I am a night owl by nature. I think the best, very creative, feel the most focused, and most productive at night.I’m not really a big fan of being a morning person but this semester’s changing that. Here are my tips and tricks when making the change. And some tips on how to make early mornings a little easier coming from a girl who wakes up at 5 a.m. every day.
- Gradually start to go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier by 15-30 minute increments over a period of 1-2 weeks.
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I found that by doing this It won’t feel so much as a shock to your body to wake up this early. Instead, it’ll be more of a natural transition and you won’t even realize that you’re waking up earlier.
- Make your alarms fun. I have an Alexa dot/ google home at my place so something that I like to do is make my alarms play music such as my favorite song to wake me up.
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This, although it’s a small change regarding your alarm sound, is enough to help make waking up a little easier and less tedious of a chore when usually your alarm is the same boring loud noise every morning.
- Stay hydrated, as for me if I am not hydrated,I feel cranky because I have less energy than normal to get out of bed.
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I highly recommend drinking 1-2 bottles of water the night before you go to bed and a bottle of water as soon as you wake up. Personally, I have found that staying hydrated helps you to feel less sluggish in the mornings.
- Play music
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Playing music while I get ready helps mornings feel more fun instead of a tiring chore when deep down you’d rather go back to bed. Music also helps to set the mood for the day so pick a playlist that’ll help you conquer the day. According to Psychology Today, “Music has powerful and diverse effects on both the body and mind, influencing breathing and heart rate, triggering the release of hormones, stimulating the immune system, and boosting the brain’s cognitive and emotional centers.” In that same Psychology Today article they also advised that “The key is choosing the right music for the time of day or night, and the desired effects.”
- Make Your Bed
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As soon as you wake up get out of bed. and make your bed because “The little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right,” said Admiral William H. McRaven at the UT Austin’s commencement speech. I’ve also realized that if you wake up and continue to lay in bed or start to scroll on your phone the temptations to just stay in bed grows stronger and closing your eyes for 5 minutes can turn into 30 minutes. Overall just don’t do it and save yourself the trouble by just getting up when you wake up and making your bed.
- Don’t leave your place too soon, give your body time to wake up mentally after you’ve physically awoken.
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Always pack snacks in your bag
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I can’t emphasize this enough but waking up early sometimes will leave you drained later in the day. So having a light snack helps to give you an energy boost to accomplish daily tasks and stay awake during lectures.
- Don’t drink your cup of coffee first thing in the morning.
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Instead, it is recommended that “the best time for the average person (i.e., neither early bird nor night owl) to drink caffeinated coffee is between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m,” according to an Inc. article. If you drink coffee first thing in the morning you won’t reap the desired effects because, “According to neuroscientist Steven L. Miller, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, drinking coffee when your SCN is already releasing plenty of cortisol limits its positive effects because you’re already ‘wired up.’ In other words, coffee + cortisol = extra stress (which is bad for your health). By contrast, if you drink coffee when your cortisol levels are low, it smooths out your mood and energy level so that you can get more done without getting the jitters.”
This is why sometimes if you drink coffee too early in the morning you start to crash in the day and feel the need for a second cup of coffee which can lead to a late-night due to the inability to fall asleep because of the lingering caffeine in your system. Overall just try to avoid drinking coffee first thing in the morning or around lunchtime.
For me being a morning person has just changed my workflow I found surprisingly that early in the morning before my classes I feel most inspired to work and be creative because I get to campus around 7-8 a.m. every morning and there’s rarely ever anyone around. So the peace and quiet in a wide-open space just reminds me of working late at night when there is no one around.. I have also realized that I can’t stay up as late as I once did although I’ve tried to multiple times. I’ve also learned that the longer you’re awake the more tired you get because there’s a chemical that your brain makes to naturally make you tired as the day goes on. It’s like an internal clock that may also be why if you wake up early you start to feel yourself slump around mid-day.