How to Wake up in the Morning By Kunal Anand

The morning struggle isn’t a lonely one – there are tens of thousands in every city of the world who can’t arouse when arisen. Google is stuffed with search queries on waking up on time - 62,200,000 for ‘How to wake up’! So most of what I’m telling you isn’t something new, but stuff I’ve thought about. Here is what you can do.

Admit you have a sleeping problem. You do. Maybe you associate sleep with ‘escape’. It’s not always going to be escape; sometimes it’s just ‘rest’. And a notion can make a big difference; while rest implies an interval of recovery from tiredness, escape means going the whole way. You have to accept that just because you are under the sheets doesn’t mean your problems are going to go away. Postponing facing what the day will give you with sleep won’t make it better.

Instead, as soon as you wake up, decide to do warfare on any current problem the moment you wake up. As soon as you wake up, start working on the bitch-of-a-PowerPoint-presentation, whip out the calculator & Accounts textbook, the course book you were dreading to read, or any other such horrendous task that you were dodging. By doing this, you are switching on your ‘Let’s get it done’ mode. The morning momentum of getting things done will carry over to other tasks– including staying awake.

You might not be waking up on time because of a bad night of sleep. To get a night of peaceful rested sleep, incorporate the following ‘don’ts’ into your sleep plan.

· Don’t watch TV, or turn on the computer right before sleeping.
· Don’t Eat a heavy meal at night 2 hours before sleeping, especially something with meat. A heavy meal is difficult to digest. Sleep is meant to be restorative, and putting your gut juices into labor isn’t sleep-savvy. Instead, leave room for fresh/dry fruits. You’ll get your fiber and fat without taxing your system. Avoid caffeine, nicotine sugar and alcohol before sleep – while all pack a nice, efficient buzz, you will definitely sleep better without it, thus waking up rested.

Get some exercise. If you incorporate physical activity into your day, you will definitely fall asleep faster, and have a deeper sleep.

Make an efficient ‘sleep plan’. Learn to adjust your evening plan to incorporate a customized chill-out period (music, a quiet read), and similarly make a chilled morning routine. If the idea of a busy, action-packed, ‘energized’ morning intimidates you, work on doing something refreshing and enjoyable that keeps you awake. Why not finish a new level on the PS2? Keep thinking of new ways of making the night sleepy and the morning fun. By creating positive memories of sleeping and waking on time, a good sleep schedule won’t seem like a schedule, but a better way of doing things.

Just because you are awake doesn’t means you are mentally booted up. Like me, you also might think that it’s your rational brain telling you that it’s alright if you sleep a bit more. It’s not. It’s your sleepy head, you sleepyhead! Steve Pavlina, personal development entrepreneur recommends actually visualizing how you will wake up in the morning, until it becomes autopilot. Alternatively, you can also practice your morning drill. He writes:

“…put on your pajamas. Brush your teeth. Set your alarm for a few minutes ahead. Lie down in bed just like you would if you were sleeping, and close your eyes. Get into your favorite sleep position. Imagine it’s early in the morning… a few minutes before your desired wake-up time... “…when your alarm goes off, turn it off as fast as you can. Then take a deep breath to fully inflate your lungs, and stretch your limbs out in all directions for a couple seconds… like you’re stretching during a yawn. Then sit up, plant your feet on the floor, and stand up...Now shake yourself off, restore the pre-waking conditions, return to bed, reset your alarm, and repeat. Do this over and over and over until it becomes so automatic that you run through the whole ritual without thinking about it…When the alarm rings, you have to put yourself through the act you have practiced…”

Wake up on the same time, even on weekends. The weekend morning may make you sore, but you know that it’ll be worth it. Chart your progress – write down what time you fell asleep and what time you woke up. Try this – as soon as you wake up, jot down the exact time – you are literally ‘guilting’ yourself into staying up because you have written it down.

Good night and good morning!