Getting up early

For those struggling or looking for new ways to combat the urges - I've found getting up early to be a big help. I usually experience the urges in the evening time - so if I get up early and get some exercise during the day I'm pretty exhausted by the time evening comes around and it usually outweighs any urges I may get.

I used to have a friend that I would call every morning to make sure we got up early. Although we've since moved past that I've found the early rising really does help.

For those considering trying it out, here's a few tips I have:
1) Do something fun when you wake up. Give yourself something to motivate you to get out of bed. For me, that means a cup or two of coffee and watching some interesting youtube documentaries.
2) Get a phone buddy to encourage you to get out of bed. Best part here - you don't have to tell them any specifics. Just say you're looking to encourage healthy habits by getting up early.
3) Do some sort of exercise during the day. It's important to drain energy so you're tired by the end of the day. This could mean going to the gym, or getting a pedometer and making sure you make a certain number of steps. Perhaps take the stairs? Anything to get exercise!
4) Cease taking in any kind of caffeine after a certain point in the day. You don't want to put anything in your body that'll keep you up.
5) Have a regularly scheduled "bedtime" and "awake time" and stick to it! Make sure to give yourself a good 8 hours of sleep. It might take a week or so for your body to adjust.
6) About an hour or so before bed time, cease doing anything that might keep you up - like distracting electronics. Read a book and drink some soothing non-caffeinated tea.
7) If you reach bedtime and don't feel tired at all - try lying down on the bed and meditating. Sometimes you're much more tired than you feel and your body puts you right to sleep.
8) If you can't sleep and are still wound up, try to find something to do that'll distract you until you do get tired. Tossing and turning in the bed can be a major source of weakness if you get urges. Make a mental note if you're not tired when you should be. That could be a sign you didn't burn enough energy during the day or had caffeine or sugar too late in the day.
9) Get a noise maker or a fan. The white noise really helps. Plus if you have noisy roommates who sleep later this will help provide a soothing environment for you to sleep in.
10) DON'T GIVE UP! It takes time! Initially, you'll probably get more urges because as your body adjusts you'll have a few sleepless nights, but you can adjust and it is worth it.

Best of luck to any that try this! Hope it works well for you!

 

That's a great idea! I'm going to start trying the splashing of cold water on the face. I need a little quick perk in the morning to get me going.