Before I tell you, How waking up early can change your life, let me tell you, there happens to be a natural body clock for every single human being which regulates their energy levels throughout the day and night. That's why some people can naturally wake up early in the morning and others can stay up all night and be productive.
Based on this, People can be classified as LARKS and OWLS. Those who wake up early in the morning and have high energy levels early in the day are LARKS and OWLS are people who can stay up late in the night and work with high efficiency.
Now with this basic foundation, let's jump into my story! Growing up I was a LAZY LAD! I didn't like waking up early, and for good reasons of course! The bed felt so cosy, warm and soft early in the morning. I mean, If you are a normal person, You know what I am talking about! It's almost like the bed insists you not to leave it alone. The pillow tells you how soft and comfortable it is. The Blanket tells you how cruel the world outside is and it tells you tales of how much it cares about you for surrounding you all around. The spell that the Bed casts on you in the morning is simply obnoxious and it could definitely prove its mettle even to the Witches of the Nether Realm. And WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?? No, the real question here is, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?? The spell is almost as powerful as the spell the grumpy, cruel, self-centred, greedy Witch cast on Princess Aurora in the story of The Sleeping Beauty. All you can do is turn your head to the other side and sleep like a baby until the Prince comes to kiss the curse away. But that happens only in Fairy tales, In the real world, there's no Prince to wake you up by gently kissing you!
In the real World, and Specially in the case of an Indian Household, You wake up to the Flying Chappal from your Mother! That flying Chappal at that moment feels no less than The Mighty Thor's Mjolnir!
But isn't there any way past The Mighty Chappal from Mother? Well, we all have tried Alarm Clocks and we all know How that has worked out! But don't worry. If you want to learn, how to break that curse! I GOT YOU!.. Today, I am going to share with you exactly the steps you can follow to become a LARK and wake up early in the morning! But, Let me warn you! The path ahead is not easy! It would need a considerable effort from your side for the first month! The silver lining here is once your body has adjusted to the new pattern, It would come naturally to you.
How to get started...
1. Planning your Sleep Cycles
You can't wake up early if you sleep late in the night! To get up early, You have to crash at bed early. First things first, before you get started, try to observe how many hours of sleep is needed by your body! I personally, after developing this habit, need 4 and a half to 5 hours of sleep !! Now, You don't have to do that to yourself. I suggest you start slow! If you were sleeping 7 hours, try sleeping for 6 and a half hours for the first week. Then subsequently, go down if needed and if and only if your body can handle it.
Next in the line, I want to tell you that, there are some things I would need you to change before we can get you started! and It's not going to be EASY! Rather, this next step is going to be the most difficult to keep up to!
2. PUT AWAY YOUR SMARTPHONES AT 2100 HRS or 9:00 P.M.
Yes! You heard that right, this device right here, the device you are probably reading this blog on can make or break your habit! And I'll give the exact reason why I am making this request!! As of now! let's just assume that your parents fall asleep at 2230 hrs or 10:30 p.m. and you to get to bed by this time! Now what you do is pick up your smartphones for just 5 minutes to check if your crush has replied to your text you sent them 3 days ago! Then you go to their Insta profile and stalk them for another 5 minutes. Then you watch a reel or a video on Youtube for not more than 10 minutes right! That's effectively around 20 minutes you think you gave to your smartphone! Right!! RIGHT!!!... Wrong! Read this statement again!!
That's effectively around 20 minutes you THINK you gave to your smartphone! YOU THINK!!
YOU T H I N K!
In reality, by the time you sleep, it's past 0030 hrs or 12:30 a.m. That's 2 hours of screen time! 2 hours of you watching content which you think is useful and important! let me tell you, That content which you watch lying on the bed with your earphone jammed into your ears!! it's as useful to you as the Appendix is to our digestion system! (For those who didn't take Biology 101, Appendix is an organ in our Digestive system which has no real reason left to exist! It serves no purpose whatsoever now. It is a Vestigial Organ.) Moreover, it can sometimes cause Appendicitis, which causes tremendous pain and it can only be cured by surgically removing it from the system! Right now, Our situation is pretty much similar to that patient of Appendicitis! Our Smartphones are causing some serious troubles and We have no other choice but to remove them from our system!
One thing I personally do to get around this issue is to turn on the DND and night mode in my Smartphone! I also don't take any calls after 2100 hrs or 9:00 p.m. and before 900 hrs or 9:00 a.m. in the morning! I simply put it across the room so that it's way out of my reach when I go to bed! But, What if you have become accustomed to this pattern and you simply feel sleepy! You can't just lie with your eyes wide open in your bed right! I have just the thing in my arsenal which will cast the spell of eternal sleep on you almost instantly!
GRAB A BOOK! Preferably a Subject book which you despise and see how you sleep like a baby in a matter of minutes!
(You're Welcome)
3. Write down on a piece of paper, What you wish to accomplish first thing in the morning
Most people are not able to develop the habit of waking up early in the morning because they don't know what to do when they wake up!
Let me paint a scenario for you! Let's say you have to go on a trip! Your group is scheduled to leave 500hrs or 5:00 a.m. in the morning. You won't have a problem waking up at 4 for this! You wouldn't even need an Alarm clock for this! You'll just wake up! That's it! Everyone remembers going to the school trips early on in the morning. That day, your mother didn't have to wake you up. You got up way before time and were ready to rush to meet your friends! That's the power of knowing what you have to do when you wake up! So, Plan a thing or two you would do when you wake up!
A pro tip here is to use existing habit patterns to develop new habits! Say, if you have been watering your plants every day, You can use this pattern to build new habits! when you wake up, go straight to watering plants. As your body is accustomed to doing the task, your mental patterns will help you engage with the task and finish it as it is a behavioural pattern. You can't wake up and sit straight with your books in your hand as that's something which your brain perceives as a tedious task and you would feel sleepy and tired. Don't do that.
Start small, Start Simple...
But START!
4. Setup an Accountablity System and a Habit Tracker
This is the last step in our process! Set up an Accountability System and a Habit Tracker! now now... You don't have to break the bank for this! It could be as simple as marking a Calander every day in the morning when you wake up! But seriously, How much do you trust yourself to stay ethical here. What I would suggest here is to try asking your mother, father or grandparents to track your progress for you.
You can never get past a Mother's Instinct you know!! She'll always know when you kept your word and when you didn't.
I'll tell you my morning schedule and how I have used the above steps. I go to bed by 2330 hrs or 11:30 p.m. every night. I place my smartphone in my closet across the room so that when the alarm rings, I'll have to get up and turn it off. I wake up at 400 hrs or 4:00 in the morning. The first thing I do after I wake up, leave my bed, switch off my alarm is make my bed. I fold my bedsheets and arrange my pillow back in order. That way, I signal my brain that sleeping time is over and we have to get to work. Then I go to my Balcony and meditate for 10 mins. Meanwhile, I also go about the schedule I have prepared the prior night and try to recall as many tasks as I can as reaffirmations. Then I go straight to take a COLD SHOWER. This instantly wakes me up and every last bit of sleep, if left in me, just disappears with this. Then I pray Fajr Namaaz and head out to water Plants around 510 hrs or 5:10 a.m. My parents have given me the responsibility to maintain the potted plants on my floor. So I have been doing it for a long time now. I used that behavioural pattern to develop the habit of waking up. Around 540 hrs or 5:40 a.m., I take my smartphone to the rooftop where I record the magical Sunrise every day and post it on my Instagram stories with a Quote for the day!
This way I keep a track of my habit. If someday, you don't see my story! you can sit assured that I didn't wake up early that morning. This way, I keep myself accountable for my habit to wake up early. I also take my book with me to the rooftop and read while mother nature showers her magic all over the world.
At 700 hrs or 7:00 a.m. I come down to my room and get started with the tasks at hand. This way, If you consider a normal person to wake up by 700 hrs or 7:00 a.m. compared to him, I am 3 HOURS AHEAD in my day.
Now that you know, How to go about it, I urge you to give this a try! Experiment with different tasks, accountability systems, schedules and habits. And if you face any problems, You can always get back to me. Let me know how it worked for you!
So that's about it for now. Thank you so much for sticking to the end! I hope to meet you in my next blog post, but before we depart, I would like to tell you that...
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