How to be a Morning Person
Have you ever woken up an hour early because you were so excited about something? You know, that feeling when you’re so giddy that you can’t sleep. Maybe it’s a close friend coming in town. When I’ve been in those situations, I wake up extra pumped. I’m pumped because I’m looking forward to the day ahead. So when I hear people say, “I’m not a morning person,” it makes me think they’re never excited about their days ahead. In my opinion, that leads to suboptimal performance. You want to wake up ready to take on the world! Here are 5 tips to help you become a morning person.
- Plan your day the night before. By and large, we’re happy when we are in control of things. Unless it involves gifts, we tend not to like surprises. If you know what lies ahead, you’re more likely to be excited about taking it on. There will be no trepidation or fear of the unknown. Each night before getting in bed, take two minutes to review and plan your schedule for the following day.
- Wake up with a prayer of gratitude. Nothing puts things in perspective quite like taking a minute or two to say your thanks for all the things you have in life. Just drop your “woe is me” attitude and think of all the things you can be thankful for. When you start each day by giving thanks for all that you have, it gets you in the proper mindset to take on the world.
- Do 20 pushups. Get that blood flowing! Exercise provides physical stimuli and offers an adrenergic surge throughout your body. It’ll get the “wake up” molecules going.
- Hey, don’t be nasty. Take a shower and brush your teeth. When you feel fresh, you’ll be more apt to interact with people. Engaging with others early in the day helps to get your thoughts in motion.
- Eat breakfast. This is a no brainer. Your brain needs fuel and that fuel is carbs. The key here is not to eat too many processed carbs. Those might get you pumped for an hour or so but soon enough, that energy crash might hit you!
These 5 things will help you join the ranks of some of the most successful people in the world by becoming a morning person. You don’t want to be the person who kicks into full gear at noon while everyone else has been there since 8 am. An awful lot gets accomplished in the first few hours of the day, be sure not to waste them!
Are you a morning person? What tips do you to help others become morning people?
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Right on time! I working on this habit now! I find I’m more productive when I wake up earlier. I’d like to set a consistent bedtime and wake up time. Now to flex my willpower muscle and make this happen. Dedication, Determination, DISCIPLINE.
7 years ago
I just saw the questions at the end of the blog.
1. Currently I’m not a morning person, but I have been at one point in the past and I loved it!
2. Tips: Set a consistent bedtime and wake up time. Have night and morning routines. In the morning, try to do something that will get you pumped up for the day. For example, at one point I was trying to wake up and meditate for 10 minutes. In real life, this translated to me falling back to sleep. What worked for me in the past was getting to the gym or doing some type of physical activity in the morning. I would leave the gym feeling exciting and I had so much energy for the rest of the day.
My night time routine and consistent bedtime I have not been able to solidify yet. From what I’ve read you want to turn off electronics an hour before bedtime. Instead of watching TV one can potentially read a book, stretch, meditate, etc.
7 years ago
Great tips!!! I love mornings. They are like a blank page waiting to be filled with amazing stories. I would say I am an on/off morning person. Sometimes I wake up super early if I have 8 am classes, early trip, or finals, otherwise, I take my time, lol.
7 years ago
1. I am not naturally an early morning riser but have been able to transition easily if my schedule needs me to be using a few of these tips!
2. I am a big fan of playing music that gets me dancing in the morning while I get ready. I also follow a journaling schedule where I write three things I’m grateful for, three things that would make my day great and a daily affirmation before getting out of bed, it sets a tone of positivity for the day. I found it helpful to have a set bedtime and stop working time, I like to give myself at least 30min after I stop working to set the lights, wash my face and do some relaxing leisure reading.
Definitely a lifestyle, I try to also wake up at the same time every day-even on weekends to keep my cycle.
7 years ago
Sounds like you all like activity to get you up and going too. Definitely among the most important. Early bird gets the worm!!!
7 years ago
Well, I am actually already a morning person whether I want to be or not, because I go to school from 8 am until 1:30 pm, then work from 3:45 pm until 12:15 am, which has me have to get up at 5:30 am again in the morning to be back at school again on time ( with some time to study before class), leaving me around 3.5 – 4 hrs of sleep a day on the weekdays…. BUT I do sleep 7-8 hours on the weekends. That all being said though, I do completely plan on keeping up my early rising habits even when my schedule lightens up a bit ( just go to sleep earlier to wake up earlier). As others have said I really do feel more productive and just better about myself generally when I wake up earlier. Even when I can sleep late, If I sleep past 8:30 I feel I have to get up, or else it’s like I’m sleeping the whole morning away. Go get em early birds!
7 years ago
@william you are my inspiration for life right now with that schedule! Amazing dedication 🙂
7 years ago
Thins morning I went to a 5:45a spin class and started studying MCAT at 8a – so far so good. I didn’t think I could wake up that early, but day 1 proved I could!
7 years ago
It took getting used to Meg When I first started that schedule I was sleepwalking a pretty good part of the day but after awhile my body adjusted for the most part. Now, I do have people at work say my eyes look red when it hits about 10 pm or so, but I always try to make sure I get sleep on the weekends, then its study time all weekend with volunteering mixed in. You mentioned dedication, and I really believe that dedication is key for a premed. So many people just give up, some I think too easily.
7 years ago
The best decision I made for myself was to change my habits when I entered grad school and transitioned to waking up early. It has made a world of a difference. Dr. Dale, thank you for writing such as informative post!
7 years ago