Description
Rising as soon as you wake in the morning is beneficial for health, mood and productivity.
How to Do It
As soon as you wake naturally, or from your alarm, get up and out of bed to start your day. Techniques to avoid sleeping/laying in include:
- Setting the alarm across your room so that you have to get up and walk to it to turn it off.
- Sleeping with blinds/curtains open so you naturally wake to sunlight, making it harder to go back to sleep.
- Ensure a reasonable bedtime the night before to make sure you get enough total sleep hours and are more rested and ready to wake the next day.
- Keeping a comfortable house temperature (especially in winter) will make it easier and more tempting to get out of bed.
Benefits
- Healthier eating habits
- Increases exercise capacity
- Increases mood
- More energy
- Increased cognitive ability
Time Commitment
N/A
Why it works
- Waking up immediately in the morning allows for more time to fit in an exercise routine. Aerobic activity can significantly improve mental health (1), alleviating anxiety, and enhancing mood through monoamine and endorphin release (2). It also aids in losing weight (3) and possibly reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease (4).
- With more time to prepare for the day, anxiety and stress should be reduced. Cortisol is higher in the morning, so immediately waking up in the morning allows you to take advantage of the possible alertness that may come with increased cortisol levels (5), and become more productive. Waking up immediately at a controlled time every day creates a healthier sleep routine that will make you feel more rested.
- You sleep in 60-90 minute cycles. Unless you can snooze for the entire cycle you will wake up groggy and with decreased cognitive ability. Therefore getting out of bed when you wake up is always the best option.
Suggested Frequency
Daily
Supporting Studies and Articles
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16331126
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15518309
- https://acewebcontent.azureedge.net/assets/education-resources/lifestyle/fitfacts/pdfs/fitfacts/itemid_2666.pdf
- https://www.onlinejacc.org/content/64/5/472
- https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/83/12/4263/2865414
Side Effects
There aren’t any severe side effects from rising immediately.
Required Equipment
- Alarm clock
- Plan to ensure waking, e.g. hiding an alarm clock
Gurus/Celebrities/Doing it
Dwayne “the rock” Johnson
Mark Wahlberg
Category Health/Productivity/Mood:
- Health
- Productivity
- Mood
Suggested Time of Day
6-9 am
Notes
- Setting goals for yourself can help to motivate you to wake up right away in the morning, e.g. running every morning.
- Give yourself a reward to look forward to when you wake up.
- A consistent sleep routine will go a long way to helping you wake immediately at a similar time every day.
