College life can be hard, especially if you aren’t a morning person and are registered for 8 a.m. classes. Why are you registered for 8 a.m. classes when you can’t function normally in the morning? Well, it may be because you’re a freshman and have no priority when scheduling or it could be because you overslept the day you had to choose classes. Regardless, you end up spending most of your time in the morning shutting off 5 alarms on your phone and deciding how long you can sleep in without actually being late to class. If you want to make a change and are actually committed to changing some of your old behaviors, I’ve got some helpful tips for you!
1. Set you alarm clock far away from your bed. This is an important one because we tend to sleep with our phones near our beds (or on them). That means it’s easier for us to hit the snooze in the morning since our phone is at arm’s length. If you kept your phone across the room, possibly on a desk, you’ll have to get up out of bed in order to turn it off. This way you don’t have to worry about oversleeping!
2. Apply cold spoons, ice cubes, cucumber slices, or a de-puffing eye cream/serum. For me, my eye bags are terrible in the morning, especially if I couldn’t sleep the night before. By applying something cold under your eyes for a minute, you help get rid of the puffiness, thus making you look more awake.
3. Skip heavy makeup or anything cosmetic that takes up too much time to apply (cough, cough winged liner).Okay, so now that you’re up, you probably want to erase those eye bags that you finally de-puffed. My go to early morning makeup is simple: concealer, powder (because, really, it can get hot in Texas!), mascara, and a bright lip color. Concealer will help reduce the purple under your eyes without making your face look heavy and the powder will reduce the shine on your face. Skip heavy foundation but, if you need more coverage, opt for a BB cream since its lighter and has SPF. Mascara can also help draw attention to your eyes in the morning by lifting those lashes, and you can even add some shimmery shadow to your inner corners if you really want that bright-eyes effect. Lastly, try a bright lip color (skip the gloss because it can get windy and no one wants to deal with their hair getting stuck) because it can add some nice coloring to your face.
4. Try to wear brighter colors.Not going to lie, I love black and white trends when it comes to fashion. It always seems so timeless and classic, but when it comes to getting dressed in the early mornings, I try to wear brighter colors. Why? Because it catches the eye and doesn’t make you look too worn out. I’m not saying that wearing all black is bad (it can actually look quite chic!), but I, personally, find that wearing some color puts me in a better mood. I like to think of it like a neon sign or the Las Vegas strip lights because it catches everyone’s attention, even in the dark. Some early morning class are still dark out, so why not try to stand out?
5. If mornings really aren’t your thing, try to change your schedule for next semester.Hey, you’ve tried! Maybe it didn’t work out this time, but there’s nothing wrong with signing up for afternoon or night classes. Someone’s got to take them and there are always jobs in the future that require a night staff. I don’t know how we all did it in high school, but I don’t think I can really do it in college. That’s the cool thing about college life, though, you can change your schedule to for your needs and no one else’s. If it doesn’t work for you, don’t sweat it. Learn from it, move on, and sleep tight!