Tips to Becoming a Morning Person
Another goal of mine for the New Year was to become more of a morning person. On the weekends I don't really sleep in late - usually only until 8/8:30 but on weekdays I REALLY struggle with waking up and I'll be the first to admit I can be a bit of a morning monster. I can remember growing up my mom used to always say to me "I can't wait until you're old enough to drink coffee, then you won't be so grumpy in the mornings". This started when I was probably only five or six, true story. When James and I first moved in together I had to tell him to not talk to me until I've been up for half an hour as that's when I'm fully awake and ready to function as a human. Until that time, stay out of my way! haha
To try to work towards a healthier lifestyle I've been trying to wake up earlier on weekdays and take advantage of some time in the early hours to workout or get work done and to not be quite so rushed in the mornings. Only a week and a bit into the New Year I'd say I'm doing alright and definitely noticing a big change in myself in the mornings from before so I thought I'd share a few of the tips that have been working for me as I continue to work towards becoming more of a "morning person".
Tip #1: Get Prepared
If you know you're going to wake up and have to make a ton of decisions and do lots of prep work in the mornings, there's not going to be much motivation to get out of the cozy comfort of your bed. For me, I've found that I need to fool proof my life for myself in the mornings which means a little bit of prep work the night before but I promise you - it's SO worth it. Every night I set out what I'll be wearing the next day (down to my accessories and shoes!) so that there's no early morning "I have nothing to wear" freakouts. I also prep frozen "smoothie packs" every Sunday for the entire week so that all I have to do is pull a ziploc bag out of the freezer, plunk it into my blender, add some coconut water or almond milk and breakfast is served!
PS in my smoothie packs: 1 banana sliced, handful of frozen fruit, 1 tbsp hemp protein powder, two handfuls of spinach. I prep 5 of these every Sunday so I have breakfast for M-F
Tip #2: Ditch the Tech
Ever since I've had a cell phone, I've slept with it next to me on my bedside table. For ten years my phone screen has been usually one of the last things I'd see before going to sleep and would be the first thing I'd see when I woke up. Now, I've started charging my phone in the kitchen for the evening and leaving it there overnight. I've swapped scrolling through instagram for reading before bed and I'm already feeling so much better for it. I've already finished two books since starting this on January 1st just by swapping out my phone for a book. I find when it's time to turn off the lights and go to sleep I fall asleep way faster and I don't wake up late at night from my phone lighting up or buzzing next to me.
Tip 3: Work for it
This tip has definitely helped me the most for making sure I get up when my alarm goes off and I stay up. I am a chronic snooze button pusher. You could even call me "the queen of the snooze", that's how bad I am. So, to try to find a solution to that problem I found that setting my alarm on my phone and leaving it outside of the bedroom now forces me to get out of bed to go turn my alarm off. I set my workout clothes beside my phone so that I literally almost trip over my running shoes to turn my alarm off which motivates me to just get started with my day and get my workout in first thing.
Tip 4: Go to Bed Earlier
This one's a no brainer but one I've always struggled with. I am definitely a night owl and always have been. I can be very productive in the evening and when I lived on my own, found I'd get strange bursts of energy late at night and it was not uncommon to see me doing laundry, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms or doing work at 11 o'clock at night. Now, I'm trying to force myself to go to bed much earlier. It's difficult on evenings where I have plans but most nights my goal is to get into bed by ten at the latest, read for 30-60 mins and then lights out. This has been the hardest habit to change but is one that is going to make the biggest difference. Where I used to stay up late to tidy the condo I now find that I'm doing more of the tidying, etc in the mornings so that in the evenings I can relax more.
These are just a few of the tips that I've found have really helped me in my pursuit of becoming a morning person. I'd love to hear any of your tips in the comments below! PS- my cute jammies are from Bedhead Pajamas
