How to become a morning person? I have been battling this problem for what feels like my entire life. I can honestly say and my best friends and hubby can testify that I am not naturally a morning person.
At all.
I would rather stay up late rather than wake up early. And this went for exams in school too. I would study late into the night and barely wake up on time, rather than go to sleep early to wake up early and study.
If you let me I could sleep in until 11 easily, everyday. This doesn’t happen so much anymore since I have 2 little girls that love to wake up early.
I’ve only recently discovered the beauty of mornings. Now I’ve always loved the smell of the morning air. Don’t you just love it? Take a deep breath, it smells so fresh, so new. But that wasn’t motivation enough! Haha!
Are you ready to become a morning person?! Let’s dive in!
1. SLEEP
The problem with mornings is that they come too fast. As parents, we like to stay up later than our kiddos so we can still have “us” time. So we can do the things that adults do, right?!
But we are forgetting that the key thing we need is sleep.
According to a resource from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, it has been shown that the lack of sleep affects perception and judgment. It also has can reduce efficiency and productivity. Driving while drowsy is dangerous as it can cause accidents. Lack of sleep also causes numerous health problems.
To become a morning person, we have to have adequate sleep or we can’t function properly the next day. So step number 1 starts the night before and that is to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
If you don’t sleep you don’t function!
I have a simple calculation for you: Start with what time you have to wake up tomorrow. Subtract that by 7 to 8 hours.Then subtract that by another hour.
Secret Sleep Formula:
Wake up time – 7 hours = Sleep time
Sleep time – 1 hour = Bed time and bed time routine
5 am wake up – 7 hours = 10 pm
10 pm – 1 hour = 9 pm. Bed time routine and put your head on the pillow
Let’s take action! Calculate your bed time using the formula and get into bed by that time tonight!
2. PLANNING FOR TOMORROW
This step also happens the night before. This is what I do and what I recommend is that you write down what you need to do tomorrow.
Anything that you can think of.
Jot it down in your notebook or on your phone. That way your mind won’t be racing with your “to-do’s” for tomorrow. Why is it so hard for us to fall asleep? Our minds are circling around things that we are worrying about, things that we’re excited about, things that we don’t want to forget. So if all these thoughts are written down, your mind will have some peace.
Peace equals sleep.
Let’s take action! Write down everything that needs to be done tomorrow so it’s not keeping you awake tonight!
3. WAKE UP BEFORE THE KIDDOS
Yikes, I used wait to get out of bed until my daughter was awake. Sooo not helpful to me or my family, or my dreams. I was missing out on precious time that I could kick start my day into a productive or streamlined day.
Instead we were always rushed and stressed because I didn’t want to get out of bed just yet.
Just 5 more minutes syndrome.
Which is a horrible cycle to get into. You are tired because you are still in bed and need 5 more minutes. But that 5 more minutes is just keeping you tired because you are not moving.
This morning magic time is your time. This depends on you, on how much time you want for yourself. There are two things that I suggest that you include in this time and they are listed in the next couple of steps.
In addition to those, you can use this time to journal, meditate, sit and drink a cup of coffee or tea. Is there a hobby that you are loving right now but can’t find the time to complete? What goals are you working towards? You can use this time to get some stuff done!
The possibilities are endless if you wake up early.
Don’t forget that it’s okay to start small here. You don’t need to jump right in and wake up 4 hours before the kids. You will just be exhausted and will need to take a nap and that’s not what we’re going for here. Start at 30 minutes. That is enough time to start doing something.
Let’s take action! Think about what time your kids usually wake up. Now set your alarm for 30 minutes before that time and enjoy your morning magic time.
4. NUTRITION/BREAKFAST
This won’t be the first time I say it and it probably won’t be the last. Oi. It’s so important. I can tell you I know the difference, my body knows the difference between good food and crappy food.
Let me give you an example. I was completely hooked on soda. I can’t even tell you when I first started drinking soda because I was so young…the earliest memory I have is 3rd grade. Let’s just say I started then so that is around what age 10? 11? All the way up to when I was 27, when I quit drinking soda. 17 years I drank this stuff. My body was used to it and actually craved it which was scary.
But I decided that enough was enough and I didn’t want it in my system anymore. Let me tell you, it took like one day. I stopped drinking it. Ever since I stopped, I can’t drink even a little anymore. My stomach gets upset and it’s not happy. My body knows now that it’s not good for me and it will not tolerate it anymore!
Start your day off with some whole foods, protein, vegetables and even fruit. Don’t skimp. This is not the time for sugary cereals or nothing at all. Proper food gives your body energy to sustain you for the whole day.
You will be able to feel the difference. I’m telling you!
Let’s take action! What are you currently eating for breakfast. How can you make that healthier? Add more protein? Add more vegetables? Make it for breakfast tomorrow morning!
5. THE DREADED E WORD – EXERCISE
This is one of the essentials that I suggest you do during your morning magic time. I don’t think that you need to spend hours and hours at the gym or exercising for that matter. In my opinion, your body just wants to move.
So give it a chance to!
You can do some yoga, take a walk around the block. Do some jumping jacks. Or just stretch.
You’ll be surprised at how much better you feel.
Some of my favorite workouts are from free youtube videos and most of them need very little equipment. So you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get started. I know that’s one of my excuses. Another one for you, you don’t need a lot of space either. Gotcha!
My favorite go to’s are Tone It Up and Mommy Trainer. These have so many different varieties of exercises that on the days you don’t want to do anything, there are low impact 5 minutes exercises for you.
Let’s take action! Start googling and youtubing some free exercise videos! Or bust out the ones you have that are collecting dust! During your magic time tomorrow, do one of the exercise videos!
6. A BETTER E WORD – EXCITING!
This is the secret to my mornings. I don’t know what makes it easier to jump out of bed than to do something you are so excited for.
Let’s imagine that you are going to Hawaii on vacation tomorrow morning. You have to wake up at 4 in the morning to have enough time to drive to the airport and make it there an hour before your 7 o’clock flight.
Would it be easy for you to wake up and get out of bed?
I think so.
I’ve been there. You are just so excited to go that nothing will get in your way right?! So we need to apply that to everyday life!
For me, I love to blog, and to help you, and to work on my business and I use my magic time that I have to myself I am so excited for it. I can concentrate, its quiet, and I can actually focus and that gets things accomplished during this time.
What is that for you? What is it that makes you want to jump out of bed?
Let’s take action! What is it that gets your heart pumping?! That you are just so excited for? Schedule it in for tomorrow morning!
7. BECOMING A MORNING PERSON IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Don’t fret if you miss a morning. It’s okay.
We are beautiful works in progress right?! Take it a day at a time.
If I can do it, you most certainly can do it too!
