7 Geeky Tips for Getting up in the Morning

A little confession: I'm not a morning person. In fact, I hate waking up before 9 in the morning, and I would probably sleep until 10 if I could. But there is not enough time in the day for children, hobbies, work, etc., and life is too short to pass in the haze of sleepiness. Here are my 7 tips for waking up at 6:30 every morning (well… maybe not every day):

1. Go to bed when you are tired.

You've probably heard that you should go to bed at the same time every night, right? Yes, I tried it and ended up staring at the ceiling for hours. Instead, I go to bed when I'm tired. Usually that means I go to bed at roughly the same time every night. Eventually you get into a rhythm and it works.

2. Pick your clothes the night before.

Honestly, really helpful. Making decisions in the early hours, even small ones about which shirt or tie to wear, can be challenging. I even considered going the Neil Gaiman route and wearing the same damn thing every day.

3. Program your coffee machine.

Several people told me to cut back on caffeine after I mentioned to them that I wanted to get up earlier. After I stopped laughing, I went out and bought some really good whole bean coffee. Now, every night I load up our automatic coffee machine. The next morning I get warm fuzzies inside when I hear it go off like a jet engine.

4. Set your alarm. Across the room.

I have an innate ability (which frustrates my wife) that I can hit the snooze button on my alarm clock without waking up completely from unconsciousness. The thing is, snoozing sucks. It's low-quality sleep that doesn't make you feel restful in any way. My groggy brain wasn't rational enough in the morning to understand this.

So I don't have an alarm clock on my nightstand. Instead, I installed an alarm clock on my MacBook and kept it plugged in across the room. Now, every morning at 6:30 a.m., the shrill tones of chip tunes wake me from a blissful gasp.

5. Put a glass of water next to the alarm clock.

Drink the whole glass when you wake up and turn off the alarm. After a good night's sleep, you may be a little dehydrated, and for whatever reason, drinking water just seems to help the body realize it's time to wake up.

6. Get up early for a good reason.

Sometimes it's not enough just to know that you have more hours in your day. Sometimes you need to know how to use it. If you want to accomplish that task, you have time to do it now. Draw some miniatures! Get out and about! Make and eat pancakes with your kids! Plan something fun and you might get out of bed easier.

7. Take a moment to think.

It may be a bit of a cliché, but taking a moment to think about life, the universe and everything can be very relaxing. Reviewing the events of the previous day is a great way to learn a lesson or two.