We’ve all heard about the early bird who catches the worm. We know that CEOs and many successful people prefer to wake up early. These include Tim Cook, Richard Branson, and Michelle Obama, to name a few. So, what happens when you decide to wake up early? How do you do it? What do you do?

Waking up early has many benefits, such as:

Having time to relax: When not many people are awake, the world is a lot quieter. you’ll hear the birds, and be able to relax, meditate, or even write in a journal. Start a hectic day with peace.

Not rushing in the morning: If you have an hour or so more than you do now, imagine making yourself a nice breakfast, taking a longer shower, reading, and then leaving your house in no hurry.

Time to learn: The brain can retain quite a bit of information when first thing in the morning. If you want to learn something new, you can take a few minutes in the morning to learn that subject.

Be more productive: What are all the things you procrastinate about and keep putting off? Get those things done with the time you have in the morning.

Time to exercise: If exercise is one item on your to-do list that you don’t get around to, especially after a long day at work, get it done first thing in the morning. Morning exercise has many benefits too.

Sleep better: Once you start waking up earlier, you’ll begin getting sleepier earlier in the night, and getting deeper sleep.

So, ready to wake up early? Here’s you do it:

Step 1: Pick a time you want to wake up, and gradually get to it
If you currently wake up at 8am, waking up at 5am the next few days will wreak havoc on your body. You will not be able to function properly. Instead, try to get to 5am by waking up 30 minutes earlier than the previous day. Therefore, your wake up times will be 7:30a, 7:00a, 6:30a…until you get to 5:00am.

Step 2: Understand sleep cycles: 1.5 hours a cycle
Science says that we need at least four sleep cycles to have a restful sleep. This means at least 6 hours of sleep.

Step 3: Sleep according to the sleep cycle
Depending on the time you’d like to wake up, reverse engineer 4, 5, or 6 sleep cycles that you’d like to aim for:

• 4 sleep cycles = 6 hours
• 5 sleep cycles = 7.5 hours
• 6 sleep cycles = 9 hours

Step 4: Have excellent sleep hygiene and habits
Make sure you have a fantastic sleep environment setup for you to get a great night’s rest. This setup includes cool temperature, no screen time 30 minutes before sleeping, and a completely dark room. If you have trouble falling asleep, chamomile tea, and melatonin are great assists. Consult your doctor before taking melatonin. Additionally, don’t go to bed after a heavy meal, or just having too much water. The goal is to sleep through the night and not have to wake up for a bathroom break.

Step 5: Set an alarm. Walking distance from your bed.
Set an alarm that you must stand up and walk towards to get up out of bed. We all know how easy it is to hit the snooze button. There is a reason you’ve decided to wake up early. Remind yourself of this, and hold yourself accountable.

Step 6: Practice gratitude
You woke up. You have another day to live and pursue your life goals. Waking up and practicing gratitude first thing in the morning can put you in a great mood, and reduce stress and anxiety.

Step 7: Get to it!
Whatever you wanted to accomplish, get to it. Get excited about doing something in the morning. It will propel you to want to get to bed at night so you can wake up and do it!