I was talking to a friend yesterday about how I wished I could spend more time writing and he replies, “Well, if you can wake up by around 5 am in the morning everyday, you get a good 2 extra hours in a day where you can probably get your best writing done.”

Now that makes a lot of sense. I would love to be able to wake up at 5 am in the morning. In fact, a few days last month I even succeeded.

But doing it on a regular basis I’ve realised is really much more challenging. And to add to the problem is that fact that mornings are rather chilly in Bangalore so the last thing I want to do is wake up.

I’ve often heard people say they’re not a “morning person” and I quite identify with this phrase because I am that very person! It is never quite easy and effortless as it is for some people who wake up bright eyed at 430 am to start their day.

I’m expanding on this blog post after Reader N left me this link:
How to become an early riser

I’ve read this with a lot of interest and these are some of the interesting points he makes.

Apparently the reasoning that if you sleep earlier, you will wake up earlier, usually fails. And I think that this is quite valid. I’ve tried sleeping early (as early as 930 pm) but I invariably sleep late. There is no guarantee that I am going to wake up early when I sleep early.

Steve also writes: “The solution was to go to bed when I’m sleepy (and only when I’m sleepy) and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time (7 days per week).”

Waking up for me not a problem. When the alarm rings, I usually wake up. But… that’s where it all goes horribly wrong. I usually switch it off, turn to the other side and continue sleeping! Getting out at this point is the toughest thing!

Quoting Steve again on how he tackles this problem:“When my alarm goes off every morning, I turn it off, stretch for a couple seconds, and sit up. I don’t think about it. I’ve learned that the longer it takes me to get up, the more likely I am to try to sleep in. So I don’t allow myself to have conversations in my head about the benefits of sleeping in once the alarm goes off. Even if I want to sleep in, I always get up right away.”

Will this work I wonder? I’m going to give this a try this week and see if I can manage to wake up at least by 530 am on 2 days of the week to start off with.

Caffeine, as someone pointed out in the comments, is not my problem. The most I have is 2 cups of light tea during the day. And hardly any coffee unless I’m meeting someone over coffee 🙂

I also need motivation. When I was doing a few practice runs/jogs for the Ultra, I was actually waking up early in the morning. I think I definitely work better if I have some goal in front of me so that means I need one soon.

So, in the following week, I’m going to try and sleep when I feel sleepy. Wake up with the alarm and not have conversations in my head. Sit up, stretch and not look outside (because it’s way to dark at 530 am). And get myself a goal! Wish me luck…

If you folks have any tips/experiences to share, I’m all ears!