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NOT ONLY DOES the early bird get the worm, he’s generally happier and has a higher overall satisfaction with his life.
“We don’t know why this is, but there are a few potential explanations. Evening people may be more prone to social jet lag; this means that their biological clock is out of sync with the social clock,” Renee Biss, a researcher wrote in a study conducted by the University of Toronto.
“Society’s expectations are far more organized around a morning-type person’s schedule.”
Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute, told us that “lack of sleep can manifest itself in erratic behavior, short tempers, and bad decision-making.”
Sleep-deprived people also have difficulty remembering details, and don’t deal as well in high-pressured situations such as meetings or new business pitches.
And it’s getting worse nowadays because of technology usage. Young adults in their 20s are experiencing earlier signs of aging attributed to sleep loss.
So if you’re not a born early riser how do you acquire good sleep habits? We compiled some tips to help you get an early start on the day
1. Skip the caffeine
According to a study published in the journal SLEEP, caffeine intake six hours before bedtime is just as disruptive as caffeine three hours before. We know it’s delicious but it’s for your own good.
2. Limit technology usage before bedtime
“Your bedroom should be reserved for sleep, sex, and nothing else,” Oexman told us. “There’s no excuse – if your cell phone is your alarm clock, then buy a $5 alarm clock and solve the problem.”
3. Mentally prepare yourself before you go to sleep
Jeff Goins wrote in his blog that you need to make decisions before you go to sleep, because you can’t trust your brain in the morning.
“When I realized waking up early is a battle fought on two fronts, everything changed. We must prepare our bodies, but we must also trick our sleepy minds,” he said. This could help you avoid a potentially disastrous outfit choice on casual Friday.
4. Wake up to light
Meredith Jaeger advised in her blog that you should sleep with the curtains open so that sunlight can come through your window in the morning. If you’re unable to experience sunlight from your bedroom window, get a timer that increases light intensity, which resembles the sun. Some of these models also have built in alarm clocks.
5. Don’t hit the snooze button
It might be tempting to hit your snooze button to sleep for a few more minutes and we’re all guilty of it, but this doesn’t actually help you, Jaeger wrote. This is because the 15 to 20 extra minutes of sleep won’t give you any restful REM sleep and you might even feel more groggy when the alarm goes off again.
Hitting the snooze button is also habit-forming and the more you do it, the more you’ll likely do it in the future.
“Alarms should be there to remind you to wake up, not wake you up after six snooze hits,” Oexman said.
It might also help to keep your alarm clock far away from your bed so that you’re forced to get up in order to turn it off.
6. Find an alarm that doesn’t make you angry
Seth Simonds at Lifehack advised that you should “experiment a bit and see what works best for you. Light, sound, smells, temperature, or even some contraption that dumps water on you might be more pleasant than your old alarm clock.” High pitched, irritating ring tones will haunt your dreams and ruin your life.
7. Have a morning routine
You need to get your blood flowing when you wake up whether this is stretching, crunches, jump roping or going for a walk to the nearby coffee shop, you need to “chase the sleep from your head,” Simonds wrote.
Whatever you decide to do, remember that what you do during the daytime will affect your sleep at night, so quit beating yourself up with a bad diet and poor sleeping habits.
- Additional reporting by Michelle Hennessy.
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I’m too tired to read this now..
So many green thumbs
A bowl of porridge before bed, sleep like a pensioner
Pensioners only sleep for about 5 hours a night…. think I’ll give the aul porridge a miss :-P
Have a child!! Staying in bed/asleep past 8 on a weekend is a distant dream.
8am would be a lie in, my youngest boys don’t believe in sleeping past 6:30. I need match sticks at 8pm just to stay awake
my little guy just slept in till 9, cant believe it!
Indeed. My ‘wee fellow’ is normally wide awake and raring to go a good hour before I am, most morning.
the early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!
The early worm gets caught by the bird
Of course you need an irritating alarm. I tried out this “pleasant” alarm tone theory recently, I set “church bells” as the tone. I ended up waking up an hour late but had a pleasant dream that I was in Rome. I wonder what the consequences would’ve been if I’d set it as “water flowing”. Phew…
you can get an alarm that requires you stand on a mat to switch it off!
sleep deprived here from being up every hour feeding a baby. I am dark eyed and knotty tailed!
IT’S GONNA BE A BIG BABY IF YOU KEEP THAT UP…..
don’t shout, it hurts my head. It’s called a growth spurt – meant to make the baby bigger!
Hear your pain :(
Up every hour feeding during growth spurt than back to 3 hour feeds…you feel like a new person with 2 hour sleep!!
I feel your pain Sandra, growth spurts are so hard. Makes me appreciate the 6:00 am starts now they are a little older. Don’t miss the sleep deprivation at all.
Ahh yes.
I remember my spurts.
Long time ago now…
Im just going to bed.. :-) on a week of nightduty .. if i sleep with curtains open.. ill never get up cos it’ll be dark! have a good day Everybody. zzzz
Men – if planning a baby encourage your partners to breastfeed. You’ll get lots of sleep!
Nah, they are just pretending to sleep so that you’ll get up and they can stat in bed.
Yes whoever invented the phrase slept like a baby, should have said, slept like a husband!!!
……just go to bed earlier
Simple really!
I gave up the drink for January and so far waking up at weekends is great not feeling wrecked and curled up in a ball in bed all day.
Morning!! Was up at half six for work! On my day’s off though I might lay on till at least eight!
Cousin of mine has a alarm that is a mat/weighing scales on the floor and its set to his weight to turn it off he has to put his full weight on it for 10 seconds. Works like a dream ;)
Sleeping with the curtains open really helps, except for during the Irish winter, when its just depressing!!
Would you not wake up at 5.30am in June?
If you are having trouble getting a good nights sleep read this article
Being a milkman 20 odd years ago helped me.
Daddy?
John, I am not your father.
I have one of them ‘wake up to light’ alarms… surprisingly good!
Totally agree. I have a “Lumie” alarm clock which simulates sunrise over the 30 mins before the alarm goes off. MUCH easier to wake up, and I am NOT a morning person!
best way to get up earlier is to go to bed earlier.. doh!
These are all dreadful tips. Ok, I agree with No. 6 but that’s it. What a lot of misery & you’ll probably not sleep afterwards to boot. Ever the optimist, moi!
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