Morning and I have had a love/hate relationship for a long time now. Ask my parents. And my husband.
For years I operated under the belief that I wasn’t a morning person and that’s just the way it was. However, in the last two years and I developed a deep desire to change that. I can’t say it’s been easy, but it’s been worth it!
If you are struggling to get up at at ’em in the morning, I have a few tips to share that have been extremely helpful for me. They are not complicated, and don’t require much brain function, so if you’re groggy (and a little cranky) in the morning, it’s okay!
8 tips to becoming a morning person
1 // Go to bed on time
Stop acting like you’re 20. You’re not. Staying up late then dragging the next day doesn’t help anyone, namely you.
It’s a proven fact that getting enough sleep improves pretty much every area of our lives. Don’t neglect it.
When you get enough sleep, you are able to get up on time in the morning and go! Depriving ourselves of sleep only starts the slippery slope of being more and more tired every day. We end the week by crashing at the worst possible time, or we end up sleeping way too much on the weekend.
2 // Change your drapes
I know this might sound dumb, but hear/read me out. If you are one of those people who likes your room to be pitch black, I get it sister. I have been one of those people for the majority of my life.
Last year when we remodeled our bedroom I bought sheer drapes with the intention of also installing bamboo shades. Unfortunately, our bedroom window is a custom size and I never could bring myself to pay for custom bamboo shades so…we learned how to sleep with more light in the room.
It took a couple of months to get used to the crazy amounts of moonlight pouring in during a full moon, but I can say now that I actually sleep better than I did before, and getting up in the morning is easy because once the sun starts to rise my body naturally wakes up with the morning light.
3 // Get up when the alarm goes off
This is easier said than done, but following steps #1 and 2 helps.
Deciding to get up on time before you even go to bed is half the battle. I don’t know about you, but I can talk myself out of all kinds of things – important things – when I’m half asleep and it’s still dark outside.
To combat this tendency I make the decision the night before to get up when the alarm goes off, no matter what. I plan my outfit and the exact routine I need to follow in order to get everything done on time.
4 // Reward yo-self
I’m not ashamed to admit that bullet proof coffee is my reward for getting up on time. I mean, I drink coffee either way, but bullet proof takes a little more time to make so I can’t have it if I’m running behind.
It’s all about incentives, people!!
5 // Set realistic goals
I used to set way too many goals for myself in a given day, and it always led to burn out which made it hard to get out of bed in the mornings. It’s never good when you feel overwhelmed before you even step foot out of bed.
I can avoid this by setting realistic goals, either the night before or at the beginning of the week.
At the beginning of each week I like to map out all the things I want to accomplish and then assign each task to a block of time on a specific day of the week. This forces me to take an honest look at:
- how much time each task will take
- the amount of energy each task will require
- how much concentration I will need to do the job well.
For instance, when I paint a piece of furniture I don’t necessarily have to be alone. In fact I often let my kids help with projects like that, so those can be scheduled any time after school and on weekends. On the other hand, when I write I like to be alone, so I schedule my writing sessions for when the kids are at school or asleep so I can focus.
Looking at my weekly goals this way forces me to be realistic about how much I can actually get done, and that helps me feel motivated each morning when it’s time to hit it.
6 // Make your bed
I may be a full grown adult, but I still struggle to make my bed everyday. I will say, though, that it’s much less tempting to crawl back into bed when it’s made.
If you don’t already make your bed everyday, practice doing it each morning until it becomes habit.
7 // Self Care
Why are we so bad at this? Maybe it’s just me. Maybe you are awesomely good at taking time outs for yourself and leaving margin for relaxation.
For the most part, we are good at so many things – caring for others, rocking our jobs, cooking, cleaning, owning our finances, supporting our kids – but we are horrible at taking care of ourselves.
It’s an understatement to say it’s healthy to give yourself a little break here and there throughout the day.
Sometimes I get so motivated to do all the things I forget to take breaks. That only starts the slippery slope of being too tired to get up on time the next day, feeling too behind and stressed to tackle my to-do list, and eventually leads to feelings of defeat and/or illness. Which essentially makes me useless to everyone.
Don’t get me wrong mornings continue to be an area of my life that I have to work hard at. But utilizing these seven tips definitely makes mornings easier. I am more efficient, more focused, and more satisfied with my day when I keep these tips in mind as I plan out my week and fight the urge to slap the snooze button every morning.
Go ahead and try them!
Are you a morning person? If not, how do you win at the struggle of getting going each day?