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Just for Today · Day 3 of 31 · 2 min read

Day 3: Wake Up Earlier (Without Wrecking Your Sleep)

Day 3 of the Just for Today Challenge: try waking up 20 to 30 minutes earlier, use the quiet time well and protect your sleep by going to bed earlier too.

By the A Meaningful Existence editors · Updated

In short

Set your alarm 20 to 30 minutes earlier, go to bed earlier to make up for it, and use the extra time for one thing you care about. Don't sacrifice sleep: most adults need at least seven hours.

Early mornings have a reputation. Productivity books are full of people who rise at five and get more done before breakfast than most of us manage all day. That can be inspiring or exhausting, depending on your temperament.

Today's challenge is gentler: wake up a little earlier than usual, just for today, and see what you do with the extra time.

Why try it?

For many people, the morning is the only time of day that's genuinely theirs. Once the household wakes up and messages start arriving, the day belongs to other people. Twenty or thirty quiet minutes can be enough to read, stretch, write, plan, or simply drink a cup of coffee in peace before the rush.

Protect your sleep

This is the important part. Waking earlier only helps if you also go to bed earlier. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend that adults get seven or more hours of sleep a night on a regular basis. Cutting sleep to gain morning time is a poor trade: you'll be more tired, less focused and grumpier by afternoon.

So tonight, start winding down thirty minutes earlier than usual. Dim the lights, put your phone away and give yourself a fair chance of falling asleep.

How to make it easier

  • Move in small steps. Fifteen to thirty minutes earlier is plenty. Larger jumps are hard to sustain.
  • Put the alarm across the room. Having to stand up to turn it off makes the snooze button much less tempting.
  • Get light early. Open the curtains or step outside soon after waking. Morning light helps signal to your body clock that the day has started.
  • Have a reason. Decide the night before what you'll do with the time. Waking early to scroll your phone in bed isn't much of a reward.

Ideas for your extra time

  • Read a few pages of a book you've been meaning to start.
  • Go for a short walk or do ten minutes of stretching.
  • Write three things you're looking forward to today.
  • Plan the day's priorities before email gets to you.
  • Make a proper breakfast (day 10 of the challenge is a healthy breakfast, so you'll have practice).
  • Sit quietly for five minutes and simply notice your breathing.

Night owls, take note

Not everyone is built for mornings. People differ in their natural sleep timing, sometimes called chronotype, and genuine night owls may find early rising very difficult. If that's you, adapt the challenge: protect thirty quiet minutes at whatever time of day you naturally have the most energy. The goal is time for yourself, not the hour on the clock.

When it doesn't fit

New parents, shift workers and anyone with disrupted sleep should skip this one or turn it into "go to bed earlier". Rest comes first.

Today's challenge

Set your alarm twenty to thirty minutes earlier than usual. Use the time for one thing you care about. Tonight, go to bed early enough to keep your sleep intact. In your notes, record how the morning felt and whether the time made a difference to your day.

Related: get more quality sleep and taking action on your goals.

Sources and further reading

Questions people ask

Should I keep waking up earlier after today?

Only if the extra time made a real difference and you can protect your sleep. If you try it for a week and feel worse, it isn't for you, and that's useful to know. Quiet time at another point in the day can serve the same purpose.

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