what worked for me” rather than “if you want to become an early riser, this is what you should do.” I am inspired to try what worked for you.
Sandra says
Yes I liked that too. My most motivated hours are 3-10am and then sleep for a few hours and then up again about 5pm. I’m single so it only impacts me. I love those silent hours in the middle of the night with no traffic or trains. It gives my introverted, highly sensitive self great downtime.
Juliet Wood says
So inspiring, this was just what I need, thank you Joshua. I like the idea of doing it for 30 days and then really hoping it sticks. I’ve been looking for time in my day to fit in journaling and using my circulation machine for 30 minutes and now I am going to put my SAD lamp next to me while I do this, thanks to another reader’s suggestion. I want to do my exercises earlier but I could not fall out of bed and do them straight away, I hope like this I will actually get them done earlier.
Celia says
A few of us are hardwired to wake up very early; the small studies on us call us “super larks”. It’s genetic and runs in families. Being awake before 5 am is normal for me. If you wake well before dawn and are prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder, I strongly recommend getting a therapy lamp to use for a fixed time every morning. You do not need a prescription to get one, and the bulbs last a very long time. But even for folks who don’t have SAD, a good full spectrum light used at the same time daily can really help stabilize your circadian rhythm. Look for 5,000-6,500 K light bulbs meant for indoor plants.
Amy Lynn says
And on the flip side, some people are night owls. And some people just need more sleep than others. I don’t think I am a night owl but I find that I am not much use to anyone until the sun comes up. I can get through my normal morning routine but don’t expect much engagement from me :-). Getting up super-early usually just means that my morning routine takes longer because I am still tired.
While I have found benefit from have a regular routine, I think the push to get up earlier can be counter-productive. There is no moral virtue in and of itself in getting up before sunrise or being sleep deprived.
Ju Ju says
I have been up very much earlier at 5 every day and can’t think of what I would do if I could get a pet. Sharing a local place with 7 persons in a dormitory and sharing rides to work – can feel like being crowded – having a dog and cats can relief stress. I have no sibling and wished caring for a pet would be less time consuming . An apartment living style isn’t for everyone , foods can fit all in one fridge. And not enough space to store the cats litt and food. 😔 sigh
Hils says
True, if you are a night owl, which I may be too … but what I like here is just giving it a try out for 30 days … you never know!
Rev. Jenoye Roland Cole says
Dear Joshua, Saturday, January 22, 2022
Thanks for your many creative ideas (INCLUDING THIS ONE). It looks like you have made success maximally possible while VALUABLY allowing one (me) to keep my sense of freedom and freedom-to-decide! While I value watching TV news–I like knowing the issues and being an informed and active citizen! –I’ve started staying up later, even, for “unexplained reasons!” Recently, my days and nights have become mixed up.
I believe God wants me to write 3 or 4 specific books in the next year. Much of which I have written in various places on computers and papers and/or I have “between my ears!” I also just turned 85. Probably not yet free of a “Non-winner Script,” “most of me” wants to START-SO-I-CAN-FINISH LEAVING A LEGACY OF SORTS AND INFORMING AND BLESSING PEOPLE with hard won or valuable information IN BOOK FORM. Writing this note to you helped me commit to the thirty-day experiment and to me getting up by 6:00 AM, starting Sunday!
This does not look easy to me. So, I ask for your prayer support, JOSHUA,–and that your readers will lift me up in their prayers! Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Rev. J. Roland Cole
(colejr78@gmail.com)
Claire says
I get up at 5.40 3 mornings a week to allow myself to exercise before work. Just 20-30 mins, but I know I won’t do it when I get home. The rest of my week I rise at 6. Saturday is my exception day, but I still wake early and read.
Karen says
Sounds very cool . You can then squeeze in what usually I am missing because if my busy schedule. Awesome !
Gingah Miller says
Thank you for sharing your journey with this process. I also want to get back to getting up early I just need to figure out logistics. I have my 5 yr old granddaughter sleeping in the same room as me and she doesn’t like being alone and will wake up when I do. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Jules says
Hi Gingah,
Not sure if you would like a suggestion from a reader,
Anyway, I found it really touching that you are staying with your granddaughter. My child 14, will pop out of bed just to say good morning to me and tell me
She loves me, when i leave early for work. It’s really sweet but I just wish she’d stay asleep. I’m also having to stay up really late, just to have some alone time after her and my husband go to bed.
Anyway, I was thinking that maybe you could say you needed to be up to do adult stuff for 10 minutes and that you won’t be far away and that you will check on her twice. If this works, maybe see if you can increase the time. Next week tell her 15 mins
And still check just twice.
Best of luck whatever you decide.
Cheers Jules
Natasha says
Hi, Gingah,
I have an almost five year old daughter who only transitioned into her own room a month ago–that was very big for her! She had been sleeping and napping in the master bedroom since birth (which made it a little trickier when her brother was born a year ago, but we knew we would get more sleep if she was in the room with us). Anyway, perhaps you could start out the morning with some (hopefully alone) reading time just outside where your granddaughter is sleeping so that she knows you’re nearby and will still feel close to you? I’m guessing that if she needs the sleep, even if she gets up with you the first few mornings, she will gradually adjust and be comfortable, knowing that you’re right nearby with a book and possibly a warm cup of something uplifting and invigorating.
Candice says
This is a good one Joshua and right on target for tomorrow.
“Awake is awake” is my mantra of the week.
Take care.
Lauren says
Cats. They like early wake-ups but forget about quiet time until they are fed.
Derek says
Haha. Yes, I have 2 dogs and call them my 4 legged alarm clocks. And they didn’t understand the rolling back the clocks thing in the Fall.
Stan says
I used to do this a long time ago. Somehow through the years and life’s circumstances and tribulations, I fell out of this. I remember that I was certainly a lot more energetic, and had a brighter outlook on life. It was nice to get up and look out at the garden and woods and sit and journal. It allowed me to be more level headed with respect to my relationship at the time. I vented at the page instead of at my partner.
Something I should go back to so that sanity is easier to maintain.
Thanks for the reminder