

How to Wake Up Ready to Rock - CWIZO
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/9-ways-to-wake-up-ready-to-rock/

======
garply
Whenever I see an article title that indicates a list of X things that might
interest me, I always find myself wanting just the bullet point list without
the surrounding content (at least until I decide whether or not the bullet
point list merits reading the rest of the article). So:

1\. Exercise During the Day

2\. Stop Work in the Middle of a Task

3\. Avoid Caffeine in the Evening

4\. Set Out Your Clothes the Night Before

5\. Don’t Eat a Heavy Dinner

6\. Journal or Read Before Bed

7\. Know What You’re Doing First Thing

8\. Get to Bed On Time

9\. Visualize Sleeping Well

~~~
CWIZO
The article can indeed be digested into this bullet points. But number 2
requires some more explanation as it can't stand on its own like that. Maybe
"At the end of the day, stop working in the middle of a task, to make it easy
to start again the next day". But this is rather too long for a bullet point.

~~~
joeyo
Another way to put it might be, "Stop before you reach a 'stopping point'."
Supposedly this is one of Haruki Murakami's writing tricks.

~~~
xenonite
or in a positive sense:

"leave a task opened"

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hopeless
We need less of these "how to be great in the morning" posts and more "how do
you get through 8 hours of a mind-numbing day job and then kick-start your
brain at 8pm when you can work on something interesting" posts.

~~~
oscardelben
Take a 25 minute nap. Seriously, try it.

~~~
spoiledtechie
I usually tend to turn the 25 minute nap into 2 or 3 hours. My body just
doesn't want to get up in 25 minutes.

~~~
oscardelben
Then I think you're doing biphasic sleep, something I want to try in the
future

~~~
rms
I did this the last time I had a full time job. 3-4 hours at night before
work, 3-5 hours when I got home from work. It worked just fine except about
once every week or two I would take my post work lap and accidentally sleep
for 12 hours through the night.

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brc
Try getting a toddler in the house. There will be no more sleepins after that.

Seriously, the most important thing in this done is getting to bed on time,
and having a routine in the morning. That, and don't berate yourself for a
sleepin, just make an extra effort to get up on time the next day.

I honestly think that getting out of bed early and getting on with your day
accounts for a large variance in personal productivity.

~~~
josefresco
Exactly. Not only do my young kids help with getting up in the morning (they
rise at 6-7 AM) they sufficiently wipe me out during the day to the point
where sleeping isn't a problem either. Problem solved.

------
giu
Nice advices. I can agree with nr. 1, but I have to admit that I break nr. 2
quite a lot of times. There's nothing like a coding session til the early
morning hours! For me it's really difficult to stop in the midst of an
unfinished coding task. :)

I have another advice, although it has _indirectly_ something to do with the
wake up process: Assumed you can make it to the shower, try to take a James
Bond Shower ([http://artofmanliness.com/2010/01/18/the-james-bond-
shower-a...](http://artofmanliness.com/2010/01/18/the-james-bond-shower-a-
shot-of-cold-water-for-health-and-vitality/)). I do this every morning, and it
really helps :)

~~~
grinich
I think _stop working in the middle of a task_ really should mean _leave some
task unfinished_. Thy way, you'll know clearly where to start when you begin
again. I think this was posted on HN as a hack by Hemmingway.

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tyskis
One point I have found really helps for me, which is also mentioned in one of
the comments, is always getting up at the same time. No excuses, and this
counts for weekends too. You can go to bed when you are tired, but always get
up at the same time. It's hard the first few days, but after that it gets
easier and easier, and I feel much "fresher" in the mornings.

------
faramarz
Best advice is not eating anything at least 3 hours prior to bed time. Your
body will do the rest and makes sure you're ready to rock in the morning.

~~~
vlisivka
You should also eat breakfast early and at same time each day. Don't eat
breakfast when you wake up too late, so your body will remember that. ;-)

I.e. don't eat after 7:00pm, eat breakfast only between 8:00am - 8:15am, don't
eat after 8:15am.

------
Roridge
My key to waking up ready to rock is to no "hack" your biorythum.

If you are a start up and/or not working 9-5 for the "man" go with what your
body tells you, sleep when you are tired, work when you are inspired, rest
when you need a break.

I know "easier said than done" but is it really?

~~~
greyman
This actually does NOT work for me. I try it sometimes in the weekend, I sleep
as long as my body "tells me", but then I get up at 9am and feel totally
tired. I feel much better when I set my alarm clock to get up early.

------
ohashi
What helped me was waking up at the same time every day. So if I decide 7 am
is the time, no matter what time I get to bed, I wake up at the same time it
really helped me not feel tired (trick credit goes to my calculus teacher in
high school).

~~~
somebear
I do the same after reading an article on zenhabits.net. Of course, I get up
at 5:50 am, but only because it allows me to get a seat on the bus and train.

------
snitko
If anyone is really interested in how sleep works and how to manage your
sleep, you should really read William C. Dement's conclusive work "The Promise
Of Sleep". He's a pioneer of sleep science from Stanford with a great
experience and thousands of helped patients. His book is as exciting as it is
useful and full of research data, analytics and explanations. A real pleasure
to read. After this book, all articles would seem a drop in the ocean.

[http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-
Happ...](http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-
Happiness/dp/0440509017/)

------
thibaut_barrere
My personal favorite is still the dawn simulator I got as a present 2 years
ago:

<http://evolvingworker.com/2008/5/5/how-to-wake-up-easily>

------
oscardelben
I just started (today) a 30 days experiment of waking up at 5 every morning
and I'm recording it on my blog. I think that going to bed early will be a key
factor for this experiment, but I'm also going to try some others of those
points.

~~~
c1sc0
Please do hang on to the experiment & keep your blog updated. I have changed
my habits so that I now _can_ get up at 5am to get an extra 3 hours of coding
before heading off to work. Not every day, but when I need to, at least 3-4
days a week. I plan the days when I will wake up early in advance & go to bed
early accordingly.

------
tungstenfurnace
Rule 10: for the wintertime, invest in an electric blanket. That way you don't
lose the first 20 minutes of sleep having to warm up the bed.

Coming next week: the 12 rules for helping you to remember all the other rules
you learnt :-)

~~~
vlisivka
Buy cheap Polyester fleece blanket - they are warm like wool but easy to wash,
allergy free, and very cheap (about $10). Don't torture yourself.

------
latortuga
I think he omitted the single biggest part of helping me wake up: eat
breakfast!

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berntb
I use a daylight lamp this winter, which works wonders. It results in less
sleep and I'm not so tired.

Locally in Scandinavia, the shops generally charged ca 200 Euro for such a
lamp. I got a cheap one for 70 Euro from a net shop.

~~~
CWIZO
Can you post the link where you found it?

~~~
berntb
Sorry for not adding that from the beginning, I didn't want to look like I was
doing advertising. :-)

<http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001P1DX3Y>

It only has 7000 LUX, but that was enough for me (ymmw). Read the manual about
how to start using it carefully... a too large dose too fast might give
headaches. (I think they have raised the price a bit since I bought mine in
November.)

The same page had these links, which _might_ be better deals. (Amazon wouldn't
ship some other models outside Britain when I was going to buy.)

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/SAD-Light-000-High-
Lamp/dp/B000YSDHZ...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/SAD-Light-000-High-
Lamp/dp/B000YSDHZ8)

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Spectrum-Lighting-LitePod-
Light...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Spectrum-Lighting-LitePod-
Lightbox/dp/B00117X37I)

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-HF3330-Seasonal-Affective-
Di...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-HF3330-Seasonal-Affective-
Disorder/dp/B002G1Y8S6)

Disclaimer: I have no relationship with Amazon, except being a satisfied
customer. But I'm starting to think of them as the Microsoft-of-stores.

------
vlisivka
I bought Philips "Wake-up-light" and I am happy with it.

~~~
spoiledtechie
for $200, does this thing actually work well?

~~~
thibaut_barrere
I bought something similar (see my other comment in this thread) and I find it
very useful (after 2 winters).

------
akadien
Don't _real_ rockers wake up with a couple of groupies and do a few lines with
a fifth of Jack?

