When the weekends creep up, it’s tempting to sleep in, and wake up late into the day. Already, that lost time which could’ve been spent towards getting you closer to your goals, gone. Sadly, most of my friends give in to this temptation of sleeping in. Even if they don’t do this, another major issue is it’s easy to hit that snooze button when it’s time for you to wake up and start doing whatever it is you need to get done.
Stop wishing for more time in the day, because there is only so much time and it is up to you whether you use it wisely. Fortunately, here are some life hacks you can try out to help you be a morning person!
1. Set Your Goals For Tomorrow Because Having A Purpose Will Motivate You
It’s easy to go to bed without setting goals for tomorrow, but by doing so, you won’t be as motivated or productive compared to the situation when you do set goals. You probably woke up today having the same thought as yesterday and the days before. Now think about how people feel on Christmas Eve. Everyone is excited for the morning to come so they can open their Christmas presents first thing in the morning, because they have the energy, purpose, and motivation to wake up early. In fact, they might even have trouble falling asleep!
The same idea applies here. When you wake up the next day, by having goals set the night before, you will have a purpose and motivation to get out of bed early the following day.
Read: 12 Tips on How to Stay Motivated and Accomplish Anything
Yes, I do have to agree that it will be tempting to hit the snooze alarm, and stay under the warm covers and continue sleeping away, but don’t worry, because that leads us to our next tip.
2. Place Your Alarm Device Across The Room
One of the reasons why people snooze the alarm is not only because they lack motivation, but it is because they put it within hands reach. By putting the alarm at the other side of the room, it will force you to get out of bed, and actually have to walk over to the alarm in order to turn it off. I find movement and the cool morning temperature helps in the process of getting up. If you keep your alarm within hands reach, you will most likely be tempted to hit the snooze button every time.
3. Brush Your Teeth And Maybe Take A Morning Shower
Brush your teeth and wash your face. Cleaning yourself up helps make your mind feel good. If that doesn’t help, try taking a morning shower if you don’t do it already. I find it to be super effective.
4. Drink A Glass Of Water
Staying hydrated benefits the human body in multiple ways. Get some H20 into your system. Try to avoid caffeine if possible since it will just make you burned out later on in the day. You want to stay energized throughout the entire day, not just the morning. Doing so will get your motivation levels up.
5. Stretch And Exercise
There’s nothing better than a morning exercise routine to get your heart pumping and your muscles to wake up after an 8 hour rest. It’s good to get some oxygen pumping throughout your body so it can start doing its daily routine. Exercising also helps get you pumped mentally, physically, and emotionally!
6. Go To Sleep An Hour Earlier
One of the reasons why it’s difficult to wake up early is because your body is worn out and lacks the proper amount of sleep hours needed to rejuvenate. This has to do with the body’s internal biological clock. A simple solution to this is go to bed earlier – at least an hour. You get more sleep, you end the day earlier, but you get to wake up earlier!
7. Breakfast Is One Of The Most Important Meals Of The Day!
Your body is probably out of energy by the time you wake up so you need a source of energy to get started for the day – enter breakfast. Don’t eat something that is unhealthy. Eat food that is preferably high in nutrients.
8. Nap Cautiously Because It Can Ruin Your Productivity And Sleep Cycle
Napping may ruin your sleep cycle especially when nightfall comes. Try to avoid napping unless you really need it. If you absolutely must take a nap, try to do it in the morning because if you take naps after that, you will have a hard time falling asleep at night which will ruin your goal of getting up early in the morning. For the risks of ruining my sleep cycle and productivity, I never take naps unless I’m very sick – and I mean VERY sick.
Read: 5 Tips on How to Have a More Productive Day
9. Brighten Up The Room
It’s easy to fall asleep when the room is dark. Let the light in during the morning so you are in an environment no longer suited for sleeping. Open the curtains or blinds and get moving! Can’t get up to do the task? Open the curtains a bit during the night so when morning comes, it’ll be ready to let the lights in for you!
10. Try An App To Fight The Snooze Bug
There are apps out there where you can download to work out a puzzle and some memory exercises before you can disable or snooze an alarm. The benefit of this is it forces the user to jump through extra hoops before they can snooze the alarm. By the time they finished, they will probably be fully awake and willing to get out of bed.
11. Wake Up At The Same Time Everyday Because Building Good Habits Will Help You Maintain A Morning Routine
Once you got a routine going, start waking up consistently everyday at the same time. It will help you stick with the routine and adjust your body to go by that clock cycle. Don’t sleep in just because it’s a weekend. Don’t sleep in just because it’s a holiday. Don’t make excuses to sleep in when you’re supposed to be out and about getting things done. If you get out of bed at 7 AM in the morning, then do it for the other days regardless of whatever excuses you come up with or events; however, feel free to wake up earlier if you need to catch a flight or whatever it is you got to do before that time.
12. Get Up And Move Around
It is important that by the time you wake up, you get out of bed and immediately move around, because it will help prevent you from getting comfortable in bed and help wake up your mind after hours of sleep.
If you know some other tips on how to be a morning person, be sure to leave a comment below with your tip because I would love to see what other great things or creative ways one can do to wake up early.