Three Tips For Getting Out Of Bed Early In The Morning From A Guy Who Makes A Living Doing It

When people meet me, or find out I do an early morning radio show, one of the first things they always ask me is, "How do you get out of bed that early every morning?" Or they'll say, "You must like getting up early."

And I always answer them the exact same way..."I have no idea." Or I'll tell them, "No. I hate waking up that early. But they don't do morning shows starting at 10."

The truth is, getting up at 4am isn't easy. It's not natural. But if I can somehow muddle my way through the first thirty minutes of being upright I'm usually OK. Yes...coffee is a must. But I ran across this article in Collegiate Times, and found it pretty accurate. So I thought I'd share it with you...and add my own two cents.

Collegiate Times says these are the thee most important tips...

Get enough sleep. That makes sense. But it's not always easy. Most nights I try to go to bed no later than 9pm. However, if the dog is restless or needs to go outside...
suddenly 9:30 or 9:45 can creep up on you pretty fast. If you have kids...substitute the word dog and going outside for wants to stay up and play.

Regardless, much less than six hours of sleep will make it really hard to wake up and be productive, no matter what other steps you take.

Move your alarm as far away as possible. That's a GREAT tip from Collegiate Times. All I will add is make it the MOST ANNOYING sound you can find on your phone. Or find one of those old school alarm clocks with the bells on top. Those things are obnoxiously loud. If it's on the other side of the room then you have to get up to turn it off. At that point you're probably so annoyed by the sound that you might as well just stay up.

Use the "inverted snooze method."  I scoffed at this when I first read it. And you may scoff when I tell you that I have never used the snooze even once in my life. It's true...NOT even once. But if you do...Collegiate Times suggests using the 5 or 10 minutes you have for snooze time to treat yourself in any way you want...as long as you stay out of your bed. So get up...stretch, catch up the sports scores, watch cat videos...whatever you choose. Just don't do it in bed.

Good luck with getting up early. I have felt your pain every morning for 30 years. It may be why I'm gray. It's definitely why I have bags under my eyes!

Just get yourself a good coffee maker, make sure your shower is a bit on the cold side, and pick out your clothes the night before...just a few more tips from a guy who makes a living waking up early, and making sure you're day starts with a smile.