It’s not about sleep but rest.

Just little thoughts about why we should wake up early even if we feel that we’re night owls. You can skip it if you want to go directly to the things you can apply.

Have you heard some people say feel much better while working or studying late at night? I experience this every time that I’ll work just one more hour because the work is due and I actually have things done.

Yet our body is tired after being awake for a long time. We are deteriorating our health. Because health is equivalent to exercise and diet combined.

We feel productive at night not because we have more energy but because we have “fewer distractions at night”. There are no messages or calls, no interruptions, no notifications, we have very less thoughts to work on except for our work or study.

The same applies to the early morning. Just the difference is those hours are much more powerful than the night.

You can study or work more than the rest of the day. Full of energy and full of focus.

Just a last point. We sleep one-third of our lifetime. Yet so many people struggle to sleep and wake up.

Application

The one habit to cultivate is — Wake up early

The one thing to be done is — Sleep early

The one thing to remember is — It’s not about sleep but rest.

If you can manage to get rest as early as possible, then waking up becomes much easier.

How

1. Set a duration when you will be ready to sleep. We usually keep a rigid time to get into bed and never follow that because each individual’s life has unexpected occurrences and it is not realistically possible to sleep at a fixed time every day. On the contrary, what we can do is keep a duration of time. Eg. I go to sleep between 9:45 to 10:15. You can keep a duration like 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm. :D

What

1. Cue — Trigger to get in the mood.

Keep your bed ready i.e. everything you need for getting sleep. Eg. I need a crying baby in my room to get a good night’s sleep.

2. Routine — The brain will take it as we are ready to sleep.

1. Have someone turn off your lights daily if you can’t do it yourself or forget to do it.
2. Say good night to someone or send a message. Our good colleagues and friends will definitely help us in improving our lives if we commit to them that we are planning to wake up early.
3. Don’t set alarms. Trust me and yourself. It’s not about getting up early but what we do after we get up that matters. And if we woke up early without getting full rest, then there are very less returns on our investment.

3. Response

1. Close your eyes. Don’t think you want to sleep. Our goal is to get rest as early as possible. Closing eyes in itself start our process. It’s okay if you don’t fall into a deep sleep right away. That’s not in our control. Just lie down and act as if you were sleeping. That way, Our mothers won’t disturb us by asking about what clothes to wash tomorrow.

4. Reward

1. In the initial stage, take time to build consistency. If you currently wake up at 6:30 then try 6:15.
2. Have a fun list of things you want to do. Have something interesting(at least in the beginning) to do when you wake up. Let your brain work for you while you sleep. Don’t worry. Your dreams won’t be disturbed instead you’ll find unexpected solutions that we might never get while chasing them.
3. Manage to get early into bed to 3–4 days a week. It’s okay to work late at night if such work comes. Even if you don’t get up early, you’ll be fully rested.