Tips for Becoming a Morning Person – From a Night Owl
I am the first to admit that I have never been a morning person. I love my sleep, and can easily spend all morning in bed. During my undergraduate degree I would design my schedule so that I didn’t start before 10am (when I did have to take a 9am class I was late like 50% of the time 😬). But with starting medical school and having more 9am classes (that I couldn’t be late for), as well as having to sometimes start at 7:30 moving forward, I knew I had to adjust my sleeping habits. I have now managed to become much more of a morning person than I have ever been in my life. So I am sharing my tips for becoming a morning person.
This post is all about tips for becoming a morning person.
1. Take it slow
When trying to get into the routine of waking up earlier, don’t just try and set your alarm for two or three hours earlier than you normally do. If you do you’ll end up exhausted, and the early mornings won’t last very long. Instead get your Toby used to waking up earlier bit by bit. Start by setting your alarm for 15 or 30 minutes earlier and stick with that time for a few days to a week before moving it earlier again. Keep repeating this until you’re waking up at the time you want.
Doing it this way allows your body to get adjusted to earlier mornings.
2. Use a daylight alarm clock
Honestly this is the most important thing for me when in comes to waking up earlier. I like to sleep in a completely dark room, and usually have blackout blinds on my windows but the downside to that is as long as its dark I’ll keep sleeping. Add in the fact that in both England and Canada the sun isn’t fully up until after 8 am in the winter months I struggle to wake up. But with a daylight alarm clock it slowly lights the room to wake you up
I have one that I got a few years ago from the brand iHome, but I’ve also used my friends Lumie alarm clock – which I love.
3. Limit screen time before bed
Restricting screen time before bed definitely had a bigger impact on my sleep than I was expecting it to. staying off my phone or computer for the last 30min to an hour before I go to bed helps me fall asleep faster, and I think overall get a better sleep. There are lots of studying coming out that indicate blue light in particular has negative effects on your sleep and health, any light can throw off your body’s circadian rhythm.
I limit my screen time by using my iPhone’s bedtime feature, which automatically puts my phone onto ‘do not disturb’ 45 minutes before I want to go to bed and reminds me to stay off my phone.
4. Make it a habit
Making waking up early a routine or habit that you do almost automatically makes it so much easier. So make it a habit even on the days you don’t have to be up. Your body will get used to waking up earlier, and it will slowly get easier. But especially when you’re first starting to adjust your schedule keep to it even on the weekends. I tend to try and sleep in an about an hour later on weekends but sleeping in too late makes it harder to switch back to waking up early. Build yourself a set nighttime and morning routine so that it’s easier to wind down for bed, and wake yourself up in the morning. If you’re interested in reading about building better habits I highly suggest the book Atomic Habits. I applied a lot of the the steps from that book when I was building my morning and nighttime routine.
5. Move in the morning
Getting active in the morning will help you wake up. You don’t have to do a full workout in the morning but just do something to get your body moving. I try and do yoga in the mornings but somedays it just means putting on some music and dancing around while I get ready.
6. Restrict evening caffeine
Part of waking up earlier in the morning is getting to bed earlier (don’t expect to be able to get up at 6am if you’re staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning). For me that means I have to stop drinking anything with caffeine in it by 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon. I know this can be hard (especially as a student) but the flip side is that with getting up earlier you should be able to get more stuff done in the morning.
I hope these tips help you transform yourself into more of a morning person!
