Morning Routine: Wake Up! - Conclusion

"Conclusion" is misleading as i'll continue to wake up before 6a.  Summary is a better term for this and the upcoming Morning Routine challenges.

Although i failed to wake up as early as planned, i was (and continue to be) awake long before i would've been had i not been attempting this new lifestyle.  I get a lot accomplished in the morning hours before departing to work and i'm looking forward to continuing the early-rising. For example, this week the latest i've been out of bed has been 6:20.

What's working for me is keeping my alarm on the other side of the room.  Strategically placed alongside the alarm is my robe.  The plush robe doesn't compare to the comfy bed but at this point it's closer.  I just tell myself to put on the robe and head downstairs.  I noticed that a lot of times when i faltered, it was because i would end up sleeping downstairs and didn't have the "robe trigger" in place.  See this post i wrote on a partner blog about triggers.

I'm also leaning on the hope that introducing more activity to my morning routine will be a catalyst to get out of bed.  Since each challenge will build upon one another, waking up at a proper time will start to be essential if i want to accomplish it all.

My next challenge is to create.  After waking and drinking a glass of water, i plan to spend around 35 minutes bringing something from nothing to life.  It could be a new blog post, it could be a journal entry, it could be a fantastic breakfast meal.  The opportunities are endless.  The only caveat is that it has to be something that wouldn't have existed without my intervention.  I want to jump start my creativity for the day that's unfolding.

I'll start next Monday and share as often as possible my a.m. creations.

Morning Routine: 21 Day Challenge - Wake Up - Days 16 thru 21

The "final" 5 days of the challenge.. Final is in quotes because, as i've mentioned before, i plan to continue to wake up early and start my day.  Here are the numbers:

Day 16 - 7:12a

Day 17  - 7:44a

Day 18 - 7:29a

Day 19 - 7:42a

Day 20 - 8:22a

Day 21(Sunday) - 8:51a

Sort of fell of the wagon as of late so i need to work on that.  Hoping that waking up to actually get stuff accomplished will help me get out of bed early moving forward.  I just found the warm bed way too enticing sometimes, and with "nothing to do" at 5:50am it was easy to sleep in.

However, i was out of bed by 6:10 this morning so i'm continuing the challenge as planned.

Morning Routine: 21 Day Challenge - Wake Up - Days 11 thru 15

The challenge has been difficult.  This weekend i had company making it nearly impossible to wake up at 6a because we weren't going to sleep until well after midnight.  Here's the stats:

Day 11 - Woke at 7:45 - had the great idea of keeping my phone (alarm) in the pocket of my robe thinking i'd put it on and get up..alarmed went off at 5:51, i walked downstairs and fell asleep on the couch.

Day 12 - Woke at 7:30

Day 13 - Slept until 9:10

Day 14 (Sunday) - Slept until 11:20. hate sleeping the day away. 

Day 15 -  Woke at 7

I'm fairly confident that the reason i find it so hard to get out of bed is because i don't have anything to look forward to.  "Life itself" should be enough but apparently it isn't.  I'm not going to stop trying, though.

Morning Routine: 21 Day Challenge - Wake Up - Days 4 thru 10

My goal is to be out of bed by 5:51am each day.  Here's how i've faired during the challenge thus far: 

Day 4 - hit snooze once, up by 6:09.  My g/f was surprised and excited to find me using the vacuum when she got out of the shower at 7:20.

Day 5 - up at 6:10

Day 6 - slept until 8:15 - first weekend morning of the challenge did not go as planned.  Was unable to fall asleep and then it carried over to the next morning.

Day 7 - slept until 7:35

Day 8 - slept until 6:20 - "slept in" but was still able to shovel the drive before work

Day 9 - slept until 7:40 - i tried napping after work so that i could stay up to watch the NCAA National Championship game.  I was unable to fall asleep and then i was unable to get out of the bed in the morning.

Day 10 - slept until 7:25

I have yet to wake up and actually stay up at the designated 5:51am wake up.  I'll need to make a change or two in these remaining days if i'm going to call this challenge a success.

Morning Routine: 21 Day Challenge - Wake Up - Days 1 thru 3

A solid morning routine can't be had without actually getting out of bed.  Initially, i reverse-engineered my morning starting with when i left for work and decided that i needed to be up by 6:10.  Only three days into the challenge and i'm already making changes.

I checked TimeAndDate.com and found that the earliest sunrise all year is 5:52am.  This occurs in June.  I want to beat the sun.  Therefore, i will begin waking up at 5:51 on a daily basis.

However, easier said than done.  So far the snooze has been my best friend. (and worst enemy)  Here's how the mornings have panned out so far:

Day 1: Alarm at 6:10, hit snooze until 6:40

Day 2: Alarm at 5:51, hit snooze until 6:30.  Woke up to a snow-covered driveway that i was able to shovel before i left for work.  Would have been impossible on a typical day when i'd sleep until i absolutely HAD to get up.

Day 3: Alarm at 5:51, hit snooze once and was out of bed by 6:10.  Was able to shovel the driveway and throw dinner in the slow cooker.  

Although i haven't been up as early as planned, the extra time in the morning has made me more productive.  Hoping a "crash" isn't in my future.