it's been getting a lot easier to wake up

I'm doing pretty good on time

hey guys!

welcome back

this..

this video is the video that I've been wanting to make for years now

but I haven't because I haven't been living the dream of what this video entails

which is waking up super early

because I have been waking up at 4:00 AM

consecutively for the past 3 weeks..

it's time for this video to see the day of light

just a little background.. I'm an epic snooze queen

I'm the worst with waking up in the morning

because.. I don't know.. I

I know snoozing for 2 hours with the alarm going off every 10 minutes

is really poor quality of sleep

but in my head, because it's instant gratification..

alarm goes off, turn it off right away..

go back to sleep for like 5 minutes, wake up again..

repeat, repeat, repeat...

that's just, you know..

that's the way I prefer to live my life for most of my life

this week's video I want to share with you guys 4 real ways..

non-hacky, non-gimmicky ways to really wake up in the morning

because as much as it makes sense

to trick yourself into waking up early

you don't want to trick yourself.. you just want to know like..

I'm going to wake up everyday at this time

and like you just naturally do it

because from personal experience

no matter how far away I put my phone or my alarm

or no matter if I put it like in a pot, in a drawer, in like the oven

I still will wake up turn it off

and just go back to bed and go back to sleep

the first thing that I wanna talk about

and I think this is one of the most important things that's helped me a lot

is minimize the time spent making decisions in the morning to combat decision fatigue

so what this means is pack your bags the night before

your backpack, school bag, work bag, food bag

cause I have all those bags because I'm a bag lady

and lay out your clothes the night before

so you don't have to think about what you have to wear

you just wake up and you put your clothes on

this is what what a lot of people d with like working out in the morning

laying out your gym clothes the night before

and..

having a couple of go-to quick breakfast recipes that you can whip up

for me it's either turmeric latte which I just heat up milk

add in some turmeric powder

and maple syrup

a little bit of peppers, some salt

it's really filling

or I'll make lotus root powder

which I won't get into right now

because it's kind of difficult but I will show you guys

it looks really gross but it's really good

you mix it with cold water first

and then you pour in hot water

and then it turns into this gelatinous thing

and I add in black sesame and maple syrup

so to give you guys a little more..

a little bit more context on what decision fatigue is

basically our brain has a limited capacity to make decisions

and wunch we... once..

omg I can't talk

once we meh...

mmh

once we meet that threshold in making decisions

our decisions become a lot more impulsive

mostly out of self-defense

so it's like..

if you already made a million decisions in the morning

of like.. omg like..

you know I need to wake up

I need to brush my teeth

I need to pick out what to wear

I need to pack my bags

I need to do all these things

like just thinking about it

it's already so stressful that you're like..

you just won't wake up because you're like..

I need to do all these 10 things before I can actually walk out the door

so if you have everything laid out for you

everything is ready to go

boom *snaps*

that's all you need

this is actually something that's been backed by the scientific community

a research was done with about 1,000 judges

who were deciding whether criminals can go out on parole

and it was found that beginning of the day

that acceptance rates where criminals were granted parole was about like 65%

and it dips down significantly towards 0% by the time it's like right before lunch

and then right after lunch it goes back up to 65%

and by the end of the day it drops back down to 0% so..

it has very little to do with

what the criminals are.. why there in jail

and has more to do with the judges having breakfast in the morning

and the more decisions they make throughout the day..

they get like really overwhelmed and tired

and their brain stops working

so they're just like no no no no

it drops down to zero

after they eat lunch they come back like..

"mmh! stomach's full! I'm happy let's make more decisions!"

so this is one of the more important

one of the most important things

I think that has really helped me just like get up

get out the door in less than 30 minutes

getting up early..

great habit to have but even more important

prepping everything the night before

so that you can get up in the morning

and just be like okay everything's already laid out

let me just.. I don't have to think

I just autopilot, do everything, and then out the door

alrighty

numero dos

your day* starts the night before

this is something that my mom's told me countless times

this is something that blog posts and the interwebs has told me

many many many years now

but..

I've just now learned the importance that like..

yes, if I want to wake up early

I definitely need to sleep a lot earlier...

duh...

so know how much time you need

to sleep to be a normal functioning human

and plan your evenings and your days around that

so let's say you need..

historically I've needed 8-9 hours of sleep

but that is a..

that is a past life now

I'm trying to test and push my limits

to see if I can get about like 5½-6 hours a night of sleep

so if I need to wake up at 4:00 AM

then that means I need to be in bed by 10:00 PM

10, 11, 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, yes..

ideally I'll be in bed by 10:00 PM

usually it's been like 10:30-11:00 PM

which is why I've been like a straight-up zombie most of the days

*zombie Rowena* uh.. I've fallen.. uh..

and I can't seem to get back up

help...

send help.....

it's really important to plan your evenings around your bedtime

so let's say you need to be in bed..

for me I need be in bed by 10:00 PM or I should be in bed by 10:00 PM

then that means I need to be home at the latest by 9:00 PM

so that I can come home

prep everything, shower, get ready

do my skin stuff

like make sure, like.. clean the apartment

pack my bags, make my food for the next day

and one thing that I do is I set up..

my phone's do not disturb

this thing

do not disturb

it won't allow any calls or texts or notifications to come on

do not disturb right?

another thing is make sure your night shift which is this thing

make sure it's on

the thing with..

mobile.. mobile devices and laptop screens is like

they emit a lot of blue light

which is something that will wake you up a lot

and will mess your circa...

will mess up your circadian clock

what it does is it throws a layer of yellow tint light

on top of your screen so that

your eyes and your body is not being tricked

that it is daytime when it is actually nighttime

ok, number three

when you wake up in the morning

a lot of us..

some people's alarm sound like..

*loud obnoxious alarm sound*

it's like.. it's the first thing you wake up to every morning

you don't want to be woken up and be like..

*frantic Rowena*

gotta go somewhere gotta go somewhere

something's going on, bright lights are flashing

and like things are flooding and you're like running out the door right?

so what I have been using is..

*birds chirping*

it's called bird song

and it slowly builds up

from like very quiet to like..

louder birds chirping

and I feel like this gradual..

build-up of noise..

it's just so much more pleasant

and it like gently wakes you up

as opposed to..

*loud obnoxious alarm sound repeat*

alright, so that's just like a little fun one

last but not least, this is..

I would say the most important thing you need to do

know why you need to wake up

how early you need to wake up

and why you can't wake up any later than that

by now you guys are probably like

why in the world does this girl wake up at 4:00 AM in the morning..

what does she do..

why does she need to wake up that early..

so I've always known the importance of waking up early

I've always known the benefits of waking up early

your days are actually much longer

you actually get a lot more done

you're far more productive

you feel a lot better about yourself because it's like..

you accumulate these little wins along the way

and waking up early is actually a really big win

I've known the importance of waking up early

I've known importance of meditating

I've known the importance of doing Qi Gong practice

which is something that I do within my spiritual practice

and I've known the importance of reading

so all of these things like..

I've been trying to incorporate some way somehow into my life

but it just.. it hasn't stuck around

like hasn't.. it hasn't stuck

and so I've been trying ever since..

2-3 years ago to like wake up at 4:00 AM

and do all these things before work

and I've done it maybe like 3 or 4 times, it's always like..

ooo! I'm going to do it tomorrow!

I do it once.. and I don't do it for the rest of the year

and I'll do it again one time.. and I won't do it for the rest of the year

so.. what I'm doing

what I've been doing is wake up at 4:00 AM

get to work around 5:00 AM

from 5:00-6:00 AM meditate for an hour

6:00-7:00 AM Qi Gong exercise for an hour

and then I read for about 1½ hours before work starts

and this just... it..

it sets such a good momentum and tone to my days

that I got all the most important things to me done

like right at the beginning

so that throughout the day.. it's like

I don't have to worry about

having not done any of those things

and when I go home I can just enjoy my time at home

and not be like..

omg Rowena.. you're supposed to do this..

and then you have to do this like you don't have time for anything

so it's important to really sit yourself down and ask yourself