How to Wake Up Motivated

If you want to wake up early and get out of bed, here’s an easy answer:

Have a kid. When your child wakes, it’s action stations! You’ll never sleep in again.

Kidding aside, if you want a more practical and self-controlled solution, you might try this next idea.

It’s what I call:

The Wake Up Drill

You know what a fire drill is right? Well this is the same but for getting up in the morning instead of fleeing fires.

The best way to deal with an emergency situation is to prepare for it in advance. You get the procedure drilled into you in a non-emergency situation.

You learn what to do, where to go, and you’re training your physiology to execute the procedure without panic. Sure, the feeling might be different if there’s an actual fire, but the point is you learn what to do when you are calm and in control.

We do the same thing with the Wake Up Drill™.

Here’s what to do

Last thing before bed, decide what time you want to rise and set your alarm instead for one minute in the future.

Lay down in bed and close your eyes.

And now we wait.

ALARM!

It’s drill time. Remember, you are in charge, you’re still awake. Jump the hell outta bed!

Get to the bathroom. Walk through your morning routine. You don’t have to actually do it, just think about each step deliberately and consciously.

That was pretty easy right?

Now go reset your alarm for the real time you want to wake in the morning. Finally, you’re done. You have my permission to have an awesome sleep 🙂

In the morning

As soon as you hear that alarm, you know what to do. Make it happen.

But chances are, if you’ve had trouble getting up in the morning, you’re going to have trouble for a while yet.

It’s not a 1 minute miracle 🙂

It takes practice. So stick with it for a week. Drill every night.

The point is to practice the actions when YOU are in charge. The sleepy-you doesn’t have the will power. Or probably more accurately, the sleepy-you has more will power to stay under the nice warm covers.

Don’t let sleepy-you win.

Remember in the beginning I told you about the child? She wakes up, and it hits her… she’s alive, the world is waiting, it’s so awesome to be alive! Kids know exactly how to wake up motivated.

Okay, so maybe it’s hormones, or sleep-rhythms or whatever — practice the attitude you want to have when you wake up, and pretty soon you’ll have it.

Drill!