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Why do I keep waking up too early in the morning?

247 Answers
Last Updated: 10/15/2018 at 2:53pm
Why do I keep waking up too early in the morning?
★ This question about Sleeping Well was starred by a moderator on 5/12/2016.
1 Tip to Feel Better
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Tracy-Kate Teleke, PsyD, M.A., LMFT

Marriage & Family Therapist

I assist adults and couples in CA experiencing relationship challenges and interpersonal struggles including anxiety, depression, and a myriad of other life challenges.

Top Rated Answers
MikeyShade90
July 17th, 2015 11:03am
sometimes if you get your mind and body use to waking up early (say like for getting up for work) it can cause you to continue to do so even after you've stopped working because that is what you have trained your mind and body to get use to doing.
soulstune
July 17th, 2015 6:33pm
It could possibly be a bad dream. Sometimes I have those without knowing it, and wake up, not being able to fall back to sleep. It's not a great feeling, being a teenager and all.
silverAngel86
July 18th, 2015 7:56pm
Maybe it's because you have alot on your mind... It used to happen to me. Especially around exam time. Mostly it was because I wanted to do so good in the exams and my parents wouldn't have accepted less than 3rd place
Anonymous
July 18th, 2015 11:43pm
It could be that you're stressful, but it could also just be your "personal clock" that's waking you
pleasesmile9
July 19th, 2015 2:45pm
This is caused by a certain stress hormone in the morning. Personally I feel that it's a blessing because I wake up at a specific time automatically without the use of an alarm clock. The only way to solve this is to relax and destress before going to bed.
Tejash
July 22nd, 2015 2:28am
While waking up too early in the morning is indeed a good practice for many, for others it can be a real source of hindrance. Possible reasons may be anxiety due to an upcoming event, or anxiety over a past event in your life that has occurred, but which your body believes may still occur. This puts your body into the fight-or-flight stage, which causes you to wake up extremely early in the morning.
Anonymous
July 22nd, 2015 12:11pm
Your mind might be to overwhelmed with things to stay in a sleep state. It happens to me, I wake up every day at half 8 with or without an alarm. It doesn't matter what time I go to sleep, I'll still wake up with the lists of worries, anxiety and stress.
StraightforwardNectarine21
July 23rd, 2015 12:26am
Because of unexplained dreams or hot at night time, or due to drinking coffee before bed. it could also be alarms going off on mobile.
poptart99
July 23rd, 2015 1:58am
going to bed early or maybe don't enough activity during the day or eating before bed could do it if its keeping you from healthy amount off sleep maybe try seeking professional help (: cant hurt
FactsFollow
July 23rd, 2015 2:02am
It's possible that you're nervous or anxious about a past event or an event that may happen in the future. I would highly suggest that before going to bed, you write down your feelings and thoughts about the event so you won't wake up worried. Also, you may be encountering depression. It's very common to have difficult staying asleep when you are dealing with depression. You could try exercising in order to release the stress hormones from your body and to also improve your mood!
Letsflipthatfrown
July 23rd, 2015 8:12am
Worries can cause early wakings from my experience. If you have too much on your mind and are worrying about how you will get it done, or if there's a situation at school for example and you're worrying about how to tackle it, it can lead to walking up too early. A good technique is to try and sort any problems you can the night before (don't stay up too late!) and then you can fully relax to sleep. Another technique is to tell yourself "I will not think about -- until after 8/9am". I hope I've helped :)
Anonymous
July 23rd, 2015 2:07pm
There is various reasons for this happening. It could be that your going to bed to early in the evening and hence why you wake early. It could be a sleep pattern, to explain, you may have woken early one morning for some reason and your body clock has noticed this and it's become habit/pattern. Another reason could be if it is Summer, when the mornings start to get lighter earlier sometimes we can wake because of this, getting black out curtains can help if this is the cause. These are just a few reasons I can think of...
Hannaui
July 24th, 2015 10:31pm
Waking up early in the morning may seem like a quite annoying habit but in reality, it truly has a deeper meaning to it. There are a lot of reasons that this could be happening to you and other people. One reason is that it could be signs of insomnia if you also have trouble falling asleep at night. Another reason is probably your brain is just used to the cycle of going to sleep and waking up that early and/or because it is lacking something. (Exp: food, water, bladder issues). I hope that these were a little helpful for you!
Anonymous
July 25th, 2015 3:12am
I find that if I use blackout curtains to stop the sun from coming in too early, cover up any clock displays or other lights, and avoid looking at bright computer or phone screens late at night, I can stay asleep longer.
Anonymous
July 25th, 2015 10:06am
Because there is probably something in your mind which is bothering you which leads you to not sleeping properly. Try to clear out your mind before going to bed at night.
Anonymous
July 25th, 2015 4:49pm
It could be a number of factors, waking up to use the restroom, temperature, noise, but often times when I am stressed or anxious I will wake up a few hours before I would like to. Try clearing your thoughts before bed and if you happen to wake up early relax, you have plenty of time to fall back asleep.
littlesnowflake1
July 25th, 2015 11:08pm
The reason for waking up early in the morning is caused by what you have to do on that day and what happened the day before.
BillytheCook
July 26th, 2015 4:18am
I used to wonder why I would wake up so early at times, and I would always come back to the same conclusion. I had to be up at 5 every day for my last job, I think that by doing that I trained my body to always get up at that time.
UnmaskYourDesire
July 26th, 2015 11:22pm
You might think a lot before going to sleep . Your sleeping environment may be uncomfortable. You may have been conditioned yourself to waking up early in the morning.
Anonymous
July 29th, 2015 2:47am
Maybe you are stressed because you know you have stuff to do and scared it won't get done on time or your scared your alarm won't go off
HannahTribeca
July 29th, 2015 8:03pm
Hello there, I'm Hannah and I've woken up too early in the mornings as well - but perhaps to others, it is just the right time of day to wake up. So I guess what you mean to ask is that you're not getting the length of sleep you expected. First, if I'm awake with less sleep but feeling energetic and raring to go, then it is a positive experience. This happens when I'm super motivated and cannot wait to start the day. On the other hand, if I wake up worrying and panicking, it is an unpleasant feeling that I will try to identify, find the root cause, and eliminate and replace the emotion/reaction. It could also be I had too much coffee at 12am and woken up at 4am buzzed and but still tired.
Anonymous
July 30th, 2015 6:15am
You may not be getting enough exercise during the day and have too much energy, causing your body to be unable to rest. As well, you may have a lot of thoughts going on in your mind. Perhaps you are worried or very excited about the future.
Anonymous
July 30th, 2015 6:38pm
Waking early helps your serotonin hormone, I know its hard but once you wake up you will catch the day!
LikeABirdSong
July 30th, 2015 10:13pm
It can happen if you are sleeping uncomfortably, for instance lightning conditions in bedroom affects a lot at what time you wake up and how you wake up. Consider making the room dark while you are sleeping and that might be of help.
Anonymous
July 31st, 2015 1:34am
I wake up early when I am anxious of my day ahead. Even though I couldn't get to sleep the night before until the early morning and then waking up a few hours later.
Anonymous
July 31st, 2015 5:47am
It is possible you have to much on your mind. If you are having trouble with that, try writing down what you are thinking about. That works for a lot of people because then you won't forget it.
SupporterDK15
July 31st, 2015 5:47pm
Maybe you're not getting a relaxing sleep, try not to over think anything late at night before you go to bed. Mood problems can greatly affect sleep. For example, if the alarm is set for 6 AM, someone with depression may start waking at 4 AM for no good reason.I would recommended trying to relax your mind with soothing music before bed that helps with falling asleep and staying asleep (can be found on youtube.com).
Anonymous
August 1st, 2015 1:02am
You keep waking up that early because you're somebody who likes to be on time. It's a proof that you're healthy to care about those kind of things.
Anonymous
August 1st, 2015 6:27am
Maybe it is something your body is used to, when school usually comes, you have that early habit to wake up at that time. It could also be your body's natural alarm clock.
TravellingSoul
August 1st, 2015 5:46pm
Sometimes waking up too early in the morning could be a sign for stress or anxiety. Some people fear to forget important points from their agenda. You could write down the things xou need to remember so you do not need to fear forgetting them anymore. This could diminish your stress and you could come back to a more relaxing sleep.