This article has been syndicated from Uniquely Mickie, an InfluenceHer Collective Member. Read the full post here.
Let me tell you something that is no secret if you know me in real life. I am not a morning person…at all. I’m the type of person that when my alarm goes off, I unconsciously turn the alarm off and fall back to sleep without me even knowing about it. Fun right? I’m more of a night owl and will gladly stay up to read a good book or to binge-watch one of my shows.
So you can imagine my despair at any time that I have to register for early morning classes or clock in for work at 8:00 am. I am not a happy camper by any means. Unfortunately, that’s the way life is and it’s going to be necessary one day for you to be awake and active in the morning too. Because of my experiences of early morning classes, I’m going to share with you my tips on for surviving those unruly early mornings:
- Lay out everything you need the night before
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Anytime I have to wake up early for classes, I always make sure to pack my backpack with everything that I need for the next day, from books to chargers to my laptop. It’s super easy to forget something at home when you’re rushing to get to class or when you’re feeling tired and sleepy. You can even set out an outfit if it normally takes you a long time in the morning to get dressed! Trust me: if you spend maybe five minutes the night before getting everything together, you’ll never forget something again and you can spend more time sleeping in the next day.
- Go to bed earlier
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This one is the biggest key to being able to wake up early in college! I know you’re in college, and college is supposed to be fun. You’re going to want to stay up late at all hours of the night, laugh with friends until your throat is sore, or even hang out with your boyfriend til the crack of dawn. But if you have 8 am classes the next day, you’ll have to get into the habit of going to bed earlier. Your goal should be to get around 7-8 hours of sleep every night to feel well-rested the next day.
- Set multiple alarms
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Remember when I said that sometimes I subconsciously turn my alarms off in the morning? The only way for me to combat that habit is to set multiple alarms with about 5 minutes in between them until I wake up. It’s been helping me a lot because by the time the second or third alarm goes off, I’m usually awake by then. I had to start doing this little trick in college because I had slept through my alarms and through some of my classes. Or, if you hate the idea of multiple alarms going off in the morning, move your cell phone or clock far enough away from your bed that it requires you to leave your bed to turn it off. The effort that it’ll take you to walk across a room will be enough to keep you awake in the morning.
- Wake up and do your morning routine
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I never used to have a morning routine, but now that I have to consistently wake up early to go on rotations, a morning routine has been a lifesaver for me. I typically wake up 30 to 45 minutes before I have to leave my house for the day. This leaves me with enough time to eat a decent breakfast in the morning, prep my lunch for the day, and do the rest of my routine in the morning. Plus, every day that I do my morning routine (which I try to do daily), my mornings have been a lot more enjoyable for me.
Create a schedule or routine that makes you feel good and excited for the day. It could be that you wake up early enough to watch your favorite TV show or you get the chance to do your makeup for the day. Find a routine that works for you and stick to it on a regular basis. I promise you’ll start to slowly but surely enjoy your mornings.
- Speak positive affirmations
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Have you ever given yourself a compliment before in front of the mirror? If you have, then you’ve already given yourself your first positive affirmation. Positive affirmations are simple sayings or sentences that make you feel empowered, strong, and confident. It may sound a little extra, but I promise it works! Your brain is a powerful muscle and what you think about yourself matters a lot. So instead of beating yourself up about a pimple on your face or a bad grade you got on a quiz the other day, take a second to tell yourself in the mirror something positive about yourself.
Early mornings can really suck, especially if you’re a night owl and even worse if you’re in college. But with a little practice and a little prep work, you can hopefully start enjoying your mornings and be able to tackle those dreaded 8 am college classes.
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