non-morning people...how do you wake up early?

all my life, i have struggled with waking up in the morning. now i'm trying to consistently trade European hours from the US..so i wake up around 2-3am....or..i try to wake up at 2-3am...but it is really hard.

i need 8-9 hours of sleep...plus about an hour in the morning to feel awake (includes a long hot shower)

strategies / suggestions? i don't have a boss...i'm a prop trader.

 
Most Helpful

Youtube has tons of guided sleep meditations that can help you fall asleep if that is the issue. Useful if you're on a weird routine.

I'm a big fan of an old school alarm clock far enough away that you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Exercise right after waking up helps. I like spin or rowing in the morning but if you don't have time push ups and some burpees or something can have the same effect in about 5 min.

Also...try a cold shower. Or take a hot shower and then end with cold. It sucks but never fails to get you going...even on poor sleep.

 

It helps if you have something that makes you genuinely excited to get out of bed even at 2-3am. Personally, I'm a coffee fanatic and the first thing on my mind when I wake up is how nice it will be to be holding my cup of starbucks on my stroll to work. If you're not a huge fan of caffeine it could be anything like a good breakfast, good workout, or allow yourself to do something you won't do any other time of day (play a quick video game, watch your favorite show etc.) Make it so that when you go to bed you just can't wait to get up in the morning. Bonus points if what gets you excited actually is your work.

 

You go to sleep earlier.

A good way to reset your clock is to have a big meal or a decent amount of alcohol in the early evening (6-8pm) then pass out after that. You'll most likely wake up after 7 hours or so and so it'll be around 3am. Stay up the whole day without napping and you'll naturally want to fall asleep earlier that day, (maybe try 8pm-9pm) and then you should be able to easily wake up by 4am the next day. Then just repeat this process until you are consistently getting to sleep by 10 and waking up at 5-6am or whenever is best for you. Worked for me, maybe it's not for everyone.

 

Garmin watch vibrates on my wrist - usually gets me up over an alarm clock.

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Go to sleep earlier. Move alarm clock to the other side of your bedroom. Jump in a cold shower as soon as you wake up for a few minutes before setting the temp to hot or continuing in the cold.

Do those three things and I promise you'll feel awake and alert within 10 mins of waking up.

 

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