Ive always been geared towards getting up before lunchtime, but I wanted to be arealmorning person.
Aget up before the sunperson.
Aget 3 hours of work done before lunch everydayperson.
This post originally appeared onBelle Beth Coopers blog.
For a few months I wasgetting up at 6am every day.
But something changed in late 2015 when I moved in with my partner and co-founder,Josh.
Josh is naturally a late riser and works after Ive gone to bed many nights.
It was a real struggle.
Every time Ive tried this, though, Ive lasted one day at most.
So getting up early was the way to go.
I just had to figure out how to do it.
Here are some of the things that ended up working for me.
But remember: this took at least 6 months of experimenting andfailing.
This makes sense in theory, but for some reason it didnt work for me.
I honestly dont know why.
I didnt have a specific, regular wake up time when I started this process.
Getting up later than that made me feel annoyed at myself and sluggish for the rest of the day.
I always seemed to get more done if I made it out of bed before 8.
I was terrible at this.
I failed so often.
Ostensibly Id achieved my daily goal, but it didnt feel like success.
A full two hours earlier than Id been struggling to get up every day so far.
I found it easier to get up at 6am than I did two hours later.
Or perhaps thats just a more natural wake up time for me.
I dont know for sure why this worked.
It definitely didnt work alone.
Over time Ive done a couple of other things that have helped me make this a regular habit.
And these days I dont always get up at 6.
Its usually between 6 and 7am, unless Ive had a particularly late night.
I want to workwithmy body, not against it.
After dinner I usually watch some TV with Josh, and sometimes go for a walk.
Dont forget, I was already going to bed by 11pm at the latest.
Most nights I was in bed by 9 or 10. it’s possible for you to fight that, butits much better for your bodyif you workwithyour natural inclinations.
Basically, reward substitution is when you get yourself to dothe right thing for the wrong reason.
But youd be doing something good for your body.
Doing theright thingfor thewrong reason.
When I wake up in the morning, I get out of bedfor my coffee.
Not because I know Ill have a better day and be more productive if I get up now.
Future me is a whole other person, even when shes only a few hours away.
The rest of the routine keeps me out of bed.
Each one acts like a string pulling me forward through my routine until I get it all done.
How I Became a Morning Person| Belle Beth Cooper
Belle Beth Cooper was the first Content Crafter at Buffer.
Shes the co-founder of Melbourne startup Hello Code, an iOS developer, and a writer.
Image byAbscentandMangsaab(Shutterstock).
