{"id":1722,"date":"2010-02-19T09:03:35","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T17:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=1722"},"modified":"2013-08-21T11:37:16","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T19:37:16","slug":"9-ways-to-wake-up-ready-to-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/9-ways-to-wake-up-ready-to-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Ways to Wake Up Ready to Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Never Wake Up” courtesy of Heiko Muller<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I bet you\u2019ve had days when you just want to stay under the duvet. Maybe you slept badly, or perhaps you just can\u2019t face dragging yourself out of bed and facing your to-do list. Yet you know that if you could get up when you want to every day \u2013 rather than at the last minute possible \u2013 you\u2019d be able to accomplish a lot more of your goals.<\/p>\n

Here are nine ways to wake up ready to rock, roughly in order of when you\u2019ll need to do them the day before. Feel free to add your own tips in the comments!<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Exercise During the Day<\/h2>\n

There are plenty of great reasons to exercise, and I won\u2019t rehash them all here. Many people, though, find that exercising helps them to sleep well at night \u2013 yet another health-boosting benefit.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re struggling to fit exercise into your day, try looking for ways to get active in your lunch hour or straight after work:<\/strong> if exercise forms a natural part of your routine, you\u2019ll be much more likely to stick with it.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stop Work in the Middle of a Task<\/h2>\n

Sometimes, even when we do manage to get up on time, we\u2019re just not in the mood to rock! At the end of the day, try stopping work in the middle of a task. If you\u2019re a writer, that might mean ending part way through an article; if you\u2019re a programmer, it may mean leaving something that you can easily come back to.<\/p>\n

The advantage here is that instead of building up the energy to get stuck in on something new<\/em> \u2013 where you haven\u2019t already gathered momentum \u2013 you\u2019ve got an easy little task to start off your day and to get you straight into working<\/strong>, diminishing the urge to procrastinate.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Avoid Caffeine in the Evening<\/h2>\n

Drinking tea, coffee, cola or other caffeinated drinks in the evening is almost certainly going to have a bad effect on your sleep. Everyone\u2019s a bit different here, but it\u2019s worth setting yourself a clear \u201ccaffeine curfew\u201d. <\/strong>I used to drink tea at 6.30pm after work each evening but I quickly found that this wasn\u2019t helping me get to sleep on time! Now, I rarely drink anything caffeinated after 4pm, and that works for me.<\/p>\n

Post-dinner coffee is definitely a habit to get out of \u2013 if you like it for the taste or the social aspect, try decaffeinated instead.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Set Out Your Clothes the Night Before<\/h2>\n

When I wake up in the morning, even deciding what to wear can be enough effort to keep me under the covers! If that\u2019s you, try setting your clothes out the night before:<\/strong> decide exactly what you\u2019re wearing and hang your clothes at the far edge of your closet, or over a chair or on a door.<\/p>\n

It might seem like a little thing, but waking up ready to rock means taking care of as many decisions as possible before<\/em> that moment when you\u2019re looking for any excuse to hit \u201csnooze\u201d.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t Eat a Heavy Dinner<\/h2>\n

You\u2019ve probably had the experience of eating a big dinner and then finding that your stomach is uncomfortably full, gurgling and churning as it digests your food. This definitely isn\u2019t a good start to a night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n

You could eat a bit earlier in the evening, or simply eat a lighter meal at dinner time.<\/strong> Don\u2019t go too<\/em> light, though \u2013 waking up at three am because you\u2019re hungry won\u2019t do much for your sleep either. A happy balance here depends very much on you as an individual, so experiment a little to find what works.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Journal or Read Before Bed<\/h2>\n

Many of us find it hard to \u201cswitch off\u201d at the end of the day, often lying awake thinking about all the stuff that we didn\u2019t get done, or worrying about what\u2019s coming up the following day. A couple of great ways to deal with this problem are:<\/p>\n