Are you are a night owl or a morning person? Wait.. Does an early rising college kid even exist? Studying till 4:00 am, binging out on Netflix, or drinking all night are all barriers that make mornings our worst nightmares.
Starting your morning off on the right foot can completely change your whole day, and with finals week here, there’s no harm in a morning mood booster. Here are some tips on how to do that:
1. Don’t skip breakfast
All those teachers that grilled us about eating a nice breakfast before standardized tests weren’t kidding.You get your first burst of energy for the day from breakfast. Take the extra minute to wait in the Einstein’s line or get an egg sandwich pressed from Jazzman’s.
2. Make a playlist
Make a playlist of your favorite songs, from smooth melodies of Jack Johnson or bumping to a little Big Sean at 7 am. Waking up to your favorite songs will change your entire day. Spotify always has some of the best playlists to start your day, even with the absence of T. Swift.
3. Golden Hour
There is a 25th hour of the day, you’ve just been sleeping through it, or laying in bed trying to convince yourself to get up. Start your day with intention. Studies show your mood during the first hour of being awake affects your entire day, so make this hour the best of the day.
4. Soak up the Florida sun
Early morning walks to class in the sunshine state beat a cold long walk while the wind is whipping your face at most other schools. Enjoy your daily dosage of vitamin D.
5. Be positive
Wake up and forget about how much you hate the annoying sound of your professors voice and instead think of things to be grateful for as you stroll through the palm trees on our beautiful Floridian campus. Don’t ever allow yourself to be hijacked of your happiness by the past or yesterday’s failures.
6. Plan your day
Scheduling your day: a very rare talent among college kids.
7. Let the light in, and warm up
No one is a happy morning person when you are scared to leave the warmth of you comforters in a dark room. So open your blinds, take a hot shower, and have some hot tea or coffee.
8. Exercise
I only challenge this to the truly ambitious. Working out stimulates better executive function of the mind during the day, and helps retain memory. Somewhere deep inside there is motivation to be a morning gym person… Maybe.