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How To Wake Up at 5 A.M. Every Day
如何每天早上5点起床
An unconventional and compassionate guide to becoming an early bird
一本非传统且富有同情心的早起指南
照片由 Danielle MacInnes 在 Unsplash 上拍摄
I thought I was destined to be a night owl forever.
我以为我注定永远是个夜猫子。
I’m no stranger to reading about the benefits of waking up early or having the same sleeping routine — all of us have probably read this at some point in our lives. I’m in my final semester of university, so the past few years of my life have been absolute chaos. I have classes some days, work other days, and have free time on especially rare days. Having a routine seemed impossible.
我对早起或保持规律睡眠习惯的好处并不陌生——我们每个人可能都在人生的某个阶段读过这类文章。我现在是大学的最后一个学期，所以过去几年我的生活简直一团糟。有时上课，有时工作，只有在极其难得的日子才有空闲时间。保持规律作息似乎是不可能的。
But a few months ago, I started reading Haruki Murakami’s novels. My favorite is Norwegian Wood. Inspired by Murakami’s fascinating prose, I researched him a little.
但几个月前，我开始阅读村上春树的小说。 我最喜欢的是 《挪威的森林》 。受到村上春树迷人散文的启发，我对他进行了一些研究。
I found this gem in a 2004 interview he did:
我在 2004 年的一次采访中发现了这句宝贵的话语：
When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at 4 a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at 9 p.m.
当我准备写小说的时候，我会凌晨4点起床，工作五六个小时。下午，我会跑10公里或游1500米（或者两者都做），然后读一会儿书，听听音乐。晚上9点睡觉。I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.
我每天都坚持这个习惯，没有任何变化。重复本身才是关键；这是一种催眠术。我催眠自己，是为了达到更深层次的精神境界。But to hold to such repetition for so long — six months to a year — requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity.
但要坚持如此长时间的重复——六个月到一年——需要相当大的精神和体力。从这个意义上说，写一部长篇小说就像生存训练。体力和艺术敏感性同样重要。
There’s something about the way Murakami talks about his routine that moved me. This part, in particular, stood out to me:
村上春树讲述他日常生活的方式让我很感动。其中这段尤其让我印象深刻：
The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism.
重复本身就变得重要；这是一种催眠术。
Mesmerism has been a part of my life since I was a child; it’s the sense I have every time I establish a new habit. I mesmerized myself as a child to brush my teeth every day in the morning. As an adult, I’ve mesmerized myself to be healthy by exercising regularly. I’ve mesmerized myself to reflect on my life by adding a journaling routine.
催眠疗法从孩提时代就融入了我的生活；每当我养成一个新习惯时，我都会有这种感觉。小时候，我催眠自己每天早上刷牙。成年后，我催眠自己通过规律锻炼保持健康。我还催眠自己通过写日记来反思人生。
A surge of motivation struck me, knowing I had done a similar task in the past. I could become an early bird by mesmerizing myself.
我心中涌起一股动力， 我知道我过去曾做过类似的任务。 我可以通过迷惑自己而成为一只早起的鸟儿。
For the past 3 months, I’ve successfully transitioned into being an early bird. I go to sleep at 9 p.m. on average 6-7 nights a week. I currently wake up between 5–5:30 a.m. naturally.
过去三个月，我成功地变成了一个早起的人。我平均每周有 6-7 个晚上 9 点就睡觉。 我目前自然醒来的时间是早上 5 点至 5 点半之间。
I might continue experimenting with waking up even earlier, but I’m happy with my current routine and don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. After all, it’s healthy to get 8 hours of sleep, isn’t it?
我可能会继续尝试更早起床，但我对目前的习惯很满意，不想给自己太大压力。毕竟，睡8个小时对健康很有益，不是吗？
I’ve tried to become an early bird many times in my life and this is the first time it has actually worked. Here’s what this process of “mesmerizing” myself looked like—and also a few words about what doesn’t work.
我这辈子试过很多次早起，这还是第一次成功。以下是这个“自我催眠”的过程，以及一些不太奏效的地方。
What really worked was more gentle than you might expect. Consider this, then, a compassionate guide to waking up early.
真正有效的方法比你想象的要温和得多。不妨考虑一下这个充满爱心的早起指南。
🌟 Clarify Your Purpose for Waking Up Early
🌟 明确早起的目的
Waking up before everyone else is tough. If you don’t have a reason to do it, you won’t do it.
比其他人起床要早是件很难的事。 如果你没有理由去做这件事，你就不会去做。
I don’t just mean purpose in the sense that you want to wake up to do something. Of course, you’re going to wake up early to do something (probably productive). But you need a purpose that extends past a basic task.
我所说的目标不仅仅是指你想起床做某事。当然，你肯定会早起做某事（可能还是有成效的）。 但你需要一个超越基本任务的目标。
I’m about to graduate from university and I’m about to enter arguably the most important years of my life — years where I’ll have both money and freedom. If I ever want a chance at escaping at the 9–5, I have to do something now. Working in the morning is easier than working at night, so I need to set up my habits now so I can be living that life later.
我即将大学毕业，即将步入人生中可以说是最重要的几年——既拥有金钱，又拥有自由。如果我想逃离朝九晚五的生活，现在就必须行动起来。 早上工作比晚上工作容易，所以我现在需要养成习惯，这样以后才能过上那种生活。
You might already have a purpose, but if you don’t, try running a 5 Whys analysis (otherwise known as root cause analysis).
您可能已经有了目的，但如果没有，请尝试运行 5 个为什么分析（也称为根本原因分析）。
To do the 5 Whys:
要做 5 个为什么 ：
- Form a problem statement.
形成问题陈述。 - Ask the question: “Why is/are/does [your problem statement]?”. Use your answer as the next problem statement.
提出问题：“为什么[你的问题陈述]是/是/会是？” 将你的答案作为下一个问题陈述。 - Keep asking “why” until you’ve asked it five or more times.
继续问“为什么”，直到问了五次或更多。
Example: 例子：
I want to wake up at 5 a.m. every day.
我希望每天早上五点起床。Why do you want to wake up at 5 a.m. every day?
为什么你想每天早上五点起床？I want more time to be productive.
我想要更多时间来提高效率。Why do you want to be more productive?
为什么你想要提高工作效率？I want to practice writing.
我想练习写作。Why do you want to practice writing?
你为什么要练习写作？I want to write books.
我想写书。Why do you want to write books?
你为什么想写书？I want to have a career doing something creative.
我想从事一些有创意的职业。Why do you want to have a career doing something creative?
为什么你想从事一些有创意的职业？I imagine it to be the most fulfilling thing someone can do in their career.
我想这是一个人职业生涯中所能做的最有成就感的事情。
Starting with a smaller problem and going deep to find the root cause helps you gain a better understanding of what you really want. It’ll help you understand if waking up is part of the solution to your problem.
从小问题入手，深入挖掘根本原因，能帮你更好地理解自己真正想要什么。它还能帮你了解“醒来”是否是解决问题的方案之一。
Waking up early gives you a few hours every day in the morning where nobody else is going to disturb you. That’s all it is for most of us. For me, though, that’s an important part of my solution to escaping a 9–5 rut and doing work I love.
早起能让你每天早上有几个小时不受打扰。对我们大多数人来说，仅此而已。但对我来说，早起是摆脱朝九晚五的沉闷生活、做自己热爱的工作的重要方法。
💪 Understand What You Gain and Lose
💪 了解你的所得和所失
When I first tried to become an early riser, I didn’t consider what I have to give up. I failed because I wasn’t willing to give up the things I enjoyed, like my weekday social life. I would go out, say I’d wake up early despite getting home late, and ultimately wake up late.
我第一次尝试成为早起者时，并没有考虑要放弃什么。我失败了，因为我不愿意放弃我喜欢的东西，比如我工作日的社交生活。我会出门，说我会早起，尽管回家很晚，但最终还是晚起。
If you accept what you lose upfront, you won’t keep trying to hold onto it when it’s gone.
如果你预先接受了你所失去的东西，那么当它消失时你就不会继续试图抓住它。
But let’s be optimistic and start with what you’ll gain.
但让我们保持乐观，从你将获得的开始。
What you gain 您的收获
Being an early bird means you get a few hours every day to do whatever you want. It’s likely nobody else will be awake to disturb you. You can paint, start a business, write — anything you want.
早起意味着你每天有几个小时可以做任何你想做的事情。很可能不会有其他人醒来打扰您。 你可以画画、创业、写作——做任何你想做的事。
Your prefrontal cortex is most active right after waking up, making it optimal for creativity. I’ve noticed I write much faster in the morning than at any other time in the day. Looking at the habits of famous writers, a lot of them have figured it out too (most authors write in the morning).
你的前额皮质在刚醒来时最活跃，这使得它最适合创造力。我注意到我早上写作的速度比一天中的任何其他时间都要快得多。 看看著名作家的习惯，很多人也都明白这一点（大多数作家都是在早上写作）。
It’s a big win: a few hours of solitude with your most creative self.
这是一个巨大的胜利：与最有创造力的自己独处几个小时。
What you lose 你会失去什么
There’s no free lunch. Waking up early doesn’t give you extra time. It takes off time you would otherwise have at night — unless you sleep less, which is a bad idea. If you sleep less, you either won’t be able to wake up early and become a night owl again, or you’ll be sleep-deprived and unproductive throughout the day.
天下没有免费的午餐。早起并不能给你带来额外的时间。它会占用你晚上原本可以拥有的时间——除非你睡得少，但这可不是个好主意。如果你睡得少，你要么无法早起，再次成为夜猫子，要么一整天都会睡眠不足，效率低下。
In reality, I lost time since I started waking up early. I used to sleep for 6 hours and wake up from the urgency to get up and get to work. I can’t do that when I’m waking up early because there’s no urgency for me to get out of bed; I’m weak. So I sleep for 8 hours. Otherwise, the temptation to stay in bed would be too much.
事实上，自从我开始早起后，我浪费了不少时间。我以前睡6个小时，然后就因为急着起床去上班而醒来。现在我早起做不到，因为我没有起床的紧迫感；我体力不好。所以我睡了8个小时。否则，赖床的诱惑就太大了。
I’ve lost around 2 hours every day—but I feel rested throughout the day.
我每天都会损失大约 2 个小时——但我一整天都感觉精神饱满。
Running out of time 时间不多了
I finish work at 5 p.m. (haha, 9–5). That means I have 4 hours after work before I sleep. But there are a few things I need to do within that time:
我下午5点下班（哈哈，9点到5点）。这意味着我下班后有4个小时可以睡觉。不过，这段时间里我需要做几件事：
- Commute (1 hour) 通勤（1小时）
- Cook and eat (1 hour)
烹饪并食用（1小时） - Exercise (1 hour) 锻炼（1小时）
- Wind down (1 hour) 放松（1小时）
That adds up to 4 hours. There’s no time left to do anything else. Of course, these activities don’t always take an hour each, but you get the point. Winding down is especially important for me. I tried a lot of ways to get around it, but I ended up not being able to sleep.
加起来一共4个小时。根本没时间做其他事。当然，这些事并不总是每个都要花一个小时，但你懂的。放松对我来说尤其重要。我试了很多办法来解决这个问题，但最终还是睡不着。
To keep my sanity, I have dinner with friends on days I don’t exercise. Still, there’s a limited time I can spend with them (around 2 hours).
为了保持理智，不运动的日子我会和朋友们一起吃晚饭。不过，我能和他们在一起的时间有限（大约2个小时）。
It feels like I’m living in a box, but I can’t say it’s all been bad. Being able to keep up this habit makes me feel eccentric and in some way, special.
感觉就像活在一个盒子里，但也不能说一切都不好。能够保持这个习惯让我觉得自己很古怪，甚至在某种程度上很特别。
I used to watch the life of bodybuilders and wonder how they do it; all they do is eat, train and sleep. They don’t do anything else.
我曾经观察过健美运动员的生活 ，想知道他们是怎么做到的；他们所做的就是吃饭、训练和睡觉。他们不做其他任何事情。
Now I understand them. There’s a sense of purpose that comes with living in a box. You know you’re disciplining yourself for a goal.
现在我明白了。生活在盒子里，有一种目标感 .你知道你正在为了某个目标而自我约束。
Give yourself one day off per week
每周给自己一天休息时间
I’ve found that if I mess up my sleep schedule one day a week, I can still maintain it throughout the week. I tried sleeping late two or three days a week — it didn’t work. But one seems to be okay.
我发现，即使一周有一天我的睡眠时间被打乱了，我仍然可以维持一周的睡眠时间。我试过一周睡懒觉两三天——没用。但有一天似乎没问题。
I love going out at night, so I’ve given myself one day a week (usually Friday) to hang out with friends for longer.
我喜欢晚上出去，所以我每周都会给自己一天时间（通常是星期五）与朋友们一起出去玩。
If this is something you need to do to wake up early, I suggest you set rules for it, too. You’re less likely to fail with disciplined chaos than pure chaos. Give yourself one day a week where you’re allowed to break the rules to mitigate what you feel you are losing.
如果你需要这样做才能早起，我建议你也为此设定规则。相比纯粹的混乱，有纪律的混乱更不容易让你失败。每周给自己一天时间，允许自己打破规则，以减轻你感觉正在失去的东西。
Compare the benefits with the cost
比较收益与成本
Ask yourself these two questions:
问自己以下两个问题：
- What will I gain with the extra time in the morning?
早上多出来的时间我能得到什么？ - What will I lose with the lost time at night?
晚上失去的时间我会失去什么？
Then ask yourself: “Do the benefits outweigh the costs?”
然后问自己：“收益是否大于成本？”
If they don’t, then there’s probably no point in waking up early. If they do, there are a few things that helped me that’ll probably help you.
如果他们不这样做，那么早起可能就没什么意义了。如果他们这样做，以下几件事对我有帮助，或许也能帮到你。
😴 Focus on Sleeping Time
😴 关注睡眠时间
When I told myself I was going to wake up at 5 a.m. no matter what, I failed. I’d do it if I slept too late. I’d do it if I stayed out late at night. I’d do it if I stayed up studying.
当我告诉自己无论如何都要在早上5点起床时，我失败了。如果我睡得太晚，我就会做到。如果我晚上在外面待到很晚，我就会做到。如果我熬夜学习，我也会做到。
This didn’t work. I don’t know what I was trying to do by trying to cheat the system, thinking my willpower was enough.
这没用。我不知道我试图欺骗系统，以为我的意志力足够了，到底想干什么。
This might work for people who have this habit already. But if you’re starting out, focus on one thing: sleeping time.
这对已经养成这个习惯的人来说可能有用。但如果你才刚刚开始，那就专注于一件事：睡眠时间。
Get enough sleep 保证充足的睡眠
A common mistake people make is thinking they can sleep the same amount as they usually do. For example, I only slept for 6 hours before, so I thought I could sleep for 6 hours and still wake up early. This doesn’t work because you end up sleeping in; it’s unlikely you have any willpower when it’s pitch black outside.
人们常犯的一个错误是，以为自己可以睡得和平时一样多。比如，我以前只睡了6个小时，所以我以为睡了6个小时还能早起。但这行不通，因为你最终会睡过头；外面漆黑一片的时候，你不太可能有任何意志力。
For the best chances at waking up early, set a goal for 8 hours of sleep. I want to wake up at 5 a.m., so my sleeping time is 9 p.m. (8 hours before).
为了最大程度地提高早起的几率，请设定一个8小时的睡眠目标。我想早上5点起床，所以我的睡眠时间是晚上9点（提前8小时）。
Sleep more than needed (when you start)
睡眠时间超过所需时间（开始时）
When I started, I didn’t set my alarm at 5 a.m. I set no alarm at all. With drastic changes to your sleeping schedule, you’re going to need some time to adjust. You initially need more sleep.
刚开始的时候，我没有把闹钟设在早上5点，我什么闹钟都没设。随着睡眠时间的大幅改变，你需要一些时间来适应。一开始你需要更多的睡眠。
You have the rest of your life to wake up early. Spend some time now getting the habit into your routine. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
你的余生都可以用来早起。现在就花点时间把早起养成习惯吧。这是一场马拉松，而不是短跑。
Waking up early means waking up when it’s still dark. Give your body some time to adjust to the darkness. It took me about a week; it might be longer or shorter for you.
早起意味着天还没亮就醒了。给你的身体一些时间适应黑暗。我花了大约一周时间；对你来说，可能更长或更短。
I naturally woke up earlier and earlier every day. Now I can successfully wake up at 5 a.m. every day.
我每天自然而然地起床越来越早，现在我每天都能成功地在早上5点起床。
🌳 Don’t Try to Change Everything
🌳 不要试图改变一切
You can’t introduce too much change to your life at once. Changing your sleeping pattern is a big change. I know you want to wake up and do something productive right away. You want to do all the amazing things you couldn’t do before.
你不可能一下子给你的生活带来太多改变。改变你的睡眠习惯是一个很大的改变。我知道你想一醒来就立刻去做一些有意义的事情。你想做所有以前做不到的精彩事情。
Be patient. If you don’t, you’re not going to be able to do any amazing things at all.
要有耐心。如果没有耐心，你根本做不成任何了不起的事情。
You can’t change too much at once
你不能一下子改变太多
If it helps to get some empathy, imagine the life of someone who seriously needs help. An archetype would be the 30-year-old man-child who still lives in his parents’ basement and plays video games all day.
如果能引起同情，想象一下那些急需帮助的人的生活。一个典型的例子就是30岁的男孩，仍然住在父母家的地下室里，整天玩电子游戏。
If you were giving him life advice, it would be something like:
如果你要给他一些人生建议，那么可以是这样的：
- Get a job. 找份工作。
- Fix your diet. 调整饮食。
- Go to the gym every day.
每天去健身房。 - Read books. 读书。
- Do a side project. 做一个副业。
Can you imagine how they would do that? They can’t do all of these things at once! If you told them to change everything at once, it would be so overwhelming they’d stay in their old habits. You’d have more compassion for them and help them make those changes over time.
你能想象他们会怎么做吗？他们不可能一下子做到所有这些！如果你让他们一下子改变所有事情，他们会感到难以承受，最终只能保持旧习惯。你应该对他们更有同情心，并帮助他们慢慢做出改变。
I can barely fix my diet and go to the gym at the same time, and I’d like to consider myself a healthily integrated member of society.
我几乎无法同时调整饮食和去健身房，我想将自己视为健康融入社会的一员。
Similarly, you should only change one thing at a time. For now, focus on getting to sleep early. That’s all.
同样，你应该一次只改变一件事。F 或者现在，专注于早点睡觉。就这样。
Slowly increase your productivity as you go. If your goal is to get work done in the morning, start by doing 30 minutes of work, then an hour, and so on.
慢慢提高你的工作效率。如果你的目标是早上完成工作，那就从30分钟开始，然后是1小时，以此类推。
Have fun in the morning (when you start)
早上玩得开心（当你开始的时候）
If there’s a day you wake up feeling super motivated and ready to do work, then, by all means, do it. But if you don’t feel motivated at the start, just have fun.
如果有一天你醒来感觉动力十足，准备好开始工作，那就尽情去做吧。但如果一开始你没有动力，那就尽情享受吧。
I spent around two weeks waking up in the morning and watching TV shows, YouTube or Twitch streams. It was actually fun — watching stuff when nobody else was around.
我花了大约两周时间，每天早上起床后都会看电视节目、YouTube 或 Twitch 直播。其实，这挺有意思的——趁着没人的时候看东西。
Eventually, I was ready to do work. Trust me, you’ll eventually be ready to do work. There’s no way you’re going to wake up every morning to mess around for the rest of your life (if your goal is to be productive); it’ll feel like such a waste.
最终，我准备好开始工作了。相信我，你最终也会准备好开始工作的。 如果你的目标是提高效率，那么你不可能每天早上醒来后就无所事事地度过余生；这会感觉很浪费。
🌅 Choose a Morning Routine
🌅 选择早晨例行活动
Even after waking up early for months, I still have trouble getting out of bed without my morning routine. I tried to skip it a few times, but it felt wrong — as if my morning routine is part of the process of waking up.
即使我已经早起好几个月了，但如果没有晨间例行程序，我仍然很难起床。我试过几次跳过它，但感觉不对劲——就好像晨间例行程序也是起床过程的一部分一样。
A morning routine not only prepares you for the day, but it mesmerizes you. Before my routine, I’m groggy and tired. After, I’m excited and awake. It’s the closest thing to magic I’ve found.
早晨的例行活动不仅能让你为新的一天做好准备，还能让你着迷。 例行公事之前，我昏昏沉沉、疲惫不堪。之后，我兴奋又清醒。这是我发现的最接近魔法的事情。
It’s like my brain is telling me: “now that you’ve completed the first task of the day, you’re ready to wake up.”
就像我的大脑在告诉我：“现在你已经完成了一天的第一个任务，你可以起床了。”
I journal for my morning routine — specifically, I do morning pages. It’s an exercise from Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way where you write 3 longhand pages without stopping to think. It’s designed to unblock artists by teaching them that perfection isn’t necessary to create.
我把写日记作为我早晨的日常——具体来说，我会写晨间日记。这是茱莉亚·卡梅隆的 《艺术家之路》 中的一项练习，要求你手写三页纸，中间不加思考。它旨在帮助艺术家们摆脱创作的束缚，让他们明白，完美并非创作的必要条件。
Instead of 3 A4 pages, I do 4 A5 pages. I don’t know if they’re the same amount, but the exact amount of words you write doesn’t matter. It’s pretty close though.
我用的是 4 张 A5 纸，而不是 3 张 A4 纸。我不知道它们的数量是否一样，但具体写的字数并不重要。不过，它们差不多。
I keep a journal and pen next to my bed. They’re the first thing I touch (after turning the lights on) after waking up.
我在床边放了一本日记和一支笔。它们是我起床后（开灯后）第一个碰到的东西。
A routine that suits you
适合你的日常生活
You might already have a morning routine or have one in mind you want to try. Or you could also do morning pages.
你可能已经有了晨间习惯，或者心里想着想尝试一下。或者你也可以写晨间日记。
Here are some other practices I recommend for morning routines:
以下是我推荐的一些其他晨间习惯：
- Meditation 冥想
- Yoga 瑜伽
- Making tea 泡茶
The actual routine doesn’t matter — at least for waking up. You’ll get different benefits from different routines but the goal is to help you wake up. You want to teach your body what to do when you wake up.
具体的生活习惯并不重要——至少对于起床来说是这样。不同的习惯会给你带来不同的益处，但最终的目标是帮助你醒来。你需要教会你的身体在你醒来时该做什么。
⏰ Get an Alarm That Works for You
⏰ 找到一个适合你的闹钟
If there’s one piece of advice with alarms I would give, it’s this: don’t use an alarm to wake you up; instead, use it as an insurance policy.
如果我要给出一条有关闹钟的建议，那就是：不要用闹钟叫醒自己；相反，把它当作一种保险措施。
When I first started using alarms, I used them to try to cheat sleep. When you use alarms this way, you end up waking up groggy and tired because you didn’t get enough sleep in the first place.
我刚开始用闹钟的时候，是为了偷懒。这样用闹钟，你醒来时会感觉昏昏沉沉、疲惫不堪，因为你本来就没睡够。
If you don’t want to end up hating your alarm, make sure you set the time to the time after you want to wake up. I set it 8.5 hours after my bedtime and I wake up without it.
如果你不想最终讨厌闹钟，一定要把时间设在你想要起床的时间之后。我把它设在了睡觉时间之后8.5小时，结果不用闹钟也能醒。
Experiment with alarms 尝试使用闹钟
If you haven’t experimented with alarms before, you should. Different alarms suit different people. Do a quick Google search for alarms.
如果你以前没用过闹钟，现在就应该试试。不同的闹钟适合不同的人。在谷歌上快速搜索“闹钟”这个词。
There are all sorts of alarms out there. There are smart alarms, alarms that only work if you step out of your bed, and even phone apps where someone calls you to wake you up. The latter would never work for me, but I can see it working for someone very social.
市面上有各种各样的闹钟。有智能闹钟，有只有你起床才会响的闹钟，甚至还有手机应用，可以打电话叫醒你。后者对我来说永远都用不了，但我觉得它对社交能力很强的人还是有用的。
If you don’t want to do your own research, I have a recommendation for you.
如果您不想自己做研究，我有一个建议给您。
Try a light alarm 尝试灯光闹钟
I use a light alarm. A light alarm wakes you up with light before it wakes you up with sound. It starts shining a light 30 minutes before the time you set and slowly gets brighter and brighter. This is useful for early birds because it’s dark early in the morning.
我用的是光闹钟。光闹钟先用光叫醒你，然后再用声音叫醒你。 它会在你设定的时间前 30 分钟开始发光，并慢慢变亮。这对于早起的人来说很方便，因为早上天很黑。
I set it at 5:30 a.m., which means it starts shining at 5 a.m. I never wake up to the sound; I always wake up to the light. It hasn’t been easy to create this habit, but since I’ve made sure I get enough sleep first, the light is enough—I never have a jarring sound wake me up.
我把它设置在早上5:30，也就是说它早上5点就开始发光。我从不会被声音吵醒，总是被光亮唤醒。养成这个习惯并不容易，但因为我保证了充足的睡眠，所以光亮就足够了——我从不会被刺耳的声音吵醒。
Here’s a link to the alarm I use.
这是我使用的闹钟的链接 。
📵 Sleep Without Your Phone
📵 睡觉时别带手机
If you want a chance at being productive in the morning, you can’t sleep with your phone. It’s already hard to wake up before everyone else. Don’t make it harder for yourself by giving yourself easy access to addictive stimuli while you’re in bed.
如果你想早上高效工作，就不能睡着后就玩手机。比别人早起已经很难了。别让自己在床上轻易接触到令人上瘾的刺激，让自己更难起床。
A boring sleeping environment
无聊的睡眠环境
Make your sleeping environment as boring as possible. You don’t want to have any excitement before you sleep or after you wake up.
让你的睡眠环境尽可能无聊。你肯定不想在睡前或醒来后有任何兴奋的感觉。
The most common culprit of entertainment in bed is the phone. If you have something else that you love you use in bed like a tablet, I suggest you move that away too.
最常见的床上娱乐问题是手机。如果你有其他喜欢在床上玩的东西，比如平板电脑，我建议你也把它拿走。
There are two goals this achieves:
这可以实现两个目标：
- Improves sleep 改善睡眠
- Helps with getting out of bed
帮助起床
No way around it 没有办法解决
Before I put my phone in another room, I constantly checked it in bed. I would message my friends. I would check every social media app I had. I would watch YouTube to sleep. I thought it was good because I kept doing it and I was so used to falling asleep with entertainment.
在我把手机放到另一个房间之前，我经常在床上查看它。我会给朋友们发消息。我会查看我所有的社交媒体应用。我会看 YouTube 来入睡。我觉得这很好，因为我一直这样做，而且我已经习惯了边看娱乐节目边入睡。
As long as your phone is within reach when you wake up, there’s an incredible temptation to use it in bed. I don’t know about you but I’ve stayed in bed for hours mucking around on my phone.
只要你醒来时手机就在手边，躺在床上玩手机的诱惑力就无比巨大。我不知道你的情况，但我曾经在床上连续玩了几个小时手机。
I have no self-control at all, so I control my environment.
我完全没有自制力，所以我控制我的环境。
Put your phone in another room
把手机放在另一个房间
It’s a simple idea, but not easy. It feels like you’re giving away your baby. But the resistance is good. It means you’re killing an addiction.
这是一个简单的想法，但并不容易。 这感觉就像你正在放弃自己的孩子。 但这种抵抗是好的。这意味着你正在戒掉一种瘾。
Choose a room with a place to charge your phone. This could be the living room, kitchen, or in my case, a study room. Leave your phone there and in the morning, check it after you’ve left your bed, not before.
选择一个可以给手机充电的房间。可以是客厅、厨房，或者像我一样，是书房。把手机放在那里，早上起床后再查看，而不是起床前。
💊 Use Melatonin as Insurance
💊 使用褪黑激素作为保险
I’ve left the most controversial for last. If you don’t want to take any substances, you can skip this section.
我把最有争议的部分留到最后。如果你不想服用任何药物，可以跳过这一部分。
Melatonin is a natural hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Your body produces it at night to help you sleep. But you can also take it as a pill.
褪黑激素是一种调节睡眠-觉醒周期的天然激素。你的身体会在夜间产生它来帮助你入睡。但你也可以服用药片。
You can get it in the United States without a prescription. Since melatonin is found in some foods, the U.S. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 allows it to be sold as a dietary supplement.
在美国，无需处方即可购买。由于褪黑素存在于某些食物中，美国1994年《膳食补充剂健康与教育法案》允许其作为膳食补充剂出售。
Dosage 剂量
A 2001 study found that the ideal dosage is 0.3 mg. The lowest amount of a melatonin dose I’ve found is 1mg. If you can find 0.3 mg, then good for you. I use 1mg and cut it into half (0.5 mg). It’s not exactly 0.3 mg, but it works for me. I’ve tried different dosages, including up to 10 mg, and none of them worked as well as taking less.
一个 2001 年的研究我发现理想剂量是 0.3 毫克。我发现最低的褪黑素剂量是 1 毫克。如果你能找到 0.3 毫克的，那就太好了。我用的是 1 毫克，然后减半（0.5 毫克）。虽然不是 0.3 毫克，但对我来说很有效。我尝试过不同的剂量，包括最高 10 毫克的，但效果都不如更低的剂量。
Regulate your sleep schedule
调节你的睡眠时间
If you don’t get to sleep on time consistently, melatonin isn’t going to save you. I tried to cheat the system. It didn’t work.
如果你不能持续按时睡觉，褪黑素也救不了你。我试过欺骗身体系统，但没用。
Nevertheless, you’re sometimes going to fail. You might sleep too late. You might have a coffee too late in the day. You might wake up in the afternoon and have trouble sleeping early.
然而，你有时还是会失败。你可能会睡得太晚。你可能会在下午喝咖啡太晚。你可能会下午醒来，却很难早点入睡。
I fail. I’m not a perfectly disciplined monk. When it happens, I take melatonin.
我失败了。我不是一个完美自律的僧人。遇到这种情况，我就吃褪黑素。
Even though melatonin isn’t considered an addictive substance, be cautious. There’s no evidence melatonin has dangerous effects, but you can build up a tolerance for it.
虽然褪黑素不被认为是一种成瘾物质，但还是要谨慎使用。目前没有证据表明褪黑素有危险作用，但你可能会对它产生耐受性。
My recommendation is to use melatonin when you mess up your sleep schedule and can’t get to sleep at your bedtime because you’re too awake — but don’t allow that to happen too often.
我的建议是，当你的睡眠时间被打乱，并且因为太清醒而无法在就寝时间入睡时，可以使用褪黑激素——但不要让这种情况发生得太频繁。
照片由 Alexandra Gorn 在 Unsplash 上拍摄
I said a lot about sleep. That’s because most of waking up early is sleeping early, and it isn’t easy to sleep early. There are sacrifices to be made. If you’re willing to make them, you can become an early bird.
我说了很多关于睡眠的事情。 因为早起很大一部分就是早睡，而早睡并不容易。 需要做出牺牲。如果你愿意，你就能成为早起的鸟儿。
There are glamorous parts to waking up early. You get to be productive. You get the feeling of accomplishing something before anybody else does. You get hours of solitude in a solitude-deprived, technology-focused world. I love it.
早起有很多美好的事情。你可以高效工作，享受先人一步完成某件事的感觉。在这个被科技包围、缺乏独处的世界里，你可以享受数小时的独处时光。我爱这种感觉。
👉The Better Humans publication is a part of a network of personal development tools. For daily inspiration and insight, subscribe to our newsletter, and for your most important goals, find a personal coach.👈
👉 The Better Humans publication is a part of a network of personal development tools. For daily inspiration and insight, subscribe to our newsletter , and for your most important goals, find a personal coach .
