There seem to be two kinds of people: some are always out of bed before dawn, others can't get their butts out of bed for ages.

Even if it's nice to stay in bed for a really long time, if you make it out of bed sometime around noon, the whole day is usually tough and unproductive. Not only is it annoying in the long run not to get anything done, but in our society it is indispensable to get up at a reasonably early hour. Some people claim that all successful people are early risers. I dare to doubt that, because success is actually not measurable. It depends on what standards I have set myself and whether I personally consider myself successful or not. But the fact is that our daily work usually obliges us to get up earlier than we would like.

Some people just find it particularly difficult. Is there anything you can do about the fact that every morning is torture and your mood sinks to zero, or do you have to accept that you are not born an early riser?

The answer is: you can basically change everything about yourself. There are only two things you need to do this.

1. the will must be there. And it must be real and true. We can fool others, but not our subconscious. We can create anything we want, but we have to really want it.

2. we need the right strategy. We draw up a plan for how we want to achieve our goal, but of course we also have to follow it.

Now that we've agreed that you definitely need to have the desire to get out of bed more easily in the morning, let's move on to the strategy.

Step 1: Observe your individual sleep patterns. Get an idea of how many hours of sleep you need on average, how much sleep you are actually getting at the moment (usually too much) and which waking hours are your most productive.

Let's take an example person: Thomas goes to bed at midnight at the earliest and never gets up before 10am. He would normally be fine with 8 hours of sleep, but he sleeps at least 10 hours a day. That's not just two hours a day wasted, it actually makes him sluggish during the time he's awake. As he tends to be a night person, the evening hours are his most productive time. However, this could also be because he needs to get going after too much sleep in the morning and afternoon.

Step 2: Don't go to bed until you're tired. There's no point in going to bed because the clock says it's 10 o'clock at night if you're not sleepy enough. You'll just toss and turn pointlessly in bed. Wait until your eyelids get heavy so that you can fall asleep within 5 minutes of lying down.

At the beginning of his transition, Thomas continues to go to bed at midnight or later. As he now sets his alarm clock to 5am, he doesn't get enough sleep at first. This will probably be difficult on the first day and he will drag himself through the day, but he is already used to that. On the other hand, he'll be so tired by half past nine in the evening that he'll fall into bed and easily catch up on his sleep from the previous night.

Step 3: Get up at the same time every day. 7 days a week. It has to become so normal that you wake up automatically. Sleeping in on Sundays disrupts your rhythm and sets you back.

You don't have to be as extreme as Thomas and get up at 5am, unless your job demands it, but you do have to be consistent. It will take some effort at the beginning, especially at the weekend, but hopefully your desire to become an early riser will motivate you enough.

You will realise that after a while you will not only automatically wake up at the desired time without an alarm clock, you will need less sleep overall. You may have thought that you absolutely needed your 8 hours a night, but once your rhythm has settled in, you will be able to get by on 7 hours. Your sleep will become more efficient. You'll sleep more deeply and won't waste any time, because our body is a machine that knows how to adapt to external circumstances.

You may have to think of a few little tricks to overcome your inner bastard who wants to stand in the way of your desire.

For example, you can move the alarm clock to the other end of the room so that you have to get up to switch off the noise. This will get your circulation going and the first step has been taken.

The most important thing is not to think about it. When the alarm goes off, just react. Push all negative thoughts away and concentrate on all the tasks you have set yourself for the day. Look forward to your sense of achievement at the end of the day when you have completed your tasks.