Becoming a Morning Person – 7 Tips to Help You Get Up Earlier

Becoming a morning person is a tough transition. It takes time to develop a new routine. Here are 7 tips to help you become a morning person.

I am not a textbook “morning person.” I despise waking up early. But, as a mom with two little kids and a husband that has been working from home for the past year, the morning is the only time I get 15 minutes to myself. There is no one awake, the house is dark and I can truly be alone in silence. I live for those silent, soothing mornings now. Becoming more of a morning person wasn’t an easy transition, and it took time to develop a new routine. Now, the morning is the best part of my day. So I guess you could say I’ve become a morning person.

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7 Tips for Becoming a Morning Person

1. A Morning Person Has A Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Becoming a morning person starts with a solid night’s sleep. Create a solid bedtime routine that helps you feel relaxed and ready for bed. This routine will eventually turn into a habit and lead to you having great “sleep hygiene.” Sleep hygiene is when you’ve developed habits that help you sleep, which are just as important as the daily hygiene habits (like brushing your teeth or showering) that you perform every day. Examples of a good bedtime routine would be limiting screen time right before bed, meditating, taking a shower or bath, reading a book, and turning down the lights. All of these actions lead to a more relaxed state, which is best for bedtime.

My bedtime routine involves changing into my jammies, doing my skincare routine, and not checking my phone about 30 minutes before I’m ready to go to sleep. I usually read for this time before bed too. Nonfiction books are best before bed because they are less exciting and I don’t end up getting sucked in. My preferences are personal development nonfiction books, but occasionally I will read a biography or history book too. I don’t turn on any large overhead lights during this time, just to keep it a little dark and help me relax.

2. A Morning Person Preps for the Day Ahead

Part of your nighttime routine should also include anything that will help your morning to run smoother. It’s way easier to be a morning person if your morning is set up for success. This could mean that maybe you tidy the house a bit and start the dishwasher before bed. Or maybe you set out your clothes the night before so you don’t have to decide what to wear in the morning. These chores will help your mornings run more smoothly, which will help you dread them less.

For me, the house has to be tidy when I go to bed. We have the girls clean up their toys before bed every night, so I don’t usually have to tidy up after them, but I do pick up anything else that’s laying around. I also clean the kitchen and start the dishwasher every night. The first place I go in the morning is the kitchen, so having it clean helps me not start my day looking at a mess. I also prep the coffee every night. I have a programable coffee maker, so all I have to do is add the water and coffee before I go upstairs for the night. Then every morning at 6:30 it starts my coffee. Coming downstairs to a hot pot of coffee every morning was a big game-changer for me. I look forward to that first cup of coffee so much.

3. A Morning Person Goes To Bed Earlier

It’s nearly impossible to wake up in the morning if you don’t get a full night’s sleep. So many adults don’t get enough sleep at night and lack of sleep has been proven to negatively affect one’s health in the long term. According to the CDC, adults between the ages of 18 and 60 should get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. That means if you wake up at 7 am, then you need to be asleep by midnight. Since it generally takes people a little time to fall asleep, it’s probably wise to have an 11:30 bedtime. I’ve found that I function best with 7.5 hours of sleep. I wake up at 6:45 am, so I’m in bed, ready to sleep by 10:30 every night. You can’t be a morning person if you stay up all night binging Netflix.

4. A Morning Person Creates a Morning Routine

Just like a nighttime routine helps you relax for bed, a morning routine helps jumpstart your day! A morning person always has some sort of morning routine. It’s a predictable way to start each day that will eventually become a habit. A morning routine doesn’t have to include a workout or meditation or any of those stereotypical activities. It’s whatever helps your day get off to a great start and sets you up for success. My morning routine consists of waking up and sitting alone drinking my coffee for the first 10-15 minutes. Then, I open up my computer and check my email.

I usually use this time to write or brainstorm blog posts as well. My mind is fresh and at its best in the morning! Around 7:30 I make breakfast for everyone. I didn’t always make breakfast for Jesse, but now that he’s working from home we all eat together. After breakfast, I empty the dishwasher and clean up all of the breakfast dishes. Emptying the dishwasher in the morning is a must for me. It’s way less stressful to just stick dishes right in the dishwasher throughout the day versus stacking them up in the sink.

5. Get Up!

One of the most demotivating things you can do in the morning is hit snooze or lay in bed awake. It drains you of your motivation and lets you dwell on the negative aspects of getting up. Instead, when your alarm goes off, get up! Jump right into your morning routine and start the day. Back when I wasn’t a “morning person,” I used to roll over and check my social media in bed, first thing each morning. By the time I got out of bed, I’d spent all my morning time on my phone and hadn’t even had my coffee by the time my kids woke up. Now, I don’t even check my phone until after breakfast. There is nothing there that I need to see right away! Don’t waste time laying in bed dreading your day, instead get up and own it!

6. Wake Up 15 Minutes Before You Need To

It seems a little redundant to say “wake up even earlier to have an easier time waking up,” but it’s true! The extra time is so you can actually take a little time for yourself each morning. This time can be sitting with your coffee and staring at the wall, or reading, or meditation. Whatever you prefer! The time that I sit in calm silence is the best part of my morning. I just get a moment to breathe before the day starts. That time is the reason I worked so hard to become a morning person.

I’m very fortunate that my kids don’t wake up before 7 am. Ever. So I get up every morning at 6:45 (not that early!) and go downstairs for my cup of coffee. I sit in silence with my coffee before I open my computer or do anything else. That time is absolutely necessary for my sanity each day!

7. Rethink Your Alarm

If you constantly struggle to get out of bed, maybe you need to rethink your alarm. Do you constantly hit snooze? Try moving your alarm to the other side of the bedroom. Then, you have to get out of bed in order to turn it off. This may make you less likely to go back to bed once you’re up. Setting your alarm to play your favorite song, or just a song that you can’t help but dance to is a great motivator too. If you start to get annoyed with, or immune to, the song just switches it up every week or two. Investing in a different type of alarm may help too. Maybe you need a sunrise simulating alarm or the kind that you have to chase around the room to turn off.

A Sunrise Alarm Clock Changed My Life

I used to use my phone as an alarm for years and I realized that it does not work for me. It is too easy to roll over and hit snooze or turn it off completely. I also have a hard time waking up if it’s still dark outside. so, a few years ago we bought the Philips Wake-Up Light Therapy Alarm Clock and it totally changed waking up early for me. It slowly starts to glow, simulating the sunrise, about 30 minutes before the alarm is set to go off. This wakes you up gently as if you were waking up to the sun. I LOVE this alarm clock.

Many mornings the light from the clock wakes me up before the alarm even goes off! It doesn’t feel as jarring as when an alarm starts blasting in a dark bedroom, instead, it’s a smooth, gentle wakeup. It’s much more pleasant and more motivating to get me out of bed.

Becoming a morning person wasn’t an easy transition for me, but now I can never look back. My days are more pleasant and I feel less stressed when I get an early start to my day.  Take my advice and join the morning person club!