Introduction 

• In a previous post I have explained why I place so much importance on having a clearly defined and repeatable morning routine to ensure you maximise your time in the morning and set yourself up for the day in the best possible way, you can find that article here: http://jablifestyle.net/2016/06/05/morningroutine/.
• The aim here is not to repeat myself but help those individuals who feel as through the creation of a morning routine is a pipe dream, just getting up at all in the morning is the real and pressing struggle.
• In this piece I will look at; (1) the best technology to utilise to get you up in the morning (2) how increasing the amount of pre-programming you do can be a time saver (3) highlight what things and activities not to do in the morning.
• My hope is that after reading this piece you’ll be able to test out what I suggest and help improve how easily and quickly you get up and get started in the morning. Once you’ve mastered this, the next step is to see how you can maximise your morning routine, with the fundamental aim to make it the most important and productive part of your day. The key to doing this and seeing the progress you want is to make changes slowly and incrementally, but also take the time to recognise and congratulate yourself as you progress, don’t constantly berate yourself.

Technology Available 

• Whilst there are a lot of products and applications out there which claim to be a massive help I’ve only really found 3 which I think are excellent. For ease I’ve broken these down into two categories; (1) if your problem is getting out of bed (2) if your problem is getting the right quality of sleep.
• If your problem is getting out of bed
  • Carpet Alarm Clock – Again I think this technology is great because it’s not about screamingly loud music but does fundamentally require you to get out of bed. The alarm will only stop going off when you stand on it. And for those clever people who say ‘well I can press my feet on it and then get straight back into bed’ you just need to put it on the other side of the bedroom, closer to the shower! A cheaper alternative would be to simply place your alarm out of reach of your bed.
  • Lumie Bodyclock Active 250 – I hate the stupid and painfully loud alarm clocks some people suggest help get you up in the morning, which is why I love the Lumie Bodyclock. It gently wakes you by slowly brightening the light built into it, copying a sunrise. At full brightness it will then play a natural sound or if you want it can also turn on the radio. It can be used at night too, copying a sunset to help you get off to sleep if you need. Be warned through at ~£100 it isn’t cheap, so I’d suggest trying other things first.
• If your problem is getting the right quality of sleep
  • Sleep Genius – This app has some incredible reviews and I can see why. The Sleep Genius app has been developed by experts in neuroscience, sleep, sound, and music following research helping NASA get astronauts to sleep. The app can train your brain with a healthy alarm based on different sleep phases and is available from both ITunes Store & Google Play.
• A slight warning, there is so much technology out there which too often promises it’ll take all the difficulty away, don’t fall for it and don’t rely on technology. As you’ll see I’ve only listed 3 pieces of technology from the hundreds if not thousands that claim to help, that is because so much out there only makes getting up harder rather than easier or just creates something else you can blame for you not getting out of bed in the morning. Technology is never a replacement to motivation and dedication, only a supplement, so don’t use it as a crutch.

Pre-programming your mornings 

• Automating as much as possible in the evening will not only reduce the amount of time you need to spend in the morning, it’ll also help ensure you don’t forget important things and make it easier to get out of bed. I recommend 4 easy ways for you to increase the amount of automation or pre-programming you have in your morning;
  • Programme the heating– Setting your temperature gauge so that the heating comes on (or air-conditioning depending on where you live) 30 minutes before your alarm goes off can make all the difference. The number of times I used to psych myself out of getting out of bed in the morning because I was lovely and warm under my duvet and it was freezing outside was ridiculous.
  • Programme your coffee – Adding a timing switch to your coffee machine will ensure that the caffeine you need to turn you from a pre-historic neanderthal to modern day brainiac is already there. Smelling the coffee from bed will add as an extra incentive and help getting out of bed. No more having to waste 5 minutes after you’ve flicked the switch to get yourself going.
  • Prepare all food night before– Having breakfast all ready to go – see my article on my breakfast of choice here –  and lunch all prepped the night before makes getting up in the morning much easier, and one less thing to worry about. An added benefit of doing this is that you also save money and improve the quality of the food you’re eating. You’ll also be less likely to sack off your home cocked lunch and buy some fast food from work.
  • Prepare for work the night before – Spend 10 minutes each evening preparing for the next day, from ensuring your bag is packed, to checking through tomorrow’s calendar & confirming your to-do list. Completing this will give you two significant benefits:
    • It’ll help you sleep better. Instead of waking up in a cold sweat at 3am because you’ve forgotten your boss has an urgent meeting with you at 8am or tossing and turning when trying to get to sleep. Preparing for work the night before will ensure everything is compartmentalised and sorted before you go to sleep and help you get a peaceful night.
    • It stops you hiding in bed the next morning. If you know what you have to do you are more likely to want to get up and on with the day instead of hiding from the world under your duvet.
    • If you know your bag is packed, your coffee is already made and the heating is on, it’s going to act as the extra motivation required to get you out of bed and get the day started. Don’t underestimate the power of automation.
• This pre-programming or automation thinking and the examples I’ve listed above aren’t too different from the ‘nudge’ theory of behavioural science. The core concept is that individuals can be nudged in a certain direction with small or easy incentives. If it works for society as a whole it’ll work for you, get nudging! If you are interested in finding more about nudging or behavioural economics I’d suggest reading Misbehaving by Richard Thaler.

What not to do each morning 

• In another post of how to make a productive morning routine I highlighted the things you need to stop doing to help you achieve productivity, this included; (1) don’t lie in bed checking social media (2) don’t do the continued snooze thing (3) don’t try to squeeze everything into the shortest time possible, it will make you stressed, late and won’t be giving you a longer, better night’s sleep (4) don’t use a terrible ring tone as an alarm.
• I think these things are equally applicable for individuals looking for help getting out of bed, but there is one more fundamental thing which is only applicable to those struggling to get out of bed in the morning; don’t set the bar too high. Make sure you are recognising and congratulating yourself for doing it each morning. If you create a massive list of things you should but aren’t doing and don’t spend any time rewarding yourself for the things you are doing then you’ll never improve and progress because you’ll never have the motivation to change the way things currently are.

Conclusion 

• If you struggle to get out of bed in the morning, then I hope there are some nuggets you’ve taken away from the above. Not all the above will work for everyone, the key is to experiment and work out what is best for you. Remember that experimenting is not the same as throwing everything you currently do out the window and adopting everything above at the same time. Experimenting is all about tinkering, making small changes and keeping everything else constant. If you don’t do this how will you work out what is actually helping things and what isn’t?
• Never forget to reward yourself with praise when you progress. If you fail to do this you will fail to progress and will feel as though you are in a constant loop of failure because you’re not seeing the positive gains you are making.
• Once you’ve mastered the ‘just getting out of bed thing’ I suggest you also read my article about optimising your daily routine.  It builds on the core concepts of this piece but explains and shows how you can convert your mornings from something you endure to the most important and relevant part of your day, allowing you to accomplish things and start your day in the best possible way.

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