I love to sleep; It is truly one of my favorite pastimes and I do not let anything interfere with it. That being said, I strive to be as productive as possible during my days. Three days of the week, I have all four of my classes, so it can be hard to find time to do the more general, housekeeping tasks. This week I decided to try something new; I put my phone away in the mornings and spent this time focusing on myself. I wanted to give myself this time to see if this would improve my overall mood throughout the day as well as
The day-to-day breakdown:
Monday: Started off strong and hopped out of bed right at 8am. I made my coffee, and settled in on my couch. I turned on my diffuser, put on a morning coffee shop playlist, and started answering emails. I slept pretty well last night, probably around 8 hours, so I was feeling energized. I attempted a morning meditation, but I cannot say I completed it successfully, as my mind was wandering to everything else coming in the day. I was able to stay off all social media, and kept my phone usage to spotify and the weather. Around 9 am snow started falling outside and it was literally so majestic, and totally fit the vibe of my morning.
Tuesday: Last night I was going to bed thinking about how excited I was to wake up in the morning, which is not a normal occurrence. I woke up at 7:30 this morning, which was a little earlier than yesterday, because I had an event at 9:30, and wanted to give myself the full two hours to get myself ready for the day. On the second day, I was unsure of how to fill my time, as I did not have as many emails to reply to, and did not want to start homework this early. I did a five minute meditation, which I have found is plenty of time, and then I planned out my day.
Wednesday: I woke up at 8 am feeling recharged and ready for the day. I made my coffee and responded to emails. I think that my body is pretty well adjusted to this time for waking up as it did not feel that early. I almost did not know what to do with all this time. I have been fighting the instinct to use tik tok in the morning and it has been fairly successful. This was the only morning where I contemplated going back to sleep solely because I had the extra time.
Thursday: Confession time- I slept in as I had no classes on Thursday this week. I woke up around 9 am, but did not actually leave my bed until around 10. Not my proudest moment, but I feel as though it was a good reset day, and honestly I realized I was probably more tired than I acknowledged. I did find myself scrambling throughout the day, as I was not as planned out as previous days.
Friday: Finally Friday!! I was up late the night before, so I was skeptical about setting my alarm so early, but I did it. I got up around 7:15 to start my day. I was slightly less “alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic” then I had been on previous mornings, but I was able to muster up the ability to get work done. I am almost positive that I nodded off in my 10 am class, but that could be from the class itself. The excitement of the weekend was setting in, which distracted me from trying to plan my homework schedule.
Overall Thoughts:
Waking up early in the morning might be the best discovery I have made this year. I found myself in a better mood throughout the day, with little to no tired feelings throughout the day. Going to bed early was also a plus; I found that nothing goes on during weeknights, so I am missing nothing by doing my homework and going to bed. If you are thinking of trying to become a morning person, I would totally recommend it. There is a certain level of commitment that is needed to go to bed early and then actually wake up when your alarm goes off, but I promise the prospect of a longer day, with time for yourself, is well worth the initial challenge.