Tips for Becoming a Morning Person

In general, I consider myself a morning person. I love the feeling of accomplishment you get when you’re up and at ’em early in the morning. There’s nothing like knocking out a bunch of tasks before most people are even awake. I definitely am more productive in the morning and over the past few years started having trouble sleeping in past 7:30 so typically get my day started pretty early. However…when that alarm starts beeping right when you are in the middle of a deep sleep cycle and you are nice and cozy in bed, it feels like torture to pry yourself up and get going – especially with a baby who doesn’t sleep through the night yet!

I’ve discovered a few tips over the years that help make early mornings a little more manageable and something you {may} actually look forward to:

Be consistent with your sleep schedule – This one was huge for me. Starting in college, I never went to bed at the same time, which led to inconsistent wake up times. Even after college when I started my first full time job, I would go to bed at the same time during the work week, but on weekends would stay up later and sleep in as long as I could. This made Monday morning miserable since my internal schedule was all out of whack. Recently, I’ve been going to bed around my “normal” bedtime even on the weekends and this had made all the difference in the mornings, especially during the week. I wake up more refreshed and ready to go and don’t feel like I’m wasting the day away on the weekends.

Have something to look forward to – When you get into a rut with your typical routine, hearing that alarm + hitting snooze + crawling out of bed like a zombie starts to feel a bit like groundhog’s day.  If you pick out little things first thing in the morning that make you happy, you’ll feel more motivated to get the day started. Blake bought me a milk frother about a year ago and now thinking about a hot cup of coffee made a little more special with frothed almond milk + cinnamon gets me excited to get up and slowly start my day with something delicious. Other little “treats” could be as simple as listening to a new podcast while you’re getting ready, a special breakfast you picked up the night before, or reading a few chapters of a book or devotional while the house is still dark and quiet.

Accountability – I love early morning workouts for many reasons: the feeling of accomplishment of smashing a workout first thing, the endorphins and energy I get that carry me through the rest of the day, and knowing I’m done for the day and don’t have to worry about fitting it in after work. But sometimes that extra hour of sleep seems more enticing at the time, even though I know I’ll never regret getting the workout in. It’s helpful to have an accountability partner such as a spouse, roomie, friend, sibling, etc who encourages you to get up and go by either texting/calling you at an appointed time or by getting up and doing a certain activity with you. I have to sign up in advance for my barre classes and am charged an additional amount beyond my monthly fee if I skip the class without cancelling in advance. I definitely don’t want to pay extra for NOT getting up and going to class, so that’s always an extra motivator for me when that early morning alarm is going off!

Get Organized – One of my favorite things to do on Sunday night is meal prep, pack my lunch, put away all our clean laundry, and pick out an outfit for the next morning. I feel accomplished and ready to go for the week. However, by about mid-week, my nightly prep and organization tends to vanish and my mornings become hectic with everything I need to do. By spending a little extra time prepping, I look forward to my mornings because I know I can leisurely drink my coffee and eat a real breakfast rather than trying to take a shower, get dressed, eat something, pack a lunch, pick out an outfit, get Luke ready, and pack up his bag + bottles for the day. It makes such a difference!

I realize these tips are simple, but hopefully you can find one or two things to incorporate into your nightly or morning routine if you’re struggling to become a morning person!

Xoxo,

Lauren