Guest post by Nils Salzgeber

Getting up early is a bitch. I’ve struggled with it for years until I eventually cracked the code a few months ago – what a relief!

Nowadays, I can do what I would have never thought possible… I can get up early with ease. You heard that right: With ease.  I can get up at 5am, or 4am, or 6am almost effortlessly if I choose to – no big deal.

Best of all, there is nothing magical or mythical about it. It’s not nearly as complicated (or hard) as most people make it sound. In fact, I believe anyone can become an early riser…

…all it takes is following 4 simple steps.

Skeptical? Good. Let me convince you. Here are the 4 simple steps that will turn you into an early riser:

Step 1: Stop Beating Yourself Up

I can’t remember how many times I went to bed excited to get up early the next day, only to hit the snooze button in the morning.

I felt like a total loser. And I beat myself up over not having the self-discipline to just get out of bed in the morning. This was really the worst part… the constant nagging and criticizing of myself.

Worst of all, this self-criticism created a vicious cycle that made everything so much harder. I’ll explain…

Let’s say your plan is to get up early tomorrow morning. You go to bed tonight, knowing that you’ll beat yourself up in the morning if you fail to get up early. This creates a HUGE amount of pressure in the evening. It’s like saying to yourself:

“If I don’t fall asleep within the next few minutes, then I might not get enough sleep, then I will feel super tired in the morning, then I will hit the snooze button, and then I’ll get a terrible mental beating. I better fall asleep right f$@king now.”

See how that might create a problem? All of this pressure. All of this stress. All of this burden. How will you have a good night of sleep when there’s seemingly so much at risk? Answer: You won’t! And then you’ll be tired and worn out in the morning which makes hitting the snooze button so much more likely.

So the first step is really this: Stop being so critical to yourself. Stop beating yourself up all the time. Instead, be nice to yourself. Practice some self-compassion. After all, it’s completely normal and human to struggle with this. Many others are struggling too. And that’s okay.

Next time you hit the snooze button, practice consoling yourself. Tell yourself it’s okay. You’ll try again the next day. Sooner rather than later you’ll make this happen. Be kind to yourself.

Doing this will lift the pressure and will help you fall asleep at night.

Plus, self-compassion has been PROVEN in study after study to be much more beneficial and healthy than self-criticism. Check out my book summary of Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff to learn more about the powers of being kind to yourself.

Step 2: Learn to Fall Asleep on Demand

One of the biggest obstacles to becoming an early riser is not being able to fall asleep fast enough.

Why? Because it always leaves you at risk of getting too little sleep and then being dead tired in the morning. Newsflash: Being shit tired in the morning won’t help you get out of bed.

If you were able to go to bed at 10pm and fall asleep within a few minutes, getting up at 6am – after 8 hours of sleep – wouldn’t be difficult at all. In fact, it would be a breeze.

The problem is, you probably can’t fall asleep quickly. This creates two problems:

First, you’re losing time which could be used for sleeping. This is obvious. If it takes you 30 minutes to fall asleep, then you’re losing 30 minutes of potential sleep time. Those minutes could well make the difference between waking up energized or still tired.

Second, knowing you can’t fall asleep quickly also creates a psychological problem. You can’t just go to bed super early because you simply won’t be able to fall asleep. At least that was the case for me. Sometimes I went to bed at 10pm, but couldn’t fall asleep until 1am. In general, the longer you lie in bed, the more pressure you create for yourself – and the harder actually falling asleep becomes. This means you can’t really go to bed early.

To sum this up: If you have trouble falling asleep you can’t go to bed super early and you’re losing precious time which could be used for sleep.

All of this means you’re likely to have too little sleep and will wake up still tired in the morning. Which makes getting up early much harder.

The remedy? Learn to fall asleep on demand.

Yes, falling asleep on demand is possible. Take me as an example: I used to struggle with insomnia big time for many years… and now? Now I routinely fall asleep within 5-10 minutes. Anyone can do it – you just need the right strategies. Here are two that make a big difference for me:

1. Head to bed 30+ minutes before you actually want to fall asleep and use that time for reading. This will help you wind down after a long day. It will give your mind time to let the worries fade away while you concentrate on the book you’re reading. Plus, it will make you tired quickly.

2. Limit blue light exposure 60+ minutes before bed. Blue light – emitting in large amounts from electrical devices like laptops, computers, tablets, and smartphones – suppresses the production of melatonin in your body. Melatonin is your #1 sleep hormone and helps you fall asleep faster.

Blue light suppresses the production of this master sleep hormone and is therefore partly responsible for your troubles with falling asleep. By reducing your blue light exposure, you’ll produce more melatonin and will fall asleep much faster.

You’ve got several options:

• Wear blue-blocking glasses 60+ minutes before going to sleep (I use these ones).
• Install lux for your PC.
• Install a blue-light-blocking app for your smartphone. I use twilight on my Android phone.

These two tricks will do the heavy-lifting.

If you want to go a step further and truly master the skill of falling asleep on demand, go here and download a free printable checklist with even more tips.

Step 3: Abandon the Snooze Button for Good

Let’s be real and raw here. The snooze button is one of the most misery-inducing piece of shit inventions out there. Comedian Dimitri Martin says it best:

Hitting the snooze button in the morning doesn’t even make sense. It’s like saying, “I hate getting up in the morning so I do it over and over and over again.”

The biggest issue is that hitting the snooze button in the morning quickly becomes a habit. I remember hitting that bitch a couple of times even when I wasn’t tired at all – it was an automatic response, an addiction of sorts.

Needless to say, anyone looking to become an early riser needs to handle the snooze button. I’ve found three ways that do the job for me:

1. Make a 100% commitment to NEVER using the snooze function again. Never. Ever. Jack Canfield explains in his book The Success Principles why these kinds of commitments work so well:

“Successful people adhere to the “no exceptions rule” when it comes to their daily disciplines. Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. It’s a done deal. Nonnegotiable. Case closed! Over and out. If I make a 100% commitment to monogamy, that is it. I never have to think about it again. There are no exceptions no matter what the circumstances. I don’t have to wrestle with that decision every day. It’s already been made. The die has been cast. All the bridges are burned. It makes life easier and simpler and keeps me on focus. It frees up tons of energy that would otherwise be spent internally debating the topic over and over and over, because all the energy I expend on internal conflict is unavailable to use for creating other achievement.”

Make that commitment. Under no circumstances will you ever again hit the snooze button. It’s settled. You don’t do it. No matter what happens, you don’t do it. Plain. And. Simple.

2. Create a new automatic response. Instead of hitting the snooze button when the alarm goes off, you want to get right out of bed. You replace the bad habit of hitting snooze with the good habit of getting right out of bed.

You can create this new response surprisingly easily by using pre-decisions or so-called implementation intentions. You simply pre-determine how you will react when the alarm clock goes off in the morning:

“If the alarm clock wakes me up in the morning, then – no matter what – I get out of bed immediately.”

Repeat this statement every night before going to bed and quickly you’ll find yourself doing exactly what the pre-decision states: You’ll get out of bed right away when the alarm wakes you up. Sooner rather than later hitting the snooze button won’t even come to mind anymore. You’ll simply get out of bed – it’s a completely automated response.

3. Use a smart alarm clock. If you’re using a regular alarm clock, you’re missing out. Here are two better alternatives:

Step out of Bed: This one works great if you’re still struggling with the snooze button. The alarm only turns off once you’ve walked a pre-determined amount of steps. You are literally forced out of bed. And once you’ve left it, chances are you won’t go back. (A good alternative for Android is Alarmy.)

Sleep Cycle: This one will help you wake up more refreshed and less tired in the morning. This super smart app measures your sleep patterns and then wakes you during light sleep. That’s the sleep stage you would naturally wake up in. Regular alarm clocks potentially wake you up in a deep sleep phase – which is why you’ll feel groggy, tired, and slightly confused.

Step 4: Remind Yourself of Your WHY (Over and Over Again)

Admission time: Sometimes I don’t get up early for several weeks at a stretch.

Not because I couldn’t do it. Not because I have trouble falling asleep. And not because I’m hitting the snooze button. I’ve handled this stuff.

The reason this happens is because I forget my WHY. I forgot why I want to get up early in the first place. I forget about the benefits. I forget about how enjoyable it can be. I tell myself it isn’t that important. I tell myself it’s not worth it.

Frankly, I let it slip. I don’t take it seriously anymore. I don’t feel motivated anymore.

See, motivation is a fleeting phenomenon. It needs renewal on a consistent basis. And without motivation, without an ever-present WHY, you’ll slip sooner or later.

Once you forget the why of your actions, you’ll stop pursuing them. This goes for meditation, exercise, eating healthy, etc.… When you forget the reason behind something, you’ll slowly let it slip.

So… if getting up early consistently is your goal, you need to remind yourself of your why – over and over again. You need to remind yourself of the benefits and of exactly why you choose to get up early. This creates motivation. And the more motivation you have, the easier it will be.

What are some ways to get motivated about early rising? You’ll have to find out for yourself. Here are two things that help me:

• Reading about successful people’s morning routines. Check out com for a great collection.
• Reading Laura Vanderkam’s book on what successful people do before breakfast.

These activities are pure inspiration for me. They make me want to get my shit together and get up early again.

Find what motivates you. Why do you want to get up early? What’s your why? Once you get it, make sure you remind yourself on a regular basis – keep that motivation going.

Conclusion

Getting up early is NOT complicated.

And it’s not that hard either.

In fact, you can become an early riser by following the 4 simple steps we’ve discussed in this article.

Step 1: Stop beating yourself up when you fail to get up early. This creates unnecessary pressure and kisses your motivation goodbye. Instead, be kind to yourself when you fail. It happens to everyone. It’s okay. You’ll try again. Sooner rather than later you’ll make it happen.

Step 2: Learn to fall asleep on demand. This is a skill you MUST master if you want to get up early consistently. It will help you get enough sleep and wake up feeling refreshed and energized (which will make getting out of bed a lot easier). Check out our checklist for tips on falling asleep faster.

Step 3: Abandon the snooze button. Make a 100% commitment to never hit the snooze button again. Furthermore, use a pre-decision to create a new automatic response: “If the alarm clock wakes me up in the morning, then – no matter what – I get out of bed immediately.”

Step 4: Remind yourself of your WHY. Stay motivated by reminding yourself why you chose to become an early riser in the first place. What are the benefits? Why is it important to you? The more motivated you are, the easier it will be.

And that’s it. Simple as ABC.

Now I’d love to hear from you:

What do you get out of being an early riser? What do you think are the benefits of getting up early? Is it worth the hassle? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for reading!