As I write this I sit in my silent, almost pitch black, dark kitchen with a mug hot tea next to my laptop and a warm, fleece blanket thrown over my lap.  It’s 6am on a public holiday.  No, there’s nowhere I have to be this morning, I just decided to get up at this hour last night.

During the week I get up at 5.15am to get ready for work and get the kids ready for school, but I do love sleeping in until 7am or 8am on weekends and holidays.  It’s not easy for me to wake up early when I could be getting some more shut-eye, but it feels awesome to be doing what I want to be doing without anyone demanding my attention!

If you think about why you should wake up early, there’s very few drawbacks and quite a bit of benefits.

Pros to waking up early

You get to enjoy some ‘me time’
It’s blissful to be up in pure silence!
Productivity levels run high in the morning
Waking up early contributes to better mental health

Cons to waking up early

You get less sleep
You just might stub your toe on your nightstand on your way out of your dark bedroom and will have to endure the pain in silence (Amen!)

HOW TO WAKE UP EARLY

Have a plan
Keeping a list of your to-do’s keeps you on your toes and comes to show you that you need to be productive to get everything done on time.  Decide how you will use that extra time in the morning before you go to bed.

Get to bed earlier
At 10pm last night I felt like I was trying to get things done but my energy levels had dropped to the point that I was scouring the internet aimlessly.  I dragged my seemingly heavy body into bed for a good night’s sleep and set my alarm for this morning.

Set an alarm
Don’t rely on getting up early without setting an alarm for a realistic time.  Don’t be too ambitious either.  If you’re usually up at 8am, aim for 7am or 6am, at least until you get into the groove of things and you start going to bed earlier.
If you really and honestly cannot make yourself get up, train your body to start getting up earlier by moving your alarm back 10 minutes earlier, then 15, then 20, then 30, until you arrive at the desired time.

Don’t hit snooze
Don’t fall into this trap!  Whilst extremely charming on paper, all the snooze button does is allow you extra increments of snoozing time so tiny that your body feels like it is never getting enough sleep.

Let your feet touch the floor
This is all it takes to get up.  As soon as you hear your alarm go, the most exponential piece of effort you need to do is to get your feet touch the floor.  Once they do, you’re awake.  Putting this into perspective makes getting up a hell of a lot easier.

Reward yourself
It may be as simple as being able to enjoy your tea whilst it’s still hot (that’s me!).  Find something you enjoy in the morning and allow yourself the luxury to do so.

WAYS TO USE YOUR TIME WISELY

Get ahead on personal projects
Work on your side hustle
Read (you can still laze in bed!)
Exercise
Prepare for the day ahead: baby bags, breakfast, have a shower and get dressed
Get lunch or dinner ready
Meditate
Make time for your hobby
Have a pleasant breakfast whilst reading your favourite magazine
Enjoy the sunrise
Have a relaxing bath

Nina has woken up 5 minutes ago and she’s happily sitting next to me on the sofa until I finish off this post.  It was so lovely to be able to do this this morning! 

Love,

Nakita xxx