How to become an early riser

It is good to get up before dawn,
this habit promotes health, wealth and wisdom.

Aristotle

Are they born or become "larks"? In my case, there was definitely a becoming. When I was in my early twenties, I rarely went to bed before midnight and almost always got up late. I usually didn't start my business until the end of lunch.

It is difficult to become an early riser with the wrong strategy. At the same time, with the right strategy, it's relatively easy.

The most common wrong strategy is this: you think that if you need to get up earlier, you need to go to bed earlier. Based on this, you determine how much you sleep now, then you simply shift everything by a few hours.

If you now sleep from midnight to eight, it is assumed that now you go to bed at 10 pm and get up at 6 am. Sounds very reasonable, but usually nothing comes of it.

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If you sleep at certain hours, sometimes you will go to bed not too tired. If it takes more than five minutes to fall asleep, you're not tired enough. You spend time lying on the bed and not falling asleep.

Another problem is the assumption that you need the same number of hours to sleep every night. This assumption is false: the amount of sleep required varies from day to day.

I go to sleep when I'm too sleepy to be awake. As a check, I usually read a book: if, after reading one or two pages, I start to doze, then I am ready for sleep. In most cases, lying in bed, I fall asleep in three minutes. I lie down, get comfortable and fall asleep instantly.

Sometimes I go to bed at 9:30 pm, on other days I don't sleep until midnight. Most often I go to bed at 22-23 hours. If I don't really want to sleep, I will stay awake as long as I can keep my eyes open. Reading is a great activity for this time, it clearly shows when I am already quite sleepy.

When my alarm starts ringing in the morning, I turn it off, stretch for a few seconds, and get up. I don’t think about it. I realized that the longer I get up, the sooner I try to go back to sleep.

Therefore, I do not allow myself any reasoning about the fact that you could still sleep when the alarm clock rang. Even if I want to sleep, I still get up right away.

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After several days of using this approach, I found that my sleep schedule was in line with my natural rhythm. If I haven't gotten enough sleep one night, the next night I will want to sleep earlier and sleep longer.

And if I have an excess of energy and I am not tired, then I will sleep less. My body has learned to knock me out at the right moment, because it knows that I always get up at the same time, and this time is not subject to discussion.

Side effect: On average, I sleep almost 90 minutes less at night, but I feel better rested because I sleep almost the entire time I am in bed.

I realized that most people with insomnia are those who go to bed without being sleepy. If you can't fall asleep quickly, get up and stay awake for a while. Resist sleep until the body starts producing hormones that turn off consciousness.
Going to bed when you really feel like it and getting up at a certain time will cure insomnia.

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On the first night, you'll stay late, but you'll fall asleep right away. You may feel tired during the day because you got up early and slept little, but after work you will want to go to bed early the next night. After a few days, you will get used to going to bed at about the same time and falling asleep instantly.

So, if you want to become an early riser (or just learn how to manage your sleep time), here's a simple tip - you need to go to bed only when you can not stay awake, and get up every morning at the same time.

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