Despite what kids may say, waking up early isn’t just for older people. Professional athletes, musicians, and many small business owners are likely all too familiar with the concept. But for those of us who relish our sleep, it can be hard to see the grass as greener on the other side of the fence.
Nevertheless, even night owls and oversleepers can see the benefits of waking up early if they give it an honest try. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule may even improve their quality of sleep over time.
Your circadian rhythm matters more than you might think. So when it comes to shifting your sleep schedule, remember that there’s nothing wrong with doing it a little bit at a time. There are tons of benefits of waking up early, but our top five are:
- You’re more likely to eat a healthy breakfast
- You can exercise at the start of your day
- Morning time is your time
- Increase your productivity and reduce your stress
- Early to bed, early to rise
However, more often than not, waking up early is easier said than done. Which is why we’re providing some tips on how to start waking up early so that you stick with it:
- Start small
- Set your alarm and put it across the room
- Using CBD for sleep can help the transition
- Find a reason to wake up early
- Get out of your bedroom as soon as possible
- Be consistent
- Develop a morning routine
5 Benefits of Waking Up Early
There are so many benefits of waking up early, we would have never been able to list them all. Instead, here’s a compilation of our top five reasons you might want to consider waking up early – and all the ways CBD benefits an early morning routine.
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You’re More Likely to Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Waking up early means you have the time to eat a healthier breakfast every morning, rather than opting to skip it or grabbing something quick, and unhealthy, on your way out the door. When you take the time to eat the right food, you stay fuller longer and are often less inclined to eat unhealthy, high-sugar foods.
That’s not to say that your healthy breakfast has to be an elaborate one. Something simple like a smoothie, yogurt and fruit bowl, or overnight oats is all you need to give your body long-lasting energy. Especially if the next thing on your schedule is an early morning workout.
This is also the perfect time to make sure you remember to take your vitamins and supplements. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to make CBD gummies a part of your morning routine. Not only do our CBD gummies contain all the same great benefits as our CBD tinctures, but they are by far the most fun and yummiest way to take CBD.
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You Can Exercise at the Start of Your Day
If you have trouble staying awake in the mornings, no matter how much caffeine you drink, a boost of adrenaline from a good morning workout might be just what you need. Or maybe you keep a busy schedule, which unfortunately often doesn’t include time for a workout.
Exercising at the start of your day means you won’t have the chance to put it off later in the day or skip it altogether. Plus, it’s a great way to wake yourself up in the morning, get your endorphins pumping, and start your day off right. Waking up early to work out in the morning means that’s one less thing you have to worry about later when you’re exhausted from a long day.
If the fear of feeling sore as you go throughout the rest of your day is what’s stopping you, cbdMD has an arsenal of topical CBD products you can keep in your bag or at your desk as a part of your post workout recovery routine. Two of our best CBD topicals, CBD Relieve and CBD Freeze, come in portable, easy-to-use, no-mess roll-on gels, making muscle soreness recovery smoother than ever.
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Morning Time Is Your Time
For those who live with a partner or their family, the early hours of the morning may be the only quiet time you have to yourself before the chaos of your day starts. By waking up early, you give yourself time, without interruptions, to do what makes you happy, whether that’s reading, devoting some time to your skin care routine, or something else.
Being able to incorporate a few moments of mindfulness into your morning routine is just one more of the many benefits of waking up early, especially when used in combination with CBD. One of the easiest ways to incorporate the two into your morning routine is by adding a few drops of CBD oil tincture to your morning coffee, tea, or smoothie. Then you take a few minutes to let any distractions melt away while you focus on the feel of the cup in your hand and the smooth taste as you drink.
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Increase Your Productivity and Reduce Your Stress
One of the hidden benefits of waking up early is an increase in productivity and reduced stress throughout the day. This is because if you can get into work earlier than others, you can be more productive with fewer distractions; and if you can leave work earlier too, you’ll miss rush hour both ways. Plus, by the time you get to work, you’ve already been awake long enough for your brain to really boot up, which increases your focus and concentration at work.
If you’re still in school and aren’t working yet, there are benefits for you too. A 2008 study determined that waking up early can help you get better grades as well. Early risers tend to get to morning classes on time, have time to study, and go to bed on time rather than drinking late into the night.
When it comes to buckling down to study in the evening, CBD oil tinctures can become the perfect study aid. CBD benefits your productivity by helping to center your mind and promoting a sense of calm and relaxation, so you can focus on absorbing the knowledge you need. But once that’s done? Kick back and relax in the tub with a CBD bath bomb or CBD bath salts, and just let your stress melt away before you turn in for the night.
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Early to Bed, Early to Rise
A number of benefits of waking up early have to do with your circadian rhythm and the quality of your sleep. A consistent sleep schedule can improve your immune system, mood, brain function, and blood pressure by improving your quality of sleep. When you go to bed early and wake up early on a consistent schedule, even on the weekends, you’re more likely to reach all four stages of the sleep cycle.
When you get up early, you’re naturally more likely to go to bed on time (earlier), which means you get better sleep by maintaining your circadian rhythm. Of course, it’s also natural to wake up earlier as you age, in conjunction with new hormonal shifts, or any number of stressors.
According to a study conducted by Northwestern University, night owls are also more at risk for unwanted weight gain than normal or early sleepers. On average, night owls consumed 248 more calories a day, ate twice as much fast food, downed half as many fruits and veggies, and drank more sugary and full-calorie sodas than others.
Need help getting to sleep? cbdMD has just what you need to get your best rest possible. Our CBD sleep aids are specifically designed with melatonin to help you drift off at night and improve your quality of sleep. They also feature varying concentrations of CBD plus natural botanicals such as valerian root, lemon balm, chamomile, and passion flower to promote a sense of relaxation at bedtime.
How to Start Waking Up Early
Once you make the decision to wake up early every morning, you might start wondering how long it will be until you fall back into your old sleep patterns, and what you can do to avoid that. Forming a new habit can be hard, especially when it takes you out of your cozy bed. But if it’s done right, you can become an early riser without too much hassle.
Start Small
Making a promise to yourself to start waking up earlier is a big deal, so start small. When you move your sleep and wakeup schedule by just 10 or 15 minutes every day or every other day, you drastically increase your rate of success. It’s a lot easier to wake up just a few minutes earlier than the last day than to jump your morning alarm up by an hour or two.
That just leads you to hit the snooze button again and again – and before you know it, you’re running behind schedule. Instead, aim for realistic expectations so that you can celebrate every time you meet them.
Set Your Alarm, and Stick It Across the Room
This here is the key to breaking up your relationship with your snooze button. It’s going to be hard, and you’ll likely get mad at yourself the first few times, but if you set your alarm clock or phone across the room from your bed, you’re automatically much less likely to fall back asleep after you turn it off.
Convincing yourself to get out of your warm, cozy bed is often the hardest part about getting up in the morning. But you’ll do it if that means you can stop the blaring noise coming from across the room.
Using CBD For Sleep Can Help the Transition
As we mentioned a couple of times above, using CBD benefits your early morning routine and helps kickstart your day, but it can help relax at night as you shift your sleep schedule too. Adding CBD PM with melatonin to your nightly routine can help you fall asleep faster and promote a good night’s rest.
Sometimes, going to bed early is easier said than done – especially if you’re a night owl. In those cases, adding CBD for sleep to your nightly herbal tea can give your body and mind the boost they need to shut down for the night.
Find a Reason to Wake Up Early and Be Consistent
When you give yourself a real reason to wake up early every morning, you’ll find it much easier to motivate yourself to get out of bed. Get out of your bedroom as soon as possible, and use this extra time to do something productive or something you love. Maybe that motivation is exercising, meditating, reading a few chapters of a book, or getting to work earlier so you can leave earlier. Whatever it is, make sure it’s a positive force driving you out of bed in the morning.
And when you do so, be consistent. Consistency is the key to success when it comes to waking up early in the morning. A consistent sleeping and waking schedule keeps your circadian rhythm on track and makes it easier to wake up every morning at your desired time. That is, as long as you make sure to follow the same schedule every day, even (and especially) on weekends.
Develop a Morning Routine
When you first start waking up early, it probably feels like you have all the time in the world before you have to go to work or show up for your other responsibilities. But what you want to be careful of is that you don’t let that time slip away from you until you’re running later than your old schedule.
That means that rather than letting yourself get lost in your book, striking up a conversation at the gym until you lose track of time, or running those extra errands “because you have the time,” you need to remember to keep an eye on the clock. Or before you know it, you might have spent what remains of your free time.
Which is where a morning routine or morning schedule comes in handy. By taking a few minutes to plan out your day or the week ahead of you, you’ll know what you need to get done, what you can enjoy spending some free time on, and what you need to do to stay on track in the morning.
As we discussed a few times above, waking up early can be easier said than done. Even when you take the numerous benefits of waking up early and CBD benefits into account, when it comes time to actually get out of bed in the early morning, remember what’s driving you. If you can stick to the tips we’ve gone over, you’ll be jumping out of bed, ready to go in the morning before you know it!
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