I’m sure you’ve probably heard people say, “I have a hard time getting up in the morning because I’m such a night owl.” The truth is, they are a night owl because they have developed that routine in their life. Being a morning person is not genetic, it’s simply a matter of how you develop your life’s routine. We all have a routine but not all of us are intentional about it. If you don’t create a routine for yourself, your life will create one for you. So, if you’ve always wanted to be a morning person, here are a few tips to help you get on the right track.
Determine Why it’s Important
When we take on the mission of making difficult changes in our life, it’s important to understand what is at stake if we don’t make that change. If you’re trying to lose weight, you have to stay motivated by keeping the goal of health in mind. “If I don’t get healthy, I’m going to have a heart attack.” The same thing applies with your morning routine. Determine why it’s important for you to change your habits and let yourself ponder on what is at stake if you don’t make the change.
Schedule Your Bed Time
Getting enough sleep is important for a lot of reasons. Discipline yourself to go to sleep at a reasonable hour so that you can wake up early AND get enough sleep. Often we think that getting up early automatically means that we have to lose sleep. That’s just false. If you go to bed at a reasonable hour, you will be able to wake up early without losing any sleep.
Stop Hitting Snooze
The snooze feature on your alarm clock is one of the worst inventions. What is the point of an alarm clock if you end up not even using it. I don’t know about you but when I start using the snooze feature, it’s easy for me to sleep an entire hour longer than I intended to. Discipline yourself to simply get out of bed when your alarm goes off. Once you do you’ll feel better and more alert, especially when you implement the next two tips.
Turn All Lights On
It’s well known that our bodies respond to light and the lack thereof. When there is light, our bodies naturally want to wake up. When it is dark, our bodies naturally want to fall into sleep mode. Therefore, turn on all of the lights and your body will begin to spring into action much more efficiently than if you were to leave the lights off or at a low setting.
Have Some Coffee
There has been much debate about the health concerns of drinking coffee. Though there are some that staunchly believe coffee is from the devil, however, there is much to be said otherwise about drinking coffee in moderation. HERE is a great overview of some recent findings about coffee that might bring some clarity if you’re on the fence.
Prep the Night Before
One of the most effective ways to help you get a good start to your morning is to remove some of the tasking and decision making that you shouldn’t have to do in the morning. For instance, decide on an outfit and lay it out for yourself the night before. You don’t want to have to make that decision in the morning when you’re not quite ready to be in think mode. Also, small things like prepping your coffee maker the night before can be helpful as well.
Think Differently
Stop telling yourself that you’re a night person. You are what you decide to be. If you realize that an early morning routine is what would help you to be more successful, then start saying and thinking that you are a morning person. When you make the resolve that you ARE a morning person, you will undoubtedly be able to make the change!