With the quiet hum of the morning and the therapeutic feeling of experiencing a fresh sunrise, the early morning can be a magical time to be awake.
Whether due to exhaustion, habit or the sheer comfort of our beds, being a “morning person” is something many of us simply are not, even if we wish we could be.
Making the switch to this early morning proactive lifestyle is possible! Here are our ten best tips to really commit to waking up, staying up, and loving it.
Sleep with your shades open. While we know that sleeping in total darkness is one of the best feelings in the world, it does make it significantly more difficult to wake up in the morning without any sunlight. By allowing the natural, gradual increase of daylight to come through your window, your body will begin to ancitipate waking before it completley does, meaning you’ll be less groggy and disoriented when you rise.
Get an alarm clock that actually works. If your current clock doesn’t get you out of bed when you want it to, look into a new one. Try different tones, volumes and even locations – if your clock is on the other side of the room, you will have to get out of bed to turn it off! On the same token, try not to snooze your alarm, as this makes your body more confused on when or whether to rise.
Make sure your phone is off overnight. Reducing any radiation from your phone (as well as any temptation to check it!) thoughout the night is a great way to finally disconnect. If you’re worried about saftey, set your kids contacts as “Favorites” and then put your phone to “Do Not Disturb”. This way, your phone should only alert you if a Favorite contact reaches out to you.
Don’t look at screens at least 30 minutes before bed. The blue light from our screens interrupts uor body’s natural winding-down process, meaning that when we put our phone away in bed, we havent rally begun to proprely prepare for sleep, and so it takes us longer to fall asleep.
Splash your face once you wake. Splashing your face with some water and brushing your teeth is a great way to really get out of bed and wake your body up so you don’t turn right around and get back into bed.
If you’re going to have a slow start, do it outside. Not every early morning will be because you have somewhere to be or something to do – somtimes, you simply want to rise early. In this case, enjoy your lazy morning outside or at least beyond the bedroom so that you don’t begin to doze off again sitting in your bed.
Get outside even for just a moment. If you’re awake early to get some work done, first go for a walk outside. Even if it’s ten minutes, the fresh air will wake you up better than any cup of coffee.
Try to have your coffee outside. Speaking of coffee, bring it outside with you! Having your coffee as you wake rather than as you work will really maximize the time you give your body and brain to wake up and make you more productive by the time you sit down.
Try not to turn your phone back on. Unless it’s necessary, try not to reach for your phone first thing when you wake. Instead, try to spend at least half an hour waking up without the screen, alerts and emails in front of you.
Let go of willpower. If every morning is a battle of willpower to get out of bed, try and instead find a reason that makes you want to get up! Forcing yourself to rise is not a long-term plan, so replace the battle of willpower with desire and habit.