How to Become a Morning Person

It’s a fact of life that the early bird gets the worm, and those who rise and shine before daybreak are more productive.

But in a world where the fast pace of life starts before most of us roll out of bed, how do we assimilate?

Well, the answer’s pretty easy:

We become morning people, too.

Maybe they annoy you with their perky, sing-songy “Good morning!” greetings. Or maybe you’re irritated that they think going to the gym is a necessary part of a healthy day.

Regardless of why those early risers are your pet peeve, you’ve got to use them as your new role models. It’s time to become someone who rolls out of bed without hitting the snooze button.

You might do it with a grumble as you thud to the floor, but that’s okay. One way or another, you’ve gotta become a morning person to keep up with the rest of the world.

It really is possible, and here’s how to do it:

1. Sleep Soundly

When you sleep better, you don’t need as much sleep. Contrarily, if you aren’t resting well, it doesn’t matter how much you get. It will never feel like enough.

If you can’t drag yourself out of bed in the morning, you might not need more sleep. You might need better sleep.

Easier said than done, right?

Adjust Your Habits, Improve Your Sleep

Improved sleep takes time and the willingness to change your lifestyle.

Some common ways to improve your sleep quality include:

• Waking up at a consistent time every morning
• Getting exercise during the day
• Avoiding midday naps
• Skipping out on caffeine after noon
• Saying no to the evening toddy (yes it helps you fall asleep, but that sleep is usually interrupted)
• Eating dinner at least two hours before bed to give the food time to digest
• Ending screen time well before you go to bed

With small changes in your daily lifestyle, your sleep will improve and getting up in the morning will be easier.

2. Change Your Alarm Habits

Like so much else in our lives, technology makes it easy for us to be lazy.

If your smartphone is your alarm, it’s probably right next to your bed. But keeping your phone on the nightstand makes it easy to hit the snooze button before your mind even registers what you’re doing.

Experts recommend leaving your phone off at night, or at least in another room. If that’s not an option, move it across the room so it’s harder to hit snooze. If the sound of your alarm doesn’t register enough to pierce the veil of sleep, try another wakeup call.

Still stumbling back to bed, even with the blaring alarm on the other side of the room?

Turn off your snooze option. After you oversleep a few times, you’ll learn not to fall prey to the comfy bed sitting there.

3. Set a Routine

If all you have to look forward to in the morning is another day of the same old thing, of course you don’t want to get out of bed. Morning people happily embrace the day because they have something to look forward to.

In order to become one of them, you must give yourself something to be excited about.

What is it that you would love to squeeze into your day but can’t find the time to do? Reading? Exercising?

Identify an activity you want to spend more time doing, and put that into your schedule as a reward for getting up early.

Set a mindless routine that your groggy brain can handle before fully waking up:

• Turn off alarm
• Go to the bathroom
• Brush teeth
• Get coffee
• Start to function (add daily activities here)

Make your routine less about structure and more about enjoying the extra freedom. Focus on the reason behind this change and make it a part of your morning.

4. Go Towards the Light

Light and movement are two of the best ways to shake yourself from the grogginess of slumber. Light is a signal to your brain that it’s time to wake up.

It’s a physiological process that has worked for millennia. Our bodies are regulated by a biological clock that understands “sunlight” equals “daytime.”

Bright light can be uncomfortable to look at in the morning, but it’s a surefire way to wake your brain up from its sleepy state.

Like jumping into the deep end of a pool, just do it. Open a window and embrace the sunshine as soon as you open your eyes.

5. Implement Your Changes Slowly

As with any long-term habit, it can be hard to break your sleeping patterns. Becoming a morning person doesn’t happen overnight (pun intended).

In fact, when you try to force yourself to change all at once, you’ll find yourself giving up.

Start by going to bed and waking up five minutes earlier, then increase the time until you’ve found your perfect wakeup schedule. Add new routines into your morning gradually as you come to enjoy the extra time in your day.

Above all, be patient with yourself as you transition from a grumpy night owl to a morning butterfly.

Conclusion

The irritatingly cheerful voice of an early riser may be jarring to your senses right now. But it won’t be for long.

These five tips will have you switching roles from the person with the early bird pet peeve to the annoying worm-catcher!

Author bio:

Caitlin Sinclair is the Business Manager at Broadstone Heights Waterworks. With over five years of property management experience, she loves making Broadstone a place everyone loves to call home.