Thursday, January 8, 2015

Becoming a Morning Person

It's said that it take 21 days to build a habit and why not start now. Your new habit could be sealed by the end of the month, talk about a good start to the year. As the school year starts back up I don't think this post could be going up at a better time. I would love to be one of those people that wakes up early (and not just because I have class) completely energized and peppy. Although at the beginning I doubt I'll be all that thrilled when my alarm goes off a bit earlier but as time goes on and as I become accustom to this maybe I'll be more and more excited about the prospect of living out more hours of the day. This semester my earliest classes start at 9:30 which is quite refreshing compared to my 6:30 wake up call when I was volunteering in a classroom last semester. My goal however, is to spend my time productively before class in hopes of accomplishing more during the day.



Lay Out your Clothes the Night Before.

Embarrassingly enough I have become one of those girls who has a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear. This is definitely not the case but it usually occurs because I feel rushed in the morning and most of the time scramble to put together an outfit I am only halfway pleased with. Whenever I lay out my clothes the night before I never feel the need to change sweaters or search for a matching sock which provides me with more time in the morning.

Get Excited About your Breakfast and Morning. 

I am definitely guilty of giving myself pump up speeches whenever I am not too thrilled about something. Waking up would be a bit easier with a warm cup of breakfast and bagel to wake up to. Whenever I am going somewhere cool or have something big planned I have absolutely no trouble waking up so I'm going to pretend my breakfast is something that exciting.

Drink More Water Before Bed.

You're probably quite confused by this one. Personally, once I am up in the morning I am up for good. By hydrating (which is super good for you to begin with) the night before I wake up having to use the restroom and will then force myself to get up since that doesn't exactly feel comfortable.

Avoid Using Screens 30 Minutes Before Bed.

I am so bad about this. What is better than Netflix + blogging before bed? Or scrolling through instagram before setting your alarm. Unfortunately I have heard far too many studies about how this keeps your mind racing to allow myself to continue this. Instead I am going to try to get myself back into a good before bed routine that includes reading.

Set Your Alarm and Put It Out of Reach.

Like I said earlier once I am up I am up. By setting my alarm out of reach I feel a sense of urgency to get up and turn it off before waking my roommate. This is kind of like a mini spell of adrenaline to start my day and I definitely don't feel as rushed in the morning when I wake up at the first sound of my alarm!

Get to Bed!

Guilty of being especially bad at this one too, I hope you are sensing that the entirety of this process might be a bit of a challenge for me. Unfortunately, my attitude towards completing projects and assignments and studying is that I can sleep when I am finished. This leaves me up until late hours feeling absolutely exhausted come the following morning. This upcoming semester is definitely going to be a hard one so I am trying to make the commitment to myself now that I will be sure to get to bed earlier when I can that way my productivity will start to be in the morning instead of late at night.

Don't Press Snooze.

This is trick advice since I already advised you to put your alarm out of reach. Snooze has always been a very close friend of mine. Well not snooze necessarily but setting alarms within 4 minute increments of each other to help get my butt out of bed. This is a terrible habit I am desperate to break so we shall see how this goes. Into last semester I downloaded the app Sleep Cycle which really has started to wake me up a bit more energized (it wakes you up when you are in your lightest sleep based upon your movements, check it out for yourself) but I am still a chronic snoozer. 

Hopefully these tips help you out if you are also trying to become more of a morning person in this new year. Also if you have any tips for me please share I foresee this being a little tricky!

My ultimate goal would be to work out before class a time or two each week instead of waiting until the very end of my day when it can get put off. We shall see!

15 comments :

  1. Awesome tips! The one about drinking water before bed made me lol! I'm definitely not a morning person, but I try to be!
    -Amanda
    http://wanderlustandwardrobes.blogspot.com

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  2. Love this post! Thanks for sharing your tips, I actually have a similar post that I wrote saved in my drafts!

    xoxo
    mQs

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  3. I was just thinking about this this morning as well. I wake up so much earlier and more energized over school breaks because I have less to stress about, so I get to sleep much easier at night and don't wake up in the middle of the night panicked that I slept through a class or test.

    However I am a morning person by nature. I LOVE the morning. I live in an apartment, not a dorm, so I set the table in the kitchen for breakfast the next morning and leave my computer in there so I can read the New York Times while I eat breakfast! I also realize the earlier I wake up, the more "snuggle time" I get in my bed before I have to do anything. This is a great reward. Wake up at 8 am, read the paper/study/wake GMA in bed til 8:30 and then I'll slowly start to get ready so I can get to the gym by 9:30. Giving yourself the leisurely time makes it seem a little more adult.

    And once you've hit the gym, you have so much more energy throughout the day! If I don't have time to shower after, I always keep dry shampoo and facewash wipes in my bag, plus some bath and body works spray to freshen up!

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  4. Thanks for this post Dorothy! I definitely struggle with some of the same things and it's nice to hear some ideas for becoming a better early riser.
    I especially love reading these productivity and organizational posts- keep it up!

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  5. I am a morning person by nature! I love it though and I think these tips will be really helpful for anyone who wants to become a morning person.
    -Dani
    The Postcard Journals

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  6. The reason I clicked on the post was for the mug in the picture. Eloise at the plaza was one of my favorite movies growing up :). Anyways I really enjoyed this post (besides the mug) I find getting up in the morning I complete more tasks.
    http://sweetheartsofthesouth.blogspot.com

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  7. Dorothy, I am just like you and definitely not a morning person! What has really helped is this fitness bracelet called the jawbone up that works very similarly to sleepcycle but vibrates on your wrist instead of making a noise. In conjunction with sleepcycle, I have been on time to school the 4 days of this entire semester! Which knowing me is a lot. I really need both to wake up though... because first the jawbone up will shock me making me half awake and then sleepcycle will ring and then I wont hit snooze b/c the jawbone has primed me to be awake already! I really suggest it!

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  8. I need to focus on this but it can be so hard! Especially when my first morning alarm is set to 4:54 am for work! :( But I do agree having good food or coffee to look forward to helps! :)

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  9. I've been terrible about hitting the snooze button lately. It's like you say - once I'm up, I'm up. Sometimes it's just difficult for me to get out of bed.

    Another trick that helps me is to have something to look forward to in the morning. If you're only getting up to go to work or school, you'll have a tough time. I write every morning, and it's something I really enjoy. That makes it so much easier to get up and get moving. :)

    Great post!

    http://brianawrites.blogspot.com

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  10. Definitely some great tips! I LOVE waking up earlier in the mornings because it gives me time to do what ever it is I want to do before having to do what I have to do throughout the day. Something that really helps me is having a routine with it - I always get up at the same time, hop on my computer to do a little blogging or what have you, then have a cup of coffee an hour or two after waking up.

    Pick Your Beau

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  11. Funnily enough, I was just thinking about drinking more water before I go to bed to force me to get up! I really like the idea of getting excited over breakfast - it's definitely easier to get up when there's something exciting on the other side of the bedroom door!

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  12. I actually cannot stop myself from going on my phone before sleeping. Sometimes I fall asleep with my phone in my hand!
    Good tips, hopefully I can learn and start to get up earlier and not be a angry zombie.

    Adriana | http://adrie182.blogspot.com/

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  13. Great post Dorothy! I cant wait to try some of these tips!

    -Xoxo
    Sophia B.
    CaliforniaBelleBlog.com

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  14. def need this


    check out my newest post
    xx
    Tyana
    theluxedition.blogspot.com

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  15. I'm lucky to have always been a morning person, and I agree with your tips!

    My problem is that I get tired so easily at night so I'm always heading to bed so early it seems! But I guess that's not much of problem now with 8'oclock classes :)

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