I hate mornings. Without a doubt, the worst part of my day is waking up. Choosing to trade the soft warmth of my bed for the harsh wind on my bike is nearly impossible, and I’ve been struggling with committing to waking up since high school. After my second year of college, I decided I could not conquer my days the way I wanted to when I feel rushed, unprepared, and tired. This summer I decided to set things straight, and here’s how.
Set multiple alarms
Sometimes I’m so tired that I will sleep straight through an alarm. Whenever this happens, I conveniently wake up about five minutes before I have to be somewhere – I’m not even granted the peace of sleeping through class, I have to rush and go late. Setting multiple alarms at ten-minute intervals prevents me from losing precious time.
Give yourself time
I like to wake up two full hours before my earliest commitment; however, it does not take me the full two hours to get ready. This gives me breathing room to truly wake up, make myself the breakfast I deserve, whip up a coffee, shower if I need to, print assignments out, you get the point. I leave my apartment earlier than I need to, feeling prepared for the day and in touch with myself and my intentions for the day. By waking up and doing things that I enjoy first thing in the morning, I make the day my own and I don’t feel like my schedule owns me.
Check the weather
This seems obvious, but the small action satiates my urge to check my phone without dragging me into a time-consuming social media splurge. This also helps me to choose an outfit that isn’t leggings and a sweatshirt because I have time to match my cuter clothes to the weather.
Tune in!
After checking the weather, I turn on my favorite news podcast to get going while I do my makeup and get dressed. The podcast is usually fairly short, and it gets my brain to focus on something besides how tired I feel. Once I get past the news, I tune in to one of my favorite true crime podcasts and will listen to that as I commute to campus.
Plan a breakfast
Eating keeps me going. Although I love cooking and eating big breakfasts, I often don’t have an appetite very early in the morning but I always eat something before I leave. I make the same Trader Joe’s pre-packaged cinnamon oatmeal every day, and it is truly a gift every day because if needed it can get me to lunch.
Leave a note
Sometimes when I know that I have a big day ahead of me, I’ll leave a note above my coffee machine with a mini motivational message. This sounds super cheesy, and when I first did it, I felt like a total dork but the next day the note gave me a little jolt of positivity!
Bring a treat with you
I never leave home without food – it does not matter that I ate breakfast because I need snacks to keep me going, and sometimes I’ll carry a whole day’s worth of food if I know I’m going to be busy. I never leave home without my coffee thermos, and once I get to class I’m again rewarded by the extra time I gave myself to make a yummy drink!