Did you know that waking up early is a habit that sets smart and active people apart from those who are lazy and inactive? Many renowned personalities around the world prefer to start their day early. Whether it’s Apple CEO Tim Cook or Twitter and Square Founder Jack Dorsey [1], they all begin their mornings quite early. And it’s not just them—there are many other famous individuals who also love waking up early to make the most of their day.
Everyone in the world has the same 24 hours in a day—some use it for productive activities, while others waste it on unproductive pursuits. However, it’s worth pondering why so many successful individuals include waking up early as an essential part of their daily routine. There must be something special about starting the day early that drives them toward success.
In this article, let’s explore the benefits of waking up early and take a closer look at some unique tips to help you learn how to wake up early in the morning.
Why Should You Wake Up Early in the Morning?
It is often believed that our day begins when we wake up in the morning, but this notion isn’t entirely accurate. In reality, your day starts as soon as the clock strikes midnight, marking the beginning of a new set of 24 hours. The time spent sleeping at night is also part of these 24 hours. By the time you wake up in the morning, you’re left with just 16–17 hours to make the most of your day.
As per the research conducted by National Institutes of Health (NIH), our body naturally follows a 24-hour cycle called circadian rhythm which influences various bodily functions, including alertness and cognitive performance. Our brain usually feels the freshest and most active after 7–8 hours of sleep, which, for most people, is achieved during their nighttime rest.
When the mind is fresh, its alertness and focus naturally improve due to the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. Additionally, the calm and peaceful environment of the early morning enhances your ability to concentrate, allowing you to focus better on tasks. This is one of the reasons why people tend to accomplish more in the morning and can dive into deep, focused work with greater ease. You should wake up early because:
- Mind and body are fresh and stress-free.
- Less distraction and a calm and peaceful environment.
- Increased alertness and focus.
- Optimum utilization of your time.
- Improved productivity on deep, focused work.
- Release of hormones that improve alertness and productivity.
- More time for productive work.
- Get time for physical fitness and meditation.
Quick Tip:
If you wake up early in the morning, you get sufficient time to plan your tasks and activities for the day effectively so that you can finish them off on time and achieve your daily goals.
Waking Up at 3 am – Is it the best time to wake up in the morning?
While we know that many successful celebrities prefer waking up as early as 3 or 4 a.m., such as Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, Hollywood actor and WWE superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and other popular figures like Ryan Reynolds, it’s important to ask ourselves whether we can align our early morning schedule with theirs?
Perhaps not. You’ve likely come across plenty of content that motivates you to wake up at 3, 4, 5, or even 5:30 AM, but take a moment to think—would this really be an ideal time for you to wake up?
The truth is, we can’t directly compare our lives to those of celebrities or highly successful individuals. They have spent years building routines that they follow diligently. Similarly, we should decide our wake-up time based on our own lifestyle, responsibilities, and daily routine. Over time, we can gradually introduce changes to our schedule that help us become more productive while still respecting our personal circumstances.
Here are a few tips that can help you decide the best time for you to wake up in the morning:
- Ensure you are having at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep daily.
- Sleep early to wake up early in the morning.
- You should have sufficient time for morning tea or coffee, exercise, meditation, and breakfast before leaving for work or school.
- Gradually, you can shift your wake-up time by 15-minute increments each day, allowing you to eventually reach your ideal wake-up time without feeling overwhelmed.
Quick Tip:
It’s not necessary that your weekday and weekend or holiday early morning routines has to be the same. You can adjust your wake-up time based on the demands of your day. For example, on a regular working day, you might wake up at 6 AM, while on a holiday or weekend, waking up at 7 AM is perfectly fine. This flexibility depends on your routine for that day, allowing you to stay productive without feeling too rigid in your schedule.
How Can I Wake Up Early in the Morning?
Waking up early isn’t rocket science, and it doesn’t require a lot of effort. By keeping a few key things in mind, you can easily make early rising a habit. Let’s take a look at these important tips to help you get up early without much struggle:
- Sleep Early: Going to bed early is just as important as waking up early. If you make it a habit to sleep an hour earlier every day, the chances are higher that you will wake up an hour earlier the next day as well.
- Avoid screen time: It’s important to avoid screen time at least 30 minutes before sleeping and for at least an hour after waking up. The less stressful your environment is before bed, the better your sleep quality will be, allowing you to wake up feeling refreshed the next day.
- Nighttime walks: The best way to avoid screen time is by including short nighttime walks in your routine after dinner. Walking after a meal helps with digestion and ensures your food is properly processed, while also promoting better sleep.
- Set Alarm: Set an alarm that doesn’t disturb others, such as a silent vibrating alarm on a smartwatch. Try to ensure that just one alarm is enough to wake you up. If you’re using your phone as an alarm, place it somewhere away from the bed, so you have to get up to turn it off.
- Sufficient Sleep: To wake up early, it’s crucial to get enough sleep. If you compromise on a solid 7–8 hours of sleep just to wake up early, your entire next day might feel dull and sluggish. So, make sure you prioritize sufficient sleep the night before, as it’s key to feeling energized and refreshed when you wake up early.
- Less Stress: To wake up early, having a stress-free mind is essential. To achieve this, it’s important to avoid mobile screen exposure or any situation that could increase your stress levels before bed. In such cases, nighttime walks are a great stress-relieving activity. They help calm the mind, prepare you for restful sleep, and make it easier to wake up refreshed the next morning.
- Light Dinner: The lighter your dinner, the better it is for both digestion and sleep. A lighter meal will digest faster, helping you fall asleep more easily. However, don’t skip dinner entirely; instead, opt for something light that can be digested quickly. This will prevent discomfort at night and ensure that your body gets the rest it needs.
- Plan early morning activities: By setting your priorities for the next day in advance, you can prepare your mind to wake up early. You can plan activities such as car driving lessons, an early morning run, exercise, meditation, important productive tasks, cycling, and much more. When you have a clear purpose for the morning, it motivates you to wake up early and get started on those activities, making your mornings more meaningful and productive.
- Find a companion: Find a companion who can help you wake up early, such as a partner for morning walks, a family member who wakes up earlier than you, a friend, or even a gym trainer. Having someone like this is beneficial because they can keep you accountable and provide motivation to stick to your schedule.
- Set Priorities: Prioritize goals in life that are more important than your morning sleep. For example, if you are passionate about marathon running, you might be willing to sacrifice your extra sleep to train for it. Similarly, identify goals that inspire you and give you a reason to wake up early with enthusiasm. When your goals hold enough meaning and excitement for you, they will naturally motivate you to start your day early and work toward achieving them.
Bonus Tip:
Avoid mid-day sleep: Avoid napping in the afternoon as it can disrupt your nighttime sleep. Afternoon naps can make it harder for you to fall asleep early at night, which in turn affects your ability to wake up early the next day. By skipping naps, you ensure that your body feels naturally tired by bedtime, allowing you to maintain a consistent sleep schedule and wake up refreshed in the morning.
Also Read: 10 Habits That Will Make You UNSTOPPABLE in 2025
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How to wake up early in the morning without feeling sleepy?
If you go to bed early and get a proper 7–8 hours of sound sleep while avoiding mobile screen exposure and stress-causing activities, your sleep quality will improve significantly. As a result, you’ll wake up feeling refreshed and won’t feel sleepy or lethargic the next day
How to wake up early in the morning without an alarm?
You need to adjust your body clock in such a way that you can wake up without an alarm. To develop this habit, you’ll need to consistently include waking up early as part of your daily routine. Having a companion to support you can also help in the beginning. After a few days of waking up early regularly, your body clock will naturally align with this schedule, and you won’t need an alarm to wake up anymore.
How to wake up early and not feel tired?
Feeling tired in the morning is often due to incomplete or insufficient sleep at night. To ensure a good night’s sleep, make sure your sleeping environment is free from disturbances that could disrupt your rest. Going to bed on time and including nighttime walks in your routine can help you relax and fall asleep more quickly, ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed and energized.
What to do if I can’t wake up in the morning?
If you’re still struggling to wake up early despite your efforts, it’s clear that your daily schedule needs some adjustments, and you’ll need to gradually develop the habit of waking up early. By properly following the 10 useful tips mentioned above, you should not face this issue. However, if you’re still unable to wake up early despite trying, take some time for self-analysis and adopt multidimensional thinking to identify what’s holding you back.
With deeper reflection, you may uncover valuable insights about the obstacles in your path, such as:
- Improving your sleeping environment to make it quieter and more comfortable.
- Reducing screen time exposure before bedtime.
- Using meditation to calm your inner thoughts and reduce stress.
Addressing these factors systematically can make waking up early easier over time. If, after trying everything, you still face challenges, it’s wise to consult a doctor or sleep expert for professional advice to resolve underlying issues.
My Journey from becoming an Early Riser to a Marathon finisher
I remember it must have been around 2016-17 when I had put on quite a bit of weight, and shedding 6 kgs of body fat had become one of my priority goals. I got so involved in the hustle and bustle of life that I completely stopped paying attention to myself. My job shifts were such that working late into the night made it almost impossible to wake up early in the morning.
With such a lifestyle, losing 6 kgs felt extremely difficult, and to be honest, I had almost given up on achieving this goal. Then, I found a companion in one of my office colleagues, who motivated me a lot and encouraged me to develop the habit of waking up early in the morning for a run. Initially, I outright refused, saying I couldn’t wake up so early, and running every day seemed completely unfeasible.
It was a Sunday, and they stubbornly came to my house at 6 a.m. to wake me up and take me jogging with them. Despite my repeated refusals, they convinced me to go for a run. That day, we started small, jogging just about 1 km, but the peace of the morning and the experience of the run turned out to be so refreshing that it made my day. It felt like I had started my day on a high note, and, in fact, for the rest of the day, I felt energized and had a positive vibe throughout.
They continued to be my companion for a few weeks, coming along with me for runs. Gradually, I started noticing the impact of running—it brought a sense of positivity into my life, and my focus and alertness began to improve. I managed to lose 1 kg of fat within the first month. Once I started seeing positive results, I became quite serious about running. I created a SMART schedule, prepared a training plan, and even registered for 5 km and 10 km marathons.
I remember my first marathon run was scheduled at 4 a.m., but I was so motivated that I reached the venue by 3:30 a.m. Since marathon running is a proper workout, I made sure not to compromise on sleep. To prepare, I would go to bed by 8 p.m. the night before. When I completed my first 5 km run, my motivation levels skyrocketed—it felt like they increased tenfold. The morning environment, the people there, everything was a unique source of encouragement for me.
From that day onward, there was no looking back. I’ve completed several 5 km and 10 km runs, and successfully finished two half marathons. It wasn’t just about finishing the races—there were many marathons where I ranked among the top 100 out of over 5,000 participants.
My dedication and commitment to running became a driving force for me to wake up early every morning. As for my weight loss goal, I lost 6 kgs within 7-8 months that year.
Conclusion
To Conclude, waking up early in the morning is not just a habit, rather it’s a lifestyle routine that can help improve your alertness and focus. Waking up early not only saves us a significant amount of time but also allows us to utilize that time for productive and deep-focused work. Additionally, we understand that by keeping a few key points in mind, we can decide on an ideal time how to get up early. If you wish to read more such inspirational and motivational content, subscribe to Synched Harmony and join our vibrant community today!
Greetings! I am the voice behind the thoughts presented on Synched Harmony. As an ordinary individual, I strive to live a life dedicated to achieving inner peace and serenity by cultivating harmony within and making difficult aspects of life work together in sync during tough phases of life. Life becomes much easier if we open ourselves to small changes and respect each other’s personal boundaries, creating space for shared happiness.