The Power of Preparation: Making 5 AM Waking Up Effortless

It may be counter intuitive, but the best kept secret to waking up early is the evening before prep… Follow along to learn what to do to get yourself set-up to start your day on the right foot, everyday. 

Why does what you do the night before make a difference on waking up early the next day? There’s a few reasons, but before we dig into those reasons, thank you for watching and if you enjoy this video don’t forget to subscribe!

Now, in my other videos I’ve talked about sleep hygiene and circadian rhythms and how they ultimately affect sleep quality. If you’re having poor sleep quality, no amount of herculean effort can get you out of bed everyday, because you’re just plain tired. So, if you haven’t watched those videos please do so to cover those aspects. But I want to talk about more of the practical side of things as to why spending the time to prep yourself for the next morning helps. 

If it isn’t obvious - You’re groggy as hell. Unless you wake up like a beaming rainbow, although you’re here so it’s not very likely - just sayin’. So, having a plan in place the night before when you’re coherent makes the next morning just run smoother. There’s the practical reason, which we’ll get into more later.

But, here’s also what is happening - Our brains are hardwired to resist change. The amygdala—interprets change as a threat and releases the hormones for fear, fight, or flight. Your body is actually protecting you from change.

So, amongst your body not being fully functional when your alarm goes off early in the morning, your brain is also self sabotaging you as you start this new habit. Since the 21 day (air quotes) rule has been more anecdotal than based in science… Researchers have found that the time it takes for the brain to adapt to a new behavior can vary from person to person. There is no fixed duration, and it depends on several factors, including the complexity of the behavior and an individual's unique characteristics. Some common estimates based on research include:

• It takes 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit, with an average of 66 days. This suggests that forming a new behavior can take a couple of months on average.

• Habit formation varies based on individual differences and the nature of the behavior.

I’m going to showcase a flip side to this though; let’s say you decide to take up something that the brain finds extremely pleasurable, but is really not good for you - like say doing crack. It won’t take 66, 21 or even 18 days for your brain to want to make this a regular habit. 

And by the way please don’t start doing crack. But the point is that when we do things that our brains ultimately find intensely pleasurable - that timeframe of making it a habit will happen much quicker. 

So, those habits that don’t give that immediate gratification are going to take longer to overcome. We have to do them repetitively to gain the pleasure in them to make it habitual. 

Lastly, we are also overcoming the existing neural pathways of whatever we have been doing. That “groove” is well established and our new habits have fierce competition as to who wins out. 

At this point, if you’re thinking - shit, this is hopeless. It’s not. I’m just pointing out that there are more factors in play than pure willpower to make a change happen. Which I’m hoping gives you some relief, because this isn’t a personal reflection of you, it’s your brains’ evolutionary development trying to keep you safe. It’s just that in this instance, it’s not doing you any favors.

So, how do we hijack our evolutionary development? By making this whole thing more enjoyable. 

Back to my first point in this video - your alarm goes off, your body is throwing hormones out to basically ignore your alarm and go right back to sleep. You manage to overcome that hurdle and you’re groggy as hell. If you go straight into something you’re not convinced you like anyways - how much more of a battle do you think this is going to be?

BUT - If you prep the night before and have not only exactly what your plan is laid out, but all the things ready to make it possible right there waiting for you - how much easier is that? That’s nice isn’t it?! (thank you past self). 

I’m going to advocate that you give your brain doses of things that even in your groggy state you a) enjoy and b) look forward to. 

Having a cozy blanket, my coffee and earbuds in hand while I plop myself on the couch to meditate first thing has become something I absolutely look forward to. 

So here’s my pro tips for making this thing stick more quickly than 66 days.

#1) Write out what your ideal morning looks like - dream. Because someone else’s idea of a good morning will not work when your brain is throwing out all those “knock this off” hormones.

#2) Set how much time you *think* each of these activities is going to take you. Now, do yourself a favor and add at least 5 minutes more to each of those activities. Give yourself some buffer.

#3) Review how much time you have allocated and see if you have enough time in the morning to do all those things. Now - Trim, edit, re-adjust. And/Or give yourself a few mornings where you try your ideal routine and adjust through trial and error.

#4) Set an automatic alarm on your phone for each evening where you set aside a few minutes to prep what you need to make your routine go smoothly first thing.

#5) When your alarm goes off in the evening, pull everything together and especially as you begin - write out exactly what you want to do in order so that in your groggy state you just follow the order (no additional thinking required).

Bottomline; the time it takes for your brain to adapt to a new behavior can range and depends on individual factors and the complexity of the behavior.

So I’ll remind you that you have to be both patient and persistent when trying to establish new habits or behaviors. Your brain is hi-jacking your efforts, so give my prep system a try to see if this helps make your habit stick quicker!

Ok, I want to hear from you! What else are you curious about? Did the breakdown of how our brains develop help give you a better idea of the larger picture of habit building? Let me know in the comments!

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*According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology