The slower you build up energy in the morning, the more painful waking up will be. What’s better, spending thirty minutes wrestling with the snooze button followed by an hour ramp up to normal mental functioning or quickly starting the day with energy?

In my recent article on morning rituals, I mentioned how I wake up at 5:30 each morning. A few readers asked how I deal with the initial grogginess that comes with waking up so early. As someone who isn’t a natural early-riser (I could easily sleep in until noon) getting over the early-morning sleepiness wasn’t easy. However, by using some of the tips I’ll describe, you can be more alert in your morning hours without having to inject yourself with a pot of coffee.

Why Go Without Caffeine?

I never drink coffee and I only occasionally drink caffeinated teas. While caffeine can be a temporary chemical solution to your drowsiness, I don’t believe it is the best strategy overall. I’ve found caffeine offers more energy, but it comes with side-effects. A few I’ve noticed:

* Post-caffeine crashes.
* Disrupting normal sleep.
* Withdrawal symptoms and addiction.
* Difficulty focusing. (Although some research suggests otherwise)

Whether caffeine is a miracle drug or junk is hard to say. However, given the side-effects, if you can boost morning alertness without the artificial stimulants, why bother drinking the stuff?

How to Build Energy Into Your Mornings

Here are a few things I’ve found helpful to reduce the transition period from being asleep to becoming fully alert. Not only does speeding up this wake-up process save time, it makes waking up less of a struggle. A few tips:

1. Light.Your body’s natural clock is tuned to the amount of light. Turn on all the lights in your room right after waking up. Getting bright lights can help trick your body into thinking it is time to get out of bed.

2. Exercise.Put something physical right at the start of your morning. In the summer, I did a quick morning run and found it helpful in shaking off any sleepiness. Considering the outside temperature hovers around -30 C, I’ve stuck to doing a few pushups in my room. The exercise gets your heart pumping and snaps you out of a groggy state.

3. The 10-Minute Rule.If you want to stick with a consistent wake-up time, practice the ten-minute rule. This means you commit to staying awake for at least the next ten minutes. Once you get over that initial period, the temptation to go back to bed is usually gone.

4. Active Work.Start your day with work that actively uses your mind. Creative activities like writing, drawing, programming or designing work better than passive activities like reading. By focusing your mind early you can stay focused and brush off any unwanted drowsiness.

5. Don’t Skip Breakfast.Wake up early enough to get something to eat. Skipping meals throw your metabolism out of balance, causing you to gain fat and lose energy. Skipping breakfast also means your blood sugar will be low in the morning and energy levels down.

6. Commit to a Sleep Schedule.The obvious solution to combat sleepiness is to get more rest at night. Carrying a sleep debt throughout the week with the hopes of paying it off on the weekend is a bad strategy. Instead, compress your work into the morning hours so you can get the 6-8 hours you need each night.

7. Turn Up the Volume.I’ve found listening to music or audio books helpful in keeping myself awake during the morning. Best of all, if you put on an audio book from your favorite speaker, you can get some encouragement to start your day.

早晨起床越慢，越会觉得这是一件痛苦的事。 躺着挣扎三十分钟，然后花上一个小时才能清醒过来，还是神清气爽的迅速开始新的一天，你会选哪个呢？

在我最近的一篇文章“早晨的习惯”中，我提到我每天都是5:30起床。一些读者吃惊的问我起那么早，是怎么对付早上困的东倒西歪的状况的。作为一个没有早起习惯的人（我可是很容易就能一觉睡到大中午），大清早从床上爬起来并且迅速摆脱困倦可不是一件容易的事。下面是我的一些秘诀，它们能更好的帮你在清早保持清醒，而不是去依靠一大壶咖啡。

为什么远离咖啡因？

我从不喝咖啡并且只是偶尔喝一点茶。这些东西里面的咖啡因虽然能暂时解决你的困倦，但是我从来不认为这是健康的解决方法。我知道咖啡因让你更有精神，但是它的副作用也不可忽视，比如：

* 效力过后更加困倦
* 影响正常睡眠
* 习惯以后上瘾
* 无法集中注意力（尽管有些研究说没有这个效应）

咖啡因到底是提神的特效药还是有很多副作用的垃圾还很难说。但是，考虑到这些副作用，如果你能不通过它的刺激就能保持清爽，为啥还要去喝它呢。

清晨怎么做才能提神？

这里是一些能有效地帮你从半睡半醒到神清气爽的小窍门，我相信它们会对你很有帮助。很快清醒不仅能帮你节省时间，也能让你少挣扎一会。下面窍门来了：

1.明亮的灯光：你身体的生物钟是由光线影响的。所以最好以起床就打开你房间里所有的灯。充足的光线能唤醒你的身体，让它觉得是时候起床清醒了。

2.运动热身：早上一起床就做一些运动。夏天的时候我通常会在清晨小跑一会，这可以很有效的帮你甩掉困倦。现在温度已经降到了零下30度，我转而在房间里做些俯卧撑。运动能让你心跳加速，帮助身体走出倦怠。

3.10分钟原则：如果你想养成同一个时间起床的习惯，可以试试10分钟原则。这个原则是指你起床时向自己保证在接下来的十分钟里保持清醒。一旦你度过这10分钟，想再躺回床上的欲望一般也就随之而去了。

4.主动的工作：一天刚开始的时候，安排一些主动的使用你的大脑的工作。比如一些创作性的工作像写作，画画，编写程序，或者一些设计性的工作。比起被动性的活动如读书，这些主动工作可以更有效的帮你集中精神，摆脱困倦。

5.吃好早餐：早点起床，然后弄点东西吃。不吃早餐会让你的新陈代谢失去平衡，造成你长胖或者无精打采。不吃早餐也会造成你在早晨血糖偏低，这会让你感到困倦。

6.按时睡觉：要避免早晨无精打采，晚上保证睡眠显然是必须的。工作日欠大量的睡眠债，而企图在周末一次补齐绝对是个坏主意，不管对精神还是身体。为了避免这样的情况，把工作压缩到你精力充足的早上，从而保证每天晚上最少6-8小时的睡眠。

7.把音乐打开：我发现早晨听些音乐或者有声图书能很有效的帮你保持清醒。特别是如果把你最喜欢的朗诵者的有声图书播放上，总能鼓励你更有精神。