How to Not Snooze in the Morning

Published on 2024-08-15

In the past there were many times I set the alarm for an early morning wake up, only to snooze it and sleep in. It's like going to sleep as Dr. Jekyll and waking up as Mr. Hyde.

Usually these wake-ups were supposed to followed by some kind of self-improvement activity, like going for an early morning run or going to gym.

Then about a year ago, it occurred to me if I have any external force/reason to wake me up in the morning I have no trouble getting out of bed. For example if I have an appointment in the morning I can wake up to the alarm. The nature of the appointment doesn't matter, as far as it involves a third party, Mr. Hyde can be tamed.

This provided an insight to my problem. I need external help to keep Mr. Hyde in check. So I made arrangement with a friend and told him I'd buy him a lunch If I failed to show up in the gym at 0800 in the morning. (To do this I'd need to wake up by 0630) The choice of friend is not important as far as you don't like buying him/her lunch. As a proof I'm to send him a photo of the gym clock.

Eventually this method gathered more followers.

Fast-forward to today and buying few lunches later, I'm happy to say this method work surprisingly well. Now I frequently enjoy early morning runs and gym sessions.