How To Be A Morning Person Without Waking Up At Crazy Hours

If You Liked This Post Please Subscribe For Weekly Updates

During the workweek people often wake up early because you have to in order to get to your job on time but when the weekend rolls it’s a whole new story. On weekends people often sleep in much later than they do during the week because they are so tired from the work week and only get done half the amount of stuff they wanted to. People who start their day before 3 p.m. get more done than people who wait until late afternoon because you have more daylight hours to be productive and get stuff done. Some people are just naturally morning people and can make waking up at 4 a.m. look effortless but not everyone will have that gift. I wouldn’t say that I am a true morning person because I don’t like people talking to me for the first hour I’m awake but I have been trying to wake up earlier so I get more stuff done. Some days I sleep half the day because my medication forces me to but I don’t do it regularly because I can’t afford to waste a whole day three days a week. If want to become a morning person but are hesitant because the thought of waking up at the crack of dawn sounds terrible I am here to tell you that you don’t have to do that. In this post, I am going to talk about how I wake up earlier without waking up at the crack of dawn

 Limit your afternoon coffee– I used to drink a cup of coffee later in the afternoon because I felt I needed the energy but it turns out I don’t and all caffeine was doing was making it more difficult to fall asleep at bedtime. I still drink my two cups of coffee in the morning because I could never totally give it up but after that, I am not drinking a whole lot of caffeinated beverages. Sometimes I may have it on special occasions if I know I will be up a while but it’s not something I will do regularly. Some people can drink coffee late at night and go right to sleep but I am not that way and have to limit it in order to sleep well. If you are having trouble waking up early look at your coffee habits because if you are having coffee at dinner time that might be contributing factor. 

Go to bed at the same time every night- Many people have good sleeping habits during the work week because they know they will need to be up early but when the weekend rolls in that all changes. People often sleep in much later than you should which makes it really hard to wake up on Monday because you basically slept all weekend and aren’t tired. I try to go to bed around the same time every day of the week even on weekends because that way I will wake up around the same time and can still be productive on a Saturday or Sunday. I don’t wake up exactly at the same time every day and sometimes it’s earlier or later depending on my pain but it’s usually around the same time so I never have that hard of a time waking up earlier because my body is used to it. I am not saying that you can never waste a whole day of sleeping because there are days when I am not doing as much and I sleep more but I don’t make a regular habit of sleeping half the day because nothing would ever get done if I was asleep half my life.

Stop using your devices an hour before bed– People that use their devices up until the moment they go to bed often have more trouble falling asleep than people who don’t do that. The blue light on your cellphone restricts the production of melatonin which is the hormone that controls your sleep and wake schedule that helps you fall asleep. Marathoning your favorite tv shows and checking Instagram right before is not always the best activity for people that struggle with sleep and are trying to wake up earlier. Try activities like reading an hour before bed that will make you sleepy and is not too hard to pull away from when you start feeling tired. The problem with watching your favorite shows before bed is that sometimes you get hooked on a series and stay up much longer than you originally planned because how can you sleep with a cliffhanger? I like to listen to music before I go to bed because it relaxes me and set a good tone for quality sleep.

Skip high-intensity exercise late at night– l love to exercise because when done correctly it can improve your quality of sleep. Exercise can be fun if you find the right workout for you but I wouldn’t do anything super hard-core late at night because exercise alerts you which is not something you want right before bed. I used to work out late at night but you wouldn’t usually find me doing any form of high-intensity exercise because I need my sleep and high-intensity exercise too close to bed often will keep you up a lot longer than your originally planned. Light pilates or yoga is okay to do right before bed because it can help you sleep whereas weightlifting might wake you up. If you want to do high intensity exercise and not worry about struggling to sleep I’d do them earlier in the day and reserve the lighter ones for late at night if you like some activity before bed.

Make your room as comfortable as possible– If you want to be productive you have to prioritize your sleep because if you are sleep deprived you won’t be motivated to do anything. The comfort of your sleep is important because if you are uncomfortable you probably won’t sleep as well as if you were in a comfortable setting. I want you to ask yourself is your room set properly to get good quality sleep? Is it dark enough and is the temperature a comfortable setting? If you are sleeping in an area that is cold and has lights in every corner it will be harder to fall asleep than it originally would have been if you were comfortable. I know that it takes me twice as long to fall asleep if I am too hot or too cold before I go to bed. If I am cold before I go to bed I grab some extra blankets but if I am hot I turn on the fan. Learning what you need to be comfortable while you sleep will make the biggest difference for better quality sleep so you are able to get up earlier.

If you want to become a morning person to get more done and are currently a night owl it’s not going to be easy making that shift but you don’t have to torchure yourself to wake up at hours that most people are still sleeping. There are a lot of things that we do in our lives that often isn’t the best habit for us and can be the reason you can’t wake up early. The biggest mistake I see people make when setting goals is that they try to make drastic changes and expect results overnight. Make small changes and instead of telling yourself you are going to wake up five hours earlier start by bumping it up one hour. I don’t know if I would consider myself a morning person or a night owl because I don’t stay up super late but I also don’t wake up super early. I never understood morning people that can wake up at the crack of dawn and be ready to have a conversation the second they wake up because I need my coffee before I can even entertain the possibility of a conversation. I can wake up early but I am not naturally a morning person and chronic pain has trained me to be that way. Sleep is important for every aspect of you life because if you aren’t sleeping well you will never be motivated to wake up earlier. Are you a morning person or a night owl?