How to wake up earlier · Optimal Living

How to wake up earlier

I get asked a lot, “How are you able to wake up at 4am every day?”

And honestly, the answer’s really simple. You see, for the past 3 years bro, I’ve been consistently waking up anywhere between 3-6 AM.

And the reason why I’m able to do this isn’t anything special. It’s just basic biology.

You see, our brains aren’t much different from how they were around 1,000 years ago — meaning, the way we have to act today is actually quite similar to how we had to be 1,000 years ago.

And just to clarify, no, I’m not going to make you act like a caveman bro. We don’t need to go that far.

But what we can do is leverage something known as our circadian rhythm. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of this, so I won’t bore you with the details.

Essentially, the circadian rhythm is your body’s biological clock — the thing that regulates when you’re alert, when you’re tired, when you’re hungry, etc.

Now, modern society has quite literally fucked up this clock as much as it possibly can be done.

Our circadian rhythms are HEAVILY regulated by sunlight. It pretty much depends ENTIRELY on light. But with the invention of light bulbs, we’re able to have bright light EVEN WHEN IT’S 11PM.

So our brain thinks, “hey, usually it’s supposed to be bedtime now, but it’s still bright, so I guess we shouldn’t sleep soon”. And so, it won’t release melatonin (sleepiness hormone) and you’ll struggle to fall asleep.

But what it also does, is that it doesn’t let you WAKE UP at the right time because your brain didn’t get enough sleep if you slept at 11 PM. So of course, you’re not gonna be able to wake up at 4-5AM.

So there’s a shit ton of a problems that come up… but how do we fix them?

Well, it’s simple actually.

Just go to bed earlier. It’s really as simple as that.

I sleep at 9PM every day, so I get 8 hours before waking up at 5. If I wanted to wake up at 4, I’d sleep at 8.

And here’s the thing, my entire room is pitch black (except for a orange-ish night light) around 1 hour before bed.

I’m literally avoiding any light like it’s women. And this way, my brain knows it’s time to release melatonin and make me ready for bed.

In the morning, I wake up and usually feel pretty refreshed. This is because I sleep at consistent timings, regulating my circadian rhythm, and thus, training my brain to feel alert around that time.

So that’s the answer.

If you wanna know how to wake up early, it starts with going to bed early. And then, just stick to that, and you’ll be up at 4AM easily.

Side note: try not to be awake between 11PM-4AM. It’s been proven to disrupt your habenula which harms dopamine production— or, in bro-science terms, “it’s not good for you.”

There’s your answer. If you want more help, feel free to hit me up in a DM bro.

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