15 Motivation Tips to Get Up in the Morning

Why do you sometimes need motivation to get up in the morning?

Waking up early in the morning can be hard (or downright unthinkable) for some. For those who do, the early morning hours are a time to focus on routine, passions, and goals. Early mornings are a glorious time, free from distractions after a good night’s sleep. There are many benefits to waking up early.

Not everyone has the motivation to get up when the alarm goes off at 5 AM. Motivation is needed to break through these barriers, so you don’t end up snoozing for hours. If you set goals and remain consistent you can improve your life dramatically. Be sure to check out these Monday morning apps to help organize your morning.

Here are 15 tips to help with the motivation to get up in the morning.

15 motivation tips to get up in the morning

1 – Set alarm across the room

If your alarm is within reach it’s really easy to hit that snooze button. If you set your alarm across the room you will have to get up to turn it off. This action will give you a jolt of energy as long as you don’t go back to bed. As an alternative, this bed-shaking alarm might help jolt you awake.

2 – Have a goal (or a plan)

Waking up early is great but you should have a plan for what you intend to do with that time. For some that would be exercise and for others it’s a time to focus on self-care or passions outside of work.

3 – Get to bed early

Waking up early is all the more challenging if you stay up late. If you want to have a good night’s sleep (usually 7-8 hours) and wake up at 5 AM then you need to be in bed by 9 – 10 PM.

4 – Drink less caffeine

Drinking coffee or tea with caffeine in it later in the day will likely impact your ability to sleep early. Bad or interrupted sleep can hurt your motivation to get up when the alarm goes off. Try to cut back as much as you can.

5 – Reduce/eliminate alcohol

Alcohol is another beverage that can have a negative impact on your motivation to wake up early in the morning. While a single drink such as a beer or a glass of wine may even help, any more than this could result in bad sleep and thus, a hard time getting up early.

6 – Book something

If you are struggling to be motivated to wake up early in the morning then you can motivate yourself by booking an early morning class, such as a spin or boot camp. Classes that start at 6 AM may require you to be up at 5 AM to get ready. The thought of letting people down or losing money is a great motivation for some.

7 – Get consistent

Consistency and motivation often go hand in hand. If you remain consistent at waking up early, it will become a habit over time. If you miss a few days you may lose motivation. Tell yourself you will do this every day and don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or two.

8 – Bed at the same time

Try to always go to bed at the same time. This goes for weekdays and weekends. By remaining consistent with this you will actually sleep better. Waking up fresh helps motivate you to get up and start your day earlier. If your bedtime is inconsistent your body may not be ready for bed when you tuck yourself in which makes it harder to fall asleep.

9 – Reduce screen time

Screen time before bed is a bad habit that many of us have formed in modern society. With the number of apps out there that offer distractions, we become glued to our phones. Screen time before bed makes it difficult to fall asleep fast.

10 – Do not snooze

When your alarm goes off, we are all tempted to hit that snooze button. If the alarm is set for 5 am we may end up snoozing for an hour and then throwing off our plans for a productive morning. Try to avoid hitting the snooze button and get up.

11 – Get active

Keep motivated to wake up early by planning to hit the gym or join an exercise class. Getting a sweat going will help wake you up and you will be motivated to get up because exercise releases endorphins that make us feel good. Here is a helpful morning workout guide to get you started.

12 – Make your bed

Making your bed every morning will have more of a psychological impact than anything. But motivation is all psychological. As soon as you wake up, make your bed, this will form positive habits in your morning that will boost your motivation. Daily bed-making is often correlated with organized, successful people.

13 – Smaller tasks vs larger projects

You wake up early for a reason. You have things you want to accomplish. Break your goals or big projects down into smaller tasks, make lists and start crushing them. This will motivate you to keep working hard!

14 – Focus on self-care

Treat yourself right in the morning. After a good night’s sleep, you might want to exercise to improve your health, try and focus on a healthy breakfast and also a morning skincare routine.

15 – Meditate

Meditation has been practiced for many years. Meditation is highly beneficial as it helps reduce stress and anxiety while helping us live in the moment and be present. Meditation will make you feel better and if you do it first thing in the morning you will be motivated to wake up so you can keep doing it every day.

How to stay consistent with your motivation to get up in the morning

Set goals

Goals are an important part of staying motivated. By setting targets and working towards them you unlock an inner drive. Mornings are a great time to achieve success. Don’t set unattainable goals. A simple goal such as waking up early or hitting the gym works well.

Don’t be hard on yourself

To stay consistent with your motivation to get up in the morning you have to keep waking up early no matter what. If you miss a day don’t beat yourself up, it happens to everyone. Restart the next day and keep it going and you will be consistent.

Challenge yourself

Try to challenge yourself to be better and improve every day. Challenging yourself means doing something out of the ordinary. It doesn’t have to be something that takes a ton of effort. You could simply challenge yourself to wake up an hour earlier than normal for 7 days in a row or cut out alcohol for a week to see if you sleep better.

Follow the tips above

The 15 tips we listed in this post were meant to help guide you in your journey to improve your motivation to get up in the morning. You don’t need to incorporate all 15 at once but if some resonate with you, it’s worth giving it a try.