How to wake up early without feeling lazy, when no trick works at 7

The night before, you were completely sure: tomorrow, up at 07:00. The alarm goes off, the bed is warm, the room is dark, and your head quickly finds five reasons to stay a bit longer. You get up at 07:40, rushed and in a bad mood. And that night you promise yourself again that tomorrow you will.

To wake up early without feeling lazy, you don't need more willpower at 07:00, because at that hour you barely have any. You need to decide everything the night before, get out of bed without thinking, bring the time forward bit by bit, and give staying in bed a price.

Why laziness wins first thing in the morning

When you wake up, your brain doesn't start all at once. That stretch is called sleep inertia: a measurable state, different from being awake, with more sleepiness and worse performance. According to a review by neurologist Lynn Marie Trotti, its effects can last from minutes to several hours, and they are stronger when you wake during your biological night, when your internal clock still thinks it's night-time.

That's exactly the state in which you decide whether to get up. It's why advice that depends on the moment fails, like "think how good you'll feel": it asks the hardest thing of a brain that is still half asleep.

How to wake up early: decide the night before

At 23:00 you think clearly. At 07:00, you don't. So settle as much as you can before you go to sleep:

• The exact time. "Up at 07:00", not "early".
• The first move. What you'll do as soon as you switch off the alarm, always the same thing. For example, opening the blinds.
• What's waiting for you outside. Clothes on the chair, the coffee machine ready.

Deciding the when and the what has evidence behind it. In a meta-analysis of 94 studies, people who spelled out when, where and how they would do something followed through considerably more often than those who only had the intention.

Get out of bed before you think about it

Leave your phone or alarm clock outside the bedroom, in the kitchen if you can. If you're already in the hallway when you switch it off, going back to bed takes more effort than carrying on.

Then, light. Open the blinds or step out onto the balcony. Morning light shifts your internal clock earlier: in a study from the University of Colorado, eight people spent a week camping without electric light and their body clocks moved about two hours earlier. At home, the closest you'll get is plenty of light when you get up and little bright light at night.

Bring the time forward bit by bit

If you get up at 08:00 today, don't set the alarm for 06:00 on Monday. Move it 15 minutes earlier every few days. That way your body adjusts without you noticing.

Give staying in bed a price

Staying in bed costs nothing in the moment. The cost comes later: the rushed shower, coffee standing up, the morning slipping away. And at 07:00 your head only sees the now.

That's why it helps to have something on the line at that hour. It could be arranging to meet someone at 07:30 for a walk, or committing a small amount, like €5, that you lose if you don't get up. When twenty more minutes in bed costs €5, the bed loses a lot of its appeal.

When this isn't enough

If you sleep less than you need, no method will take the laziness away: start by going to bed earlier. And if you wake up exhausted even after eight hours, mention it to your doctor.

Waking up early with Ultimatum

Ultimatum is the app we're building for exactly this: you choose what time you get up, leave a small guarantee and prove it with a photo taken there and then, for example of your breakfast in the kitchen. If you keep your word, you get your money back, and if the photo check has doubts, someone on the team reviews it and nothing is charged automatically. It isn't out yet, so join the beta and we'll let you know.