Sleep is amazing, isn't it? Like many of you reading this post, I love to lie in bed and get "just an extra 15 minutes," which can sometimes turn into an extra hour or two.

睡觉很神奇，不是么？就像你们中读到这个帖子的许多人，喜欢躺在床上，获得“仅仅是额外的15分钟”，但有时会变成一两个小时。

You've probably heard that "if you wake up earlier, you'll be more productive" over and over again, but there's definitely truth behind this suggestion. For me, personally, waking up before everyone else in my home allows me to work, respond to emails, or read up on current events without any distractions¹. I get work done in half the time if the family is still asleep. When my family wakes up, I've already had a productive morning and am ready to enjoy breakfast with them before I start conquering the rest of my day.

你可能不止一次地听说，如果醒的早一点，将会收获更多。这个建议确实是有道理的。对我个人而言，在家比其他人醒的早，我可以不受干扰地回复邮件，或阅读时事新闻。如果家人还没有起床，我就可以在半个小时内把这些事情搞定。在他们醒来时，我已度过了一个收获满满的早晨，准备与他们共享早餐，并迎接接下来一天的工作。

Although it seems really easy to get up now, that wasn't always the case. There was a time when just the thought of waking up before the sun rose sent chills down my spine². But once I actually started getting out of bed earlier, I noticed that it wasn't all that bad. And I reached that point by following these seven guaranteed ways to rise and shine at least 30 minutes earlier in the day.

虽然早上早起看起来很容易，但事实不是这样。曾经有段时间，当一想起要在太阳升起前起床，就使我后背发凉。但早起习惯一旦养成，我发现并不是那么难受。那么下面7个方法就是保证我每天早上早起30分钟的秘诀。

1. Wake up one minute earlier each morning

1.每天早起一分钟

Changing a habit or routine doesn't happen overnight. It takes a little bit of time and may take easing into the change to make it work for you. Waking up earlier is no exception.

一个习惯的改变不是一夜发生的。那需要一些时间，才能让你适应。早一点醒来，也不例外。

Let's say that you currently wake up at 6:30 a.m. but want to change that time to 6 a.m. Instead of just suddenly resetting³ your alarm clock for 6, start waking up a minute or two earlier each day. So on day one, your alarm would be set for 6:29, and then 6:28, and so forth⁴.

假设现在早上6:30起床，但你想提前到6点。那就每天早醒一两分钟而不是突然将闹钟调到6点。即，第一天设置闹钟到6:29，然后6:28，以此类推。

It may take a month to reach that 6 a.m. goal, but when you reach it, you won't even notice that you're now waking up 30 minutes earlier.

这可能需要花费一个月才能到6点，但当到了那个时间起床，你可能都没注意到已提前30分钟醒来了。

2. Start a morning routine

2.养成早起做事习惯

Besides your alarm going off, what are the other reasons for you to get out of bed? If you can't answer that question, then it's going to be an uphill battle to rise earlier.

除了闹钟，有其他原因让你离开那可爱的床铺么？如果不能回答这个问题，那么早起就是一个很艰难的战斗。

But that doesn't mean that you can't find something to get you moving first thing in the morning. For example, you could:

但是，这并不意味着你不能找到一些早上开始做的事情。譬如，你可以：

Start a morning workout ritual.

养成早起锻炼习惯

Feed your cat or walk your dog earlier--your pets are consistent and will gladly wake you when it's time to get up.

早起一点喂猫或者遛狗——你的宠物们是很有毅力的，非常乐意到时叫醒你

Set your machine to brew⁵ you a delicious cup of coffee when your alarm goes off.

设定你的咖啡机，在闹钟叫醒你的时候，调制一杯美味的咖啡

Drink water before going to bed.

上床前喝水

Not check your emails before bed so that you'll open them first thing in the morning.

睡觉前不要察看邮箱，以便你第二天早上再去看。

Do something that you enjoy, or find a new hobby. For example, if you want to learn to play the guitar, then do so with this extra time in the morning.

做些喜欢的事，或者找到一个新习惯。例如，如果你想学习弹吉他，那么最好在早上做

3. Train your body to anticipate sleep

3.训练身体适应睡眠周期

Waking up earlier, however, is only half the battle. The other half is changing your nighttime routine and creating a more conducive⁶ sleeping environment so that you can fell asleep earlier.

然而，早上早点醒来仅仅是战斗成功一半。另一半是改变夜晚的活动习惯，创造一个有助于睡眠的环境以便能早一点睡觉。

You can achieve this by:

你可以通过如下方法实现：

Sleeping in complete darkness.

在完全黑暗的情况下睡觉

Consider increasing your melatonin.

考虑增加褪黑激素使用量

Reducing stimulants⁷ in your bedroom, such as television, tablets, and phones.

减少床上的引起兴奋的物品，例如电视、平板电脑以及电话

Finding the right body position.

调整到最适合自己的睡眠姿势

Relaxing before bed by meditating⁸, doing yoga, or reading a book.

通过冥想、瑜伽或者读书进行床前放松

Having an exact bedtime routine.

有固定的睡眠时间

4. Schedule something important for first thing in the morning

4.将重要的事情安排在早上第一件

If I have something important, like a meeting or doctor's appointment, first thing in the morning, I naturally wake up earlier. And, apparently⁹, this isn't a unique occurrence.

如果早上第一件事十分重要，譬如会议或者医生的约定，我通常醒的比较早。显然，这不是一个孤立的事件。

Studies have found that when sleepers¹⁰ had an expectation they'd be woken up at a certain time, there were higher levels of the hormone¹¹ adrenocorticotropin, or ACTH, in their blood. In short, the body has an internal alarm clock that wakes us up before the alarm goes off.

一些研究表明，当睡眠者期望在特定的时间醒来，他们血液里将会有很高的促皮质素荷尔蒙。

If you don't have something scheduled, you can try to make every morning important by scheduling meetings in the a.m. or driving the kids to school instead of having them take the bus. This accountability will force you to wake up.

如果早上没有计划内的事情，你可以试着计划一些，或者是接送孩子上学而不是让他们乘公交。这份责任将促使你早点醒来。

5. Give yourself a reward

5.给自己一个奖励

Charles Duhigg, the author of The Power of Habit, suggests that you give yourself a reward when adopting a new habit.

习惯的力量》的作者Charles Duhigg建议在养成一个新习惯时，给自己一个奖励。

For example, "Even if you think you want to start exercising, your brain essentially¹² thinks that you're a liar¹³ and that you don't actually like exercise," says Duhigg. "So what you have to do is train your brain so it knows that exercise is linked to something you know that you enjoy, like a piece of chocolate, taking a nice long shower, or spending 15 minutes on Facebook. It doesn't matter what the reward is. What matters is it's genuinely rewarding, and that you allow yourself to enjoy that reward."

譬如，Duhigg说：“想要开始锻炼，但大脑很可能知道是自己骗自己，我不是真正地喜欢锻炼。所以你要训练大脑，以便它知道锻炼与自己喜欢的一些事有关联，譬如一些巧克力，冲个好澡，或者花15分钟在Facobook上。奖赏是什么都无关紧要，关键是真正的有奖赏，且让自己很欢喜。”

He continues, "Now contrast that with how most people end up starting an exercise routine. They wake up one morning and they go for a run; they come home, and they're running late because they just spent 20 minutes running. And their kids need to get out the door, so they're stressed out and rushing through their morning routine. What they're doing there is effectively punishing themselves for exercising. They're making things harder after they work out, and that's exactly the wrong thing to do, because we know that our neurology will latch¹⁴ onto rewards."

他接着说：“现在，大部分人结束了将要开始的锻炼习惯。他们在某一天早上醒来，跑了个步，然后回家；因为只不过跑20分钟，所以开始跑的时间并不早。因为孩子们需要出门，所以他们被迫赶早高峰。这些事都是对锻炼的负面影响。在这样做之后，事情变得更糟糕了。这是错误的做法，因为我们的脑神经只会对奖赏感兴趣。”

6. Go camping

6.去野餐

Our bodies are meant to naturally sync with the sunrise and sunset. Thanks to lighting¹⁵ and electricity, that's no longer the case. But if you want to get your sleep schedule back on track naturally, then go camping for a week.

我们的生物钟与日出日落同步。多亏了灯光和电能，现在已不需要日出而作日落而息了。但如果你想将作息时间回到自然状态，那就去野餐一周。

Research has shown that going out into nature will get the internal circadian clock back in sync with solar time.

研究表明，深入自然将会使内在的生物钟与太阳同步。

To make this work, though, you need to leave your gadgets¹⁷ at home, or at least minimize your use.

要实现这个效果，你需要将电子产品留在家里或者将它们的使用频率降到最低。

7. Use apps and gadgets to monitor your sleep

7.使用APP或者电子产品监测睡眠

As mentioned earlier, getting a good night's rest is a major factor in waking up earlier. Even if you have optimized¹⁸ your sleeping environment, there could still be some things disrupting your sleep.

就像前面提到的，美好的夜晚是早起的一个主要因素。即使你已经优化了睡眠环境，但仍然会有些其他事打扰到你。

For example, you could use a gadget¹⁶ like SnoreCoach to gather data about your snoring patterns and sleeping positions so you can find the best position to reduce snoring. Another useful gadget is the Sleep Cycle alarm clock, which monitors your sleep cycles and then wakes you up during light sleep. It also tracks any disruptions that may be interrupting your sleep.

譬如，你可以使用像SnoreCoach的小玩意来获取打呼模式和睡眠姿势的数据，以便能找到最好的姿势来降低打呼。另一个有用的电子产品是Sleep Cycle闹钟，它可以监测你的睡眠周期，然后在轻睡眠时叫醒你。它也能跟踪任何有可能打断你睡眠的破坏因素。

Try just saying, "I will wake up at 6 a.m.," and see what happens. Just the suggestion of the time you wish to wake up is enough for many people to be able to make the change, but whatever method you use to get up earlier, find enjoyment in your new freedom.

只是试着说，我会在早上6点醒来，看会发生什么。对许多人来讲，仅仅只是期望醒来时间早一些就能足够改变你。无论使用什么方式使自己早起，你都要在新的自由王国里给自己找点乐子。