6 Ways To Wake Up Happier and Enjoy a Better Day

Simple life hacks for a less stressful morning.

How you feel and how you handle waking up in the morning can set the tone for the entire day. That’s why it’s important to have the best sort of morning you can.

A lot of people don’t care for waking up. I don’t blame them. Sleep is awesome.

But you got to get up sometime, and you may as well make it work to your advantage.

Here are some great ways to get your day off to a good start.

Prep the Night Before

There’s a certain comfort in going to sleep and waking up knowing that part of your morning has already been taken care of.

I love my coffee, but if I’m having a slow, grumpy start to the day, I resent the process of getting my pot set up. Thar’s why I usually set my coffee pot up the night before, so all I have to do is press a button. On days when I’m feeling fancy, I’ll even set it to auto-start, so I don’t even have to press the button in the morning. The coffee is made by the time I wake up, and ain’t that nice?

I’ll also have my clothes picked out the night before. In the bathroom, I’ll make sure there’s a clean towel ready.

These are little things, but they have an impact on making the day’s start more orderly and pleasant.

Go To Bed In a Good Mood

I’m fortunate in that I can fall asleep pretty quickly whenever I want to. But I’ve noticed a difference between mornings when I’ve gone to sleep in a good mood or a foul mood.

Good moods lead to good mornings.

I never head to bed straight after watching TV or sitting with my computer or smartphone. I usually listen to music before going to sleep, or I read a fun book. Or I just have a pleasant conversation with my wife. It’s all good.

My sleep is more restful — which is the point of sleep — and my waking up more positive.

The Whole Gratitude Thing

I always hesitate before talking about things like gratitude because it sounds like a lot of New Age/New Thought navel-gazing that sometimes drives me nuts.

That said, there is some benefit to nurturing positive thinking at certain times of the day. For instance:

• Go to bed thinking briefly about the things you’re grateful for (my wife, my son, my life)
• Wake up and, while shuffling to the bathroom, go over those things you’re thankful for (see previous).

You pick your thankful things. The idea is to establish your own tone for the day, and you could do worse than approaching that from a gratitude angle.

Smart Alarms

I hate the alarm on my iPhone. I think it’s gotten more obnoxious over the past few years. Or maybe it’s me. In either case, iPhone alarms are not friendly. And using your smartphone as a wake-up alarm is a bad idea anyway, as it often leads to scrolling through your feeds before you’ve even gotten your feet on the floor.

Try using a more traditional bedside alarm clock. I like good, old-fashioned clock radios so I can wake up to music. The more tech-oriented of you may want to look into the wake-up routines offered by Google or Amazon smart home devices that start with soft music and light.

The point is… ditch the phone alarm and go for something more friendly to wake up to. And less connected to your Facebook account.

Visualize the Day You Want

As much as I say I don’t care for New Thought thinking, this is another one of their strategies I shamelessly lift for my personal benefit.

Remember what I said just a moment ago about establishing your own tone for the day?

This is along those lines.

As you toddle from the bathroom to the kitchen (or wherever), think about the day ahead and how you envision the day ahead as being a good one. Starting the day with some positive thinking doesn’t hurt anyone, and it can go a long way in setting a positive mood for your morning and the rest of your day.

Start The Day With Something Pleasant

I like my coffee (or tea, depending on mood) on the back porch as the sun is rising. I may have a pipe stuffed with an excellent cavendish tobacco. I may or may not have a book.

The house is quiet. It’s calm. I have my hot beverage and my pipe, and that’s a little treat for me. It’s something I look forward to, and it means I’m starting the day by spoiling myself a little.

You might have something else you can enjoy first thing in the morning. It might be a favorite herbal tea (I recommend something with peach), or a run with the dog, or even half an hour with a video game. So long as you’re not mainlining heroin or something else self-destructive, there aren’t any wrong answers.

Treat yourself.

Anyone Can Be a Morning Person

With the right approach and some planning ahead, anyone can become a morning person. Or, at the very least, be less of a grump early in the morning and have a better chance of experiencing a better, more positive, and happy day.

Why bother?

You’ll be more productive. Be less stressed. And probably live longer.

Win. Win. Win.

Cheers!

Thank you for reading. I’d love to share more with you via my Bi-Weekly Word Roundup newsletter sent to subscribers every other Sunday. It will feature news, productivity tips, life hacks, and links to top stories making the rounds on the Internet. You can unsubscribe at any time.