’m not a morning person but I’m not necessarily a non-morning person either. Basically I’m not naturally chipper in the morning but I’m getting pretty darned good at faking it. This week I’ve started a few health challenges for September and one of them includes going screen free at 9pm. It’s all part of my plan to manipulate my own brain into thinking I’m a morning person. These are a few things I do to make sure I remain as pleasant as possible in the early hours of the day… here’s how I fool myself into being a morning person.
Avoid using your phone for the first hour after you wake up
I’ve totally banned my phone from the bedroom. I set my alarm and leave my phone in the lounge room to force myself to get out of bed to turn it off. I’m not allowed to bring my phone back to bed with me, otherwise I waste the first 20 minutes of my day mindlessly scrolling through Facebook. I usually re-set my alarm and have another ten minute snooze, then I get up properly. A person who is happy to see the start of a new day, won’t waste the first 20 minutes of the day stuffing around on Facebook. Don’t let your phone steal your morning.
Turn on the lights and open the blinds the moment you wake up
When I first get up to turn my alarm off, I do a quick spin around the lounge room, opening the blinds and turning on the lights. Then I have my ten minute snooze, which isn’t a deep sleep because it’s too bright to doze off completely. After ten minutes, I feel right as rain to get up and start the day. If your house is dark and cozy in the morning it makes it very difficult to get out of bed. Don’t make your morning leap out of bed harder than it needs to be. When your alarm goes off, the lights go on. That’s the rule.
Actually go to bed early
Even if you’re not that tired, if you go to bed as early as possible it will make you much brighter in the morning. I used to wait until I was falling asleep on the couch before I went to bed but now I always go to bed at a designated time and read until I fall asleep. I try to get 8 hours of bed time overnight. That doesn’t always equal 8 hours of sleep time but at least I know I’ve sufficiently rested enough if I’m in bed for that amount of time. Choose the hours you’re going to spend in bed each night – I usually do midnight to 8am – and stick to it. Your body will start figuring out pretty quickly that those are your rest hours.
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Are you a morning person? Do you struggle to get out of bed? Or do you love the promise of a new day?
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