Never would’ve guessed my alarm would become my newest best friend
If you had told me early on in this school year that by second semester I’d be fully engrossed in a 5:45 AM morning routine, I would’ve thought you were crazy. Me? A freshman in college, whose sleep schedule hasn’t included going to bed before 1 AM in years, waking up before the sun rises? No, there’s no way. But several months and many terrifying alarm blares later, I can safely say this has become my daily routine and my reality. In all honesty, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I absolutely love it.
It wasn’t necessarily by choice that this absurdly early wake up time came to be my new normal. An increasingly busy class schedule, alongside starting a job on campus prompted me to figure out when I was going to have the opportunity to work out. Exercising daily was something I was so used to doing in high school, but had fallen off the wagon a bit the first semester and was eager to get back on track with this second semester. However, my busy schedule forced me to potentially have to sacrifice this unless I came up with a solution. The answer to my problem? Waking up at the crack of dawn of course!
That being said, despite me not really choosing to hear that alarm blare before six in the morning on my own accord, I have really grown to appreciate all the benefits of waking up early.
For starters, my mood has instantly changed these last few months by starting my morning off so productively. Rather than feeling sluggish and tired like I expected I would, I instead feel the opposite! Knowing that I’ve already tackled a run or workout for the day by the time I head to work or class, allows me to focus ahead on the rest of my tasks without feeling nearly as stressed, overwhelmed or exhausted.
I’ve found my focus in classes has been far more sharper as well, seeing as my body had time to fully wake up. I’m not rolling out of bed half an hour before I leave for class anymore, and the increased time I have for a morning routine by waking up substaintly earlier is what I attribute to this!
In addition, because I’ve packed my schedule so tightly, it’s really helped me remain undistracted, and stay on track with assignments in a timely manner, which is drastically different from the occasional procrastination I participated in the first semester.
There’s also something to be said about the increased amount of sleep I’ve been able to get throughout the last several months. While this may seem incredibly contradictory, getting more sleep when you wake up far earlier than you previously had, I’ve found it to be the case for me.
Being aware of the harsh wake up time almost forced me in a way to really buckle down on my awful sleep schedule. Most nights during the week, I aim to be in bed between 9:30-10 PM now. This seemed unfathomable to me initially when I was planning out the logistics of my second semester schedule, but when I realized just how time I misuse on my phone or watching Netflix late at night, I realized it was fully probable if I just recognized how important my sleep was.
It’s all a cycle. Because I wake up so early, my body has become accustomed to naturally getting tired far earlier than I was used to prior, and I’m able to fall asleep relatively easily now. The same logic applies to the reasoning why I’ve gotten more and more used to those 5:45 alarms. Sticking with this routine for weeks on end now has only aided in the satisfaction I get out of it.
Looking ahead, I wouldn’t necessarily claim that I will continue to wake up at this specific time for the rest of my life, or even in college. But because of the positive experience and attributes I have found so far, I will certainly put an emphasis on an earlier morning routine in general. It might not be at 5:45 AM in the future, but I have no doubt that rising early will continue to be the expectation I place on myself.