Good morning Her Campus readers! For the entire month of January, I challenged myself to wake up early and accomplish at least three productive tasks before settling into my typical daily routine. Surprisingly, this led to a new lifestyle change for me. I’m excited to share with you exactly how I did it.
Last semester, I found myself in a rut. I was waking up two minutes before my Zoom class started just to log in from bed. Since I was barely awake, I was not able to pay attention well, and this eventually caused my grades to start slipping.
This semester, I knew something had to change. Over the break, I started waking up early and felt more productive than ever. I enjoyed having more time to work out, sit down and eat a nice breakfast, read, meditate, journal, and complete any other mundane tasks I’d usually push off to a later date.
Recently, it’s been especially helpful to wake up earlier since the sun sets so early in the winter. Those early hours of daylight are so precious. Here are a few helpful tips to get you started on becoming a morning person.
- Dive in Head First
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Taking the first step is always the hardest. As a college student, you probably have a pretty messy sleep schedule. Start by setting alarms for when you want to wake up — your body won’t be able to do it naturally if you’re not used to it. Set multiple alarms with different sounds if need be. The only possible way to start your morning is to wake up.
- Plan Your Morning
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Personally, my brain doesn’t start functioning until I’ve had some coffee. I’ve found it helpful to write a list before bed consisting of my morning goals. By doing this, you don’t have to think about what you want to do as soon as you wake up — you’ll already be prepared for your day and will know exactly what’s going on.
- Create a Routine
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You don’t have to do the same thing every single morning; however, having some kind of routine will help make your early mornings feel habitual, and consequently, more natural. Two things I do every morning include making a nice sit-down breakfast and exercising.
The rest of my morning goals vary daily. Sometimes it involves catching up on schoolwork, while other times, it might be catching up on the latest episode of “The Bachelor.” Either way, it’s nice having enough time set aside to complete these activities.
- Go to Bed Early
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You won’t have the energy to be a morning person without a full night of sleep. Hopefully, by giving yourself extra time in the morning you won’t need to be up late finishing any tasks. Go to bed early, and look forward to what tomorrow will bring you. If you struggle to fall asleep, I recommend listening to a guided meditation. In a pinch, those always help me fall right asleep.
We all know the saying, “early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Let’s get healthy, wealthy, and wise this year! Start setting those alarm clocks so we can be the most productive versions of ourselves!
Remember, early bird gets the worm!