I love the serenity of the nights for writing an essay while sipping a glass of wine or a cup of green tea. But nights often find me physically and mentally exhausted after a long day working or being with my son.
Mornings are when I thrive. When I can concentrate easier, maintain my focus and be productive and vivid. I especially appreciate the prospect mornings offer and the opportunity to start over fresh.
Do I absolutely love waking up early? No, but at least I don’t hate it anymore when the alarm goes off, and the realisation of the sleep’s termination kicks in. Frankly speaking, I am growing to welcome the alarm sound.
Now, I know what you are probably thinking, and I can assure you that I am not turning crazy or surviving on happy pills. Before you judge me, hear me out!
I have detected two factors supporting my enjoyment of waking up without being groggy, which I have fully embraced.
First of all, I take complete ownership of my personal choices. I have consciously chosen my lifestyle; it didn’t just happen to me. I opted for a full-time job, a dog, a baby, and a blog, and I chose not to complain about my voluntary personal decisions.
Secondly, I have been working hard to cultivate a set of actions and behaviours that help me become a morning person. I have turned these actions and behaviours into a routine, which automatically facilitates my lifestyle.
The routine that turns you into a morning person
Our circadian rhythm affects our sleep-wake cycle and tremendously impacts our digestion, hormones and body temperatures. The good news is that it can be trained to follow our lifestyle choices, should you want to become a morning person.
- Establish good sleep habits. I know I sound like your mom, but going to bed early refills our energy banks. Research shows that latest 10 pm is a good time to go to sleep, though I am in bed by 9 pm. I used to sleep aimlessly late due to scrolling or watching movies, but the next day the impact of the late night was visible. Once I began sleeping earlier, my waking up and morning mood were dramatically ameliorated.
- Read a book or solve a crossword/sudoku. It is hard to stick to this habit, as at the end of a busy day, resorting to a screen rather than a book is easier. Nevertheless, reading a book helps us not only to sleep but improves the quality of it, whereas the screen keeps our brain awake and results in a restless sleep. The key here is to choose a readable book an appealing content to our preferences instead of an academic book that requires deep concentration and is full of technicalities.
- Something to anticipate for the following day. A delicious breakfast, a beautiful outfit or a favourite book to read or a podcast to listen to while commuting are some things that will help you jump out of bed. Do not underestimate these little things that boost your motivation to wake up timely and with a smile on!
- Stretch and water. Wake up, get up, stretch properly by lifting your arms in the air and letting the blood flow all over your body, then have a glass of water straight after. Brief, simple, miraculous. Trust me.
- Organise the day ahead. Assign time to plan the day carefully and avert the anxiety a chaotic, unpredictable day causes. I usually set up my planner the night before, but breakfast time could also serve the purpose. A well-planned day leaves less room for stress and gives us the confidence to know what lies ahead.
- Exercise. I used to have the capacity for morning exercise, but not anymore. And whereas mornings or early afternoons are the best time to exercise for me, due to my busy schedule, I can mainly exercise in late afternoons or evenings. Regardless of the time, exercise presents me with incredible physical, emotional and psychological benefits. Most importantly, exercise is a gift from me to myself during a crammed day or week, whether a long run or a 10’ workout.
- Set a daily goal. What is the purpose of the day? Is it related to your work, personal, romantic or social life? My experience shows that setting a specific daily goal- such as meeting a friend after work, cooking a delicious dinner, visiting an exhibition, preparing a work project or exercising- helps me start my morning easier and with sweet anticipation.
- Set the mentality up for success. It all comes down to how we approach our mornings and life. Getting up and being grouchy, sullen and negative is the wrong start to what can actually be a good day. Set yourself up for success by switching your mentality from, “Oh no, yet another dull and eventless day” to “I can see all the reasons this will be a good day”. Let me clarify here that a good day does not necessarily refer to one without a workload, a reasonable amount of stress and moments of frustration, which are all part of life. A good day is one where you manage to handle all adversities efficiently without them taking a toll on your psychology and ruining your day or week.
Becoming a morning person requires cultivating certain habits and adopting behaviours that propel a positive and viable attitude towards life. There is no magic recipe. No miracles happen.
Becoming a morning person means creating a wonderful and unique to our individual needs routine that sets us up for success. It needs time, hard work and commitment. And you can do all of these starting now! Routines are the processes that keep us in place and define our personality and course of life to a great extent.
