How to wake up alert

Waking up refreshed and alert is a great way to start any day and it really helps to get a day full of classes and study started. I find that the longer it takes to wake up the worse I feel for the next few hours.

I remember reading this article about practising getting up when your alarm goes off during the day so that when you’re asleep and your alarm goes off it’s second nature. At the time it seemed like a good goal but too hard and I put it out of my mind. Recently, however, I’ve discovered an easier way of achieving the same goal. I’m an early riser but my big problem is that I like my bed too much so have a habit of lying in bed drifting in and out of sleep for 20-30 minutes after my alarm goes off. When I got a new alarm clock to replace the one I’ve had for about ten years the sound of the new alarm freaked me out so much that before I knew it I was standing up. Since then I’ve made an effort to get up when my new alarm goes off and now I’m so trained that I do it automatically.

So my tip? Get a new alarm with a significantly different beep to your current one. Make an effort to train yourself into sitting/standing up when it goes off. Soon you’ll be doing it automagically!

If you can’t train yourself into getting up at a new beep try this tip from Bad Language

Alarms. I set my beside alarm for 0600 – and this is the clever psychology – I also set my telephone to ring at 0605 but I put the phone on the other side of the room so that I have to get out of bed to stop it ringing. In the UK, you dial *55*0605# to do this. What happens is this: either I wake up and cancel the alarm or I get up and answer the call to stop it ringing. First, we’re strongly
programmed to answer the phone*. Second, I’m very strongly programmed not to wake my wife up! A ringing phone will do this so I have powerful motivators at work: guilt and fear. This technique works every time but I had previously reserved it for early morning trips to the airport and things like that.

Enjoy!

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