How to wake up on time

The eternal struggle of waking up continues in homes across the world. The snooze button becomes a never ending weapon fighting against the day. Millions struggle to simply get up and brush their teeth, let alone to use the morning for something productive. Does this sound like you? It doesn’t have to be this way anymore.

First, you really need to get it together the night before. Stop staying up late watching Netflix. Stop scrolling through social media as you’re trying to go to bed. Stop drinking caffeine late into the day. You must get a good night’s sleep if you want to wake up easily. Sleep is the most important part of your health - nurture it.

Do you grab your phone first thing upon waking up? Well, stop that too. I know, you just want to check a couple messages but next thing you know, you’ve been laying in bed for the last hour mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. Now you don’t have time to do anything productive. Your entire morning routine is shot. Don’t grab your phone. Instead, get out of bed and do something productive (“Mornings Shouldn’t Suck” is an entire book literally filled with productive things you can do in the morning if you need some ideas).

You need to train your brain to wake up when you want to wake up. As I mention in my book, you should wake up at the same time every single day. Do this consistently, and you’ll find yourself waking up at that time without even needing an alarm clock. Another way to train your brain is to use your senses. Play music as soon as you get out of bed. In fact, start with the same song every morning; this will train your brain to recognize that it’s time to get moving when it hears that song.

After you start the music, use another sense like smell to train your brain. Essential oils are a great way to do this. Specifically, peppermint, lemon, spearmint, orange and rosemary oils are known to be energizing. Peppermint is my favorite.

One final trick, that I learned from Tim Ferriss, is to eat a spoonful of almond, or peanut, butter immediately before bed. This helps keep your blood sugar at a more stable level throughout the night so that you don’t wake up feeling terrible with low energy. This is the same reason you should have some quality protein and fat for dinner, a few hours before bedtime.

Waking up does not have to suck. It can be easy and something you look forward to. I have a whole chapter dedicated to making waking up easier in “Mornings Shouldn’t Suck”. Check it out to learn some tricks and how to set your circadian rhythm so that you never have to use an alarm clock again. You’ll wake up full of energy and ready to go every morning.

• Bonus: Drink some apple cider vinegar and raw honey before bed for a little sleep magic.