At the beginning of the year, this post would most likely never have even been an option, because I was the furthest thing from a morning person. Now, I wouldn't exactly say that I am always a morning person, but I have definitely gotten better at it. For me, being a morning person has become part of my weekly routine mostly because I wanted to be more productive and because I wanted to change up my routine. My "morning person" days usually are those that I really need to get things done. Otherwise, I will let myself sleep in (haha). So, as someone who has seriously struggled with mornings, I wanted to share some of my own tips that allowed me to get my butt out of bed and on to being productive.
1.) Have a Purpose- I know that this sounds like weird advice but for me, if I don't have a specific goal in mind that I need to get up early for, I will most definitely sleep in. So, instead of having yourself saying, "Pssh, I don't really need to get up at 7:00" know that it's a necessity. For me, my main purpose of getting up early is to get a workout in before work. Some mornings, I have to be at work by 9:30 so in order to get a workout in for the day, a 6:00 A.M. wake up call is the only way to get that done. It's definitely rough, but knowing that if I don't do it then, it won't get done really helps me pull off the covers and get going.
2.) Go to Sleep Earlier- Trust me, I know this is really difficult and I still struggle with this one. I live in a house with night owls, so trying to get myself to go to bed before they do takes quite a bit of effort. Aside from that, I know that I can personally fall victim to browsing online for way too long instead of going to sleep. What has helped me to prevent this is to have a cut-off time. By midnight, I must have everything turned off and I should be in bed with the lights off. This doesn't always happen, but for the most part, I am pretty good at sticking to it. I also remind myself that Instagram, YouTube, etc. will be there in the morning, so I should just go to sleep.
3) Re-Train your Circadian Rhythm- For my non-science peeps, Circadian Rhythm is just a fancy way of saying your body clock. Our bodies get used to waking up and going to sleep at certain times, and sometimes in order to change that, you need to re-train it. There are times post late night weekend, that I need to do this because my circadian rhythm is way off and how I do it is by implementing melatonin into my nighttime routine. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in your brain that signals to your body that it is time to go to sleep. You can buy melatonin as a supplement at pretty much any health/grocery store and you can take it before bed to help you fall asleep. When I know that my body has gotten used to late nights, I take some melatonin about 20-30 minutes before I go to bed, to help my body prepare for sleep. It will typically take a couple nights before my body is back to getting to bed at that time, but the melatonin helps for a better transition.
4.) Develop a Routine- Having a morning routine will help make mornings a bit easier because you'll already know what needs to get done/you'll have a way to transition from being in bed to starting your morning. For me, a typical morning will begin with getting up, heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash up, and making my bed. No matter what time I need to get up, this is my general routine. What I do after making my bed really depends on what I've got going on for the day. If I need to be at work early, I will get dressed and head to workout. If I have the day off or don't have to be at work until much later, then I'll head downstairs and make some coffee. Having a general schedule for my morning helps keep me on track and coaxes me out of bed. Also, making your bed helps a lot because then you can't climb back under the covers. Just putting that out there.
5.) Learn to Love Mornings- I know if you struggle with mornings, this might seem crazy, but finding things that you love about the morning will help make getting up early more enjoyable. When I first started my "morning person" transition, I noticed how peaceful mornings were. No one in my household was up so I could roll through my to-do list without being bothered. It was awesome. Also, having the kitchen to myself was pretty great, as I could eat and have some coffee and still have some quiet time. In general, I learned to love mornings because I could get so much done! There were days when I checked off my whole to-do list before noon and that made me feel like a bad ass. So definitely, find your own reasons to love mornings.
I hope these tips are a starting point to get you on track to starting your day earlier. As always, I hope your week is off to a good start! I'll talk to you soon!
~Genesis<3
No comments