I am not a morning person. I like to hit that snooze button as many times as possible (I publicly apologize to my husband). But, this week I am on a mission to wake up earlier. I hate my alarm with a passion but if I just have a few sips of coffee, I will be ready to start the day. Lately, I have been feeling really rushed in the morning and would love to have extra time to read, write, exercise or do nothing but sit in silence before the rest of the world wakes up.

I am not yet a pro but I do know what I have to do in order to wake up. I have also done a little bit of research in order to make it through this week. Did you know that there is even a website called howtowakeupearly.com? Clearly, I am not the only one who is addicted to the snooze button. Here are my top 10 tips to wake up earlier:

1. Caffeine must be automatic – set the timer, wake up and the smell the coffee.
2. Have a consistent time that you wake up every single day. Get your body use to waking up at the same time. Keep track of how many hours of sleep you get each night and how you feel in the morning. This way you can figure out how many hours of sleep you really need each night.
3. Have something exciting planned for your morning. Plan to read your favorite book or write in your journal in absolute silence. Know exactly what you are going to do and make it something you really look forward to.
4. Go to bed earlier. Is watching Letterman really that important to your life? Give yourself an hour where you start getting ready for bed. This will help you go to bed faster.
5. Plan ahead. If you are getting up to work out, have your work out clothing ready to go before you hit the hay. Better yet, go to sleep with it on!
6. Don’t snooze. But if you are addicted like me, make your snooze button a game, you can hit it once but don’t let it go off again before you get out of bed.
7. Write down you goals. Writing down when you want to wake up will help you stick to it.
8. Try it once. Take back your life and your priorities and see how much you love having time for you in the morning. Once you realize how much more energy you have from your new morning routine, you will be jumping out of bed!
9. Find an accountability partner. Find someone who will yell at you to stop pressing the snooze button! If no one is sleeping in the same room with you, tell someone else your wake up goals and how you are doing each morning. This could be someone you work with or call your mom on your way to work every day. It is amazing how telling someone else how to do something can make you really follow through.
10. Bribe yourself. Have a quick, delicious breakfast or treat waiting for you if you get out of bed.