The morning, it’s a pivotal moment, and it happens every day. Your alarm, whether radio, iPhone, or analog, plays the tone that will start your day. You then have a choice to make: are you going to snooze it, or use it? When you’re getting out of bed early, it is unbelievably easy to talk yourself into hitting that button. In the end, won’t the extra couple of minutes of sleep do you good? And then just a few more? Until you’ve lounged a bit too long and you’re rushing out the door – a frantic, still-groggy start to your day.
Ways of becoming A Morning Person
Or, you can consider to “become a morning person”.
So much goes into that decisive moment, the one where you’ll either succumb to your snooze button or begin your day. To assist you to fight the fatigue first thing each and every morning, we’ve broken down that wake-up-prep; the evening before, the actual sleep, and the morning (aka the massive, productive morning you’ll have once you’re up early!).
Regardless if you are breaking your circadian rhythm for a completely new job with early hours, want more time in your already-busy day, or simply think that early risers tend to be more virtuous; a little practice and these helpful tips should have you happily up with the birds in no time.
Follow this easy steps and watch yourself become a morning person:
Step 1: Prepare the Night Before
Even the cheeriest of early birds have trouble rising following a late night. Getting prepared for the day ahead and getting to bed early are arguably some of the more challenging tasks within this list, but they’re key to your morning success.
Get ready. Make your morning a whole lot easier by moving “morning chores” to the evening. Make your lunch, select your clothes, or take a shower before going to bed. Even though your new routine provides you with additional time each and every morning you should have to get up and make a turkey and mustard sandwich for lunch.
Drink water. Often times when you’re tired (or hungry!), it’s really a call for water. Sip H2O during dinner, have a cup of tea, and keep a glass by the bed. Regardless of anything else, it’ll get you up out of bed in the morning to use the bathroom. Which happens to be somewhat relieving.
Have a ritual. Getting to bed earlier can be equally as tough as waking up earlier. But getting into a nighttime routine is an excellent way to tell your body it’s time for you to relax. Change into pajamas early, brush your teeth when you’re finished eating; putting as few task between you and your sleep is the ideal way to get there. For just a little fun, go as far as to take a few moments to do “turn down service” on your bed a couple of hours before hitting the hay.
Set an intention. We can’t actually explain to you why you should get up earlier. But luckily, if you’re reading this, maybe you have a motivation to wake up before the sun. Whether it be dedicating time to a hobby, working out, or working in general, identify exactly what it that is worth the wake-up, and internalize it before you close your eyes to sleep.
Step 2: Sleep Well
Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just getting into bed early. Achieving sustained, quality sleep requires a number of variables.
Love your bed. It’s hard to get a good night’s sleep in a bed that’s well… way too hard. Or too soft, for that matter.
Stay adequately warm. People sleep best between 65 and 70 degrees F. Depending on the season, that might mean grabbing an extra blanket or opening a window to attain your ideal temperature for z’s. Anything but wearing socks, because that’s super weird.
Step 3: Get Up and Go
The moment of truth. Anyone can set an alarm for the crack of dawn, what’s going to happen when it goes off that can make you a true early riser? And if you win the battle against staying horizontal, how will you avoid getting out of bed on the wrong side of the bed?
Force yourself to get out of bed. Sorry, this is the way it must be. Set that alarm across the room to make sure that when it’s time to get up, you actually have to do that.
Lights! Most of us reside in places where “getting up early” means “before the sun” for a good chunk of the year. But most of us also likely have electricity, so flip all of those lights back on to inform your body that it’s time for you to start moving for the day.
Do something. For Cindy & I, and many others, our day starts by drinking coffee. The advantages of doing so go far beyond caffeine. It’s a fairly easy enough task to complete without too much thought or exertion, but it gets us upright and moving. By the time we are pouring coffee from the coffee maker, we’ve accomplished our first task for the day, early in the morning. Therefore we get a cup of coffee.
But don’t do everything. In the event the intention you set the night before is to wake up and do a super difficult task, you most likely are met with dread and frustration. Starting simple; brushing teeth, making coffee, taking out the dog; these will give you the motivation to accomplish harder tasks later in the morning.
If you think you’re going to turn into a morning person, well, overnight? Keep dreaming. Remember that in varying your morning routine, early can just be earlier than before. Start in increments of 15 minutes earlier than your usual wake up time.
If you give these suggestions a shot, We’d love to hear the way that they go! Do you have any suggestions to add? Reach out on social media or perhaps leave us a comment here.
