How to Become a Morning Person

I have been a night owl for as long as I can remember.  I stay up late reading, doing projects, tackling a to-do list or watching TV and then the next morning it is so hard for me to get myself out of bed!  I wind up sleeping too late and then racing around flustered, stressed and frantic in the morning.  It is really a terrible way to start the day.

So over summer I decided that sleep habits are just that- habits- and I wanted to change my habits.  I wanted to wake up earlier in the morning, go to bed earlier and see what kind of difference it made in my life.  I have read countless studies of morning people and in general they tend to be healthier, happier and more productive. If you read tips from highly successful people (celebrities, CEOs, political leaders) the one consistent thing I notice is that they all get up early.

So I wasn’t looking to get crazy and wake up at 4am or anything but I wanted to shift from going to bed at midnight and waking up at 7:00am to going to bed at 10:30 and getting up around 5:45-6am. Very doable right?   So several months later, I can tell you I have been pretty successful making this change!  I will say I do feel better!  Our mornings are calm instead of frantic and I feel more productive and energized.

Here are the five things that really made a difference for me:

(I did a Periscope the other day about this and wanted to share it here as well.  Since Periscope videos only last for 24 hours, I actually uploaded it to You Tube.  

You can catch the You Tube version and you can follow me on Periscope @frugaladventure is my name.  Just note the questions and comments and hearts only show up when you are actually on Periscope so some parts I might look crazy referencing things you don’t see when viewing from You Tube 🙂 )

1. Make the Commitment to Yourself.

So this sounds simple but I find that I often say I will do something but in reality I am not fully committed. I might say I am going to try and get up earlier and then the alarm goes off, I turn it off and go back to sleep. But this time I really set my mind to it and found two solid reasons to make this change that would make my life better:

a. I want to be awake an hour before the kids so I can get things done, have some peace to myself and be ready to greet them with a smile. I do not want to fly out of bed at 7:15 screaming at everyone that we are late and starting the day stressed out and overwhelmed.

b. If I am up late, I tend to snack on crackers, popcorn, cereal, candy… I need a little energy so I always want to grab something to eat. My rear end will thank me for breaking this terrible habit.

And last but not least I was honest with myself. I am exhausted by the end of the day and completely unproductive. If I think I can sit down with a to do list and get 10 things done- well my brain is fried and really I wind up wasting time getting distracted by Facebook or silly Yahoo articles. So time to be honest and tell myself I am not productive at night anyway.

Come up with your own reasons and really make the commitment to yourself and your family.

2. Change Your Inner Dialogue.

This was the most important change for me. I realized that I was convincing myself I wasn’t a morning person. I always say I am a Night Owl, when the alarm goes off in the morning I start with the negative thoughts immediately- “Oh it is cold. It is too early. It is still dark outside. I don’t want to get up…” and on and on.

I have had to consciously change the way I speak to myself. I don’t say “I am a night person- I love to stay up late.” Instead I try to catch myself and say “I love the morning. I feel better if I get up bright and early.” And when the alarm goes off I try to stop those negative thoughts immediately and say “Oh if I get up now I can have my coffee, I will get 1 hour of peace and quiet for myself, the sun will be so pretty to watch rising this morning, I have this to look forward to today…” and so on.

If you are always telling yourself that you hate the morning, of course it will be harder to wake up early! Try giving yourself little pep talks throughout your day and especially first thing in the morning and see if that helps.  It might sound silly but just try it and see!  Those of you with little ones know the surest way to get them out of a sour mood is by doing something silly or tickling them.  Brings an immediate change right?  Well try that on yourself too!  (ok don’t tickle yourself or you might frighten people but try changing your inner voice from negative to positive.)

3. Go to bed early.

This is so obvious and I hate it when people say this but it is true! And I have had to set a curfew on my screen time. I used to bring my phone upstairs with me and it would turn into a – “I’ll just check the gym schedule for tomorrow really quick” and one hour later I puttered around on Instagram, watched a Periscope and read nonsense articles on Facebook and boom. It is midnight. So now I leave the darn phone downstairs and just read a book before bed or I might watch a short 30 min TV show. If I say I want to be sleeping by 10:30, I have to be shutting everything down by 10 and dragging myself upstairs, otherwise it just won’t happen.  Your rest is extremely important so please don’t tell yourself you can just get up earlier and cut back on sleep.  Rest is just as important as quality food and exercise, so it is not something to skimp on.

Side note: Since starting this shift in behaviors, my head pretty much hits the pillow and I am out.  When I stayed up later I would get a second wind and it was really hard for me to fall asleep.  

Side note to the side note: I do exercise daily though and I think that helps a lot with genuine fatigue and sleeping well at night.  

4. Stay Consistent. 

The sad news is that you really do need to stay the course my friends.  If I wake up at 6am on Saturday and let myself fall back asleep until 7 or 7:30, I feel like garbage that day.  Tired and useless.  Last weekend we had some things going on and I wound up staying up until almost 2am one night and this week I have had to really get disciplined again about bedtime and getting up.  It has been hard to get back on track. Do note that to really change a habit you need to be willing to give this at least 21 days if not 30 days.  Be patient with yourself and be consistent.

5.  Set Yourself Up for Success. 

This will look different for everyone but the very last thing I do at night is make my to-do list for the next day.  I list everything I want to get done and in the morning, I just brew my coffee and start plugging away on my list.  I don’t have to think, I just go into autopilot and follow the list.

Also I don’t start with the big things, I start with little things and once the kids are up an hour later, I am not knee deep in a project but rather I have checked 5 things off my list and feel energized and cheerful. For example, this morning I sent a few emails, ordered drapes and got through all my emails.  I didn’t sit down first thing and write this article because I prefer a block of time to start work on larger tasks that will be uninterrupted.

In addition to writing my to do list for the next day, I also pack all lunches, get all the clothes laid out for the kids, pack backpacks and completely clean the kitchen.  It makes getting out of bed so much nicer when I come down to a spotless kitchen and not to a bunch of dirty dishes and counters with junk all over and everyone screaming they can’t find flutes and shoes and science books.  I might sort all the laundry and have it waiting to pop into the washing machine and I usually do a quick sweep of the floors or a vacuum.  It just sets the stage for a pleasant day when you start the morning with a clean slate.

So that is it!  All the things that really helped me to change from being a life long night owl to a morning person!  I really hope some of these things help you as well!

A few other habits I have for the morning:

Morning Detox Drink (this is either the first thing I drink or right after my first cup of coffee)

Please try green smoothies!  Try replacing just one cup of coffee for a green smoothie in the morning and see how you feel.  I feel really great and have one of these after the gym- mid morning- or during my later afternoon slump.  Here is my favorite green smoothie recipe– packed with vitamin C.

10 Tips to Stay on Track with your Fitness Routine