How To Get Out Of Bed On Your First Alarm And NEVER Push Snooze Again

Alright, we've all done it, and probably had that same "great idea" to set our alarm an hour before we actually need to get up so we can push snooze a zillion times before actually getting out of bed. We then start to remove important parts of our morning routine so we can sleep an extra 4 minutes... first, we get rid of breakfast, then goes packing a lunch, till eventually, we decide we can just speed on the highway to work so that we can sleep an extra 2 minutes. Sound familiar? This continues until eventually we wait till the last minute and have forced ourself into a stressed out, rushed, moring to pull ourselves together and sprint to the car. 

Mornings are SUCH an important part of our day. It is often said that how we begin our day can play a large part in how we act for the rest of the day. Starting out morning stressed out, rushed, and procrastinating, can put us in a negative mindset the rest of the day. If we just improve this small (but very challenging) part of our day, it can improve our entire day! And if we start to improve every day, this small change can improve your life!

Here are 8 tips to help you get out of bed on your first alarm and never have to push snooze again!

1. Don't put your alarm near your bed

This might be the most important one out of all of them because it forces you to actually GET UP! Stop putting your alarm right by your bed. Put your alarm away from your bed so you must get up to turn it off. I know many of us to like to sleep with our phones right by us, so maybe it is time to stop using your phone as your alarm and pull our your old digital clock. I use my iPad as my alarm and put it in the corner of my room, forcing me to get out of bed to turn it off.

2. Put warm, comfy clothes by your alarm clock... fuzzy socks!

As crazy as it may sound, even if you have your alarm in the corner of your room, it is still to easy to get up, turn it off, and crawl right back into bed. One of the large reasons for this is simply because we are cold when we first get out of bed. Lots of times what we really want is just the warmth of the bed vs the extra couple minutes of sleep. To help with this, before going to bed, layout warm comfortable clothes by your alarm for you to put on as soon as you wake up and turn off your alarm. My favorite is fuzzy socks! Setting out these clothes will help in two ways. First, it will give you something to be excited about when you first wake up. Second, it will get you warm, helping you to resist the temptation of getting back into your warm bed.

3. Drink water and have a small snack

When first getting up, we need to force our body into action. One trick for doing this is drinking a glass of water and eating a small snack. By your alarm clock, (which should no be in the corner of your room) place a glass of water and a small healthy snack. One of my favorites is almonds and dark chocolate. Once you get up to turn off your alarm, have your water and snack. You will almost immediately feel more awake because you took a small action and forced your body to get going. Also, if you have a treat like dark chocolate, it gives you something to look forward to! (However, try to keep your snack healthy. Ideally, you don't want to start your day with a sugar rush.)

4. Turn on the lights and open the blinds

 Even though you are up out of bed, your body may still be urging you to get back in. It's normal! To help with this, start going through the motions of starting your day to trigger your brain into action. One quick and easy way to do this is by simply turning on the light. By turning on your light, you are taking a small action to get your day going. Another behavior is opening up the blinds. The natural morning light actually triggers part of your brain to help you wake up. 

If you have a spouse or share a room, performing these behaviors may upset him or her if they do not get up when you do. I would still recommend performing the actions, just simply in a different room. Go step into your bathroom or living room and turn on the lights and open the blinds.

5. Read an affirmation

Another easy trick I like to do is reading an affirmation or looking at a goal I am working towards. I have hung up above my alarm clock (which is in the corner of my room) pictures of the goals I am working towards. I also have short quotes and affirmations I can read to help motivate myself in the morning. Some of my favorites are, "I will only live today once so I will make the most of it," and, "Today is already great! I am excited and grateful for such a wonderful day today."

6. Use apps and tools

There are many apps and tools out there to help you with your morning. I have seen apps that force you to complete a game to turn your alarm off and I have even seen apps that will automatically post on your social media if you decide to snooze! Here is another article that shows some of these tools. One of my favorites though is an app called Alarmy. This app will require you to go take a picture of an object in your house in order to turn your alarm off.

7. Make a commitment not to get back into your bed 

Now for the biggest tip, and most important. You need to make the commitment to yourself not to get back into bed after turning off your alarm. No matter what! For myself, if I wake up and then see that my morning meeting got canceled, or my airplane flight got delayed and that I can now go back to sleep, I still DO NOT get back into my bed. I will go sleep on my couch or somewhere else because I do not want to break the routine of getting out of bed and STAYING out of bed. 

8. Set your alarm for the last minute

Like discussed above, we have almost all fallen for the trap of purposefully setting our alarm so we can push the snooze button a couple of times. STOP THIS! Don't schedule in your snoozing! Try setting your alarm so that there is no possible way for you to push snooze... therefore forcing yourself to get up on time! Also, when first starting out with the routine of getting up on your first alarm, make sure you are getting up for absolutely necessary reasons. Lots of times we think we will get up and extra half hour early so we can read and relax in the morning. If you are new to getting up on your first alarm, trying to schedule activities like this will just set you up for failure. These "bonus" activities are not necessary, making it too easy for you to change your mind in the morning, and push snooze that one more time! 

So when first starting out, set your alarm for the last minute, forcing you to get up, and therefore removing the habit of snoozing.

 Now get to it!

Before you go to bed tonight, put your alarm in the corner of the room, layout some comfy clothes, prepare a small snack and write out some affirmations. Get yourself prepared to conquer your alarm and never push that snooze button again!