How To: Become a ‘Morning Person’

About a year ago, I took a good look at my daily schedule. Knowing that I like to come home and crash, be available to grab drinks with the girls or be ready for an unexpected date night, I found myself more often than not skipping the gym or other daily “to-dos” I’d leave until the end of the day. I began to reconsider how I spend each day. My resolution? Wake up earlier. I moved my alarm back to 5:30 to make a 6am work out. And let me tell you, it was tough at first but once I made it a habit, my productivity has skyrocketed. I don’t go every single day at 6am but I do keep my alarm set around the same time and here’s why…

While I do consider myself a morning, that certainly does not mean I wake up ready to converse with the world or even the people around me. I like to be up early and have the quiet time to myself. Whether it’s reading in bed or heading to the gym, I love accomplishing something before the majority of the world is functioning. When you hear the phrase “you have the same amount of hours in the day as Beyonce” or insert your own inspirational human, it drives me to want to do more.

If you, too, are looking to increase your productivity by being up bright & early, here are a few ways to transition into a morning person…

1. Don’t hit snooze. It can be tempting, I know but get up with your alarm even if you don’t get out of bed immediately. Hitting snooze actually has the opposite affect and makes you groggier by interrupting your body’s natural sleep cycle.
2. Get a good night’s rest. If you don’t limit your screen time, consider using blue light glasses. Blue light is melatonin suppressing so if you’re scrolling Instagram late night, you may have trouble falling asleep.
3. Wake up to natural light. Leave your blinds cracked or open to allow natural sun to come into your room. Natural light will help suppress melatonin, the hormone in your body that regulates your sleep and wakefulness.
4. Make yourself (or pre-make) a delicious breakfast. Kicking off your metabolism spawned the phrase “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” so whether its hot water with lemon, coffee and yogurt or full on eggs, bacon and toast, etc (ok but waffles count too!) nourish and fuel your body for the day ahead. Plus, who doesn’t like to have a good breakfast to look forward to?
5. Move. I like getting my workout in early in the morning, however some people do not feel invigorated by a workout that early. If you’re not hitting the gym, lightly stretch and start to move your body. You’ll start to feel more awake when your body begins to move.

Cheers