Dr. Andrew Huberman, an American neuroscientist watched by millions of people on his YouTube pages, reveals some of the essential things that people can do to quickly form a habit of waking up in the morning.
Exposure to light activates arousal mechanisms. Photo: Freepik.com
“Three days of pain and the rest is easy”says the American scientist. People need three days to adjust the biological mechanisms necessary to form the habit of becoming early risers, he says, in an interview on podcaster Chris Williamson’s YouTube channel. I can do it with plenty of light early in the morning, right after waking up, with exercise, caffeine and social interactions.
Most people are used to going to bed between 10 pm and midnight and waking up between 6 and 8 am, but there are people who feel good going to bed at 1 – 2 am and waking up at 10 – 11 am and morning people, for whom ten in the evening is already a late time to go to bed and who usually wake up at 4 – 5 in the morning. If someone wants to wake up earlier, he needs four things, called by German scientists “zeitgeber” or “alarm clocks”, says Dr. Andrew Huberman.
A zeitgeber is an environmental agent or event, such as the onset of light or darkness, that triggers or resets an organism’s biological clock. The word “zeitgeber” comes from a combination of two German terms: zeit, meaning “time” and geber, meaning “giver.”
It is described by scientists as a cyclical or recurring pattern that helps keep the body’s circadian rhythms (24-hour biological cycles) working in an orderly manner.
Natural light the most important stimulus
Natural daylight and darkness, hot and cold temperatures are the “zeitgeber”, but work hours, school, regular mealtimes can also be such stimuli of people’s biological clock.
“The first way to regulate this cycle is to see the bright light at the time you want to be awake in the morning. So, go outside in the morning, look at the sun, not at it, don’t strain your eyes to damage them, blink when you feel the need, without sunglasses, with glasses or contact lenses.” says Dr. Andrew Huberman.
Andrew Huberman. Source: Chris Williamson / Youtube.
Looking at the sun early in the morning, in the first 5-15 minutes after waking up, is also one of the most beneficial things for the body. It is an important stimulus for wakefulness during the day and has a strong positive impact on people’s ability to fall asleep and have a good night’s sleep, the scientist says.
The second most powerful “alarm clock” that can be combined with light exposure is movement or exercise. A few jumps, walking facing the light in the morning are effective in helping people who want to become more morning.
The third stimulus that those who want to wake up earlier can use is caffeine, the scientist shows.
“If you add coffee, you can train your circadian rhythm to be more alert at certain times of the morning”it shows.
Light, movement, coffee and interactions
Along with coffee and hydration, eating certain foods at certain times of the morning can help form the habit of waking up early. The fourth thing useful for waking up in the morning is interaction with other people.
“Light, exercise, coffee and food and social interactions align your circadian rhythm with these mechanisms. So when I say it takes three days, if tomorrow you start the process of becoming an early riser and set your alarm for 5 o’clock, regardless of what time it is you go to bed the night before and wake up and do these things, maybe cutting out food if you don’t want to eat, maybe cutting out caffeine, it’s going to hurt. And on the first day at noon maybe you will crawl a little. The next day you’ll find it a little easier to do this morning routine, and by the third day you should be waking up a few minutes or moments before your alarm goes off because your circadian rhythm has changed“, says dr. Andrew Huberman.
According to the scientist, in the first minutes after waking up in the morning, people need as much light as possible to start the “wake-up mechanism” of the body, and light produced from artificial sources is not enough, even if it can disturb sleep late hours or during the night.
