PRODUCTIVITY | SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Own Your Mornings

How to love the AM

Are you a late riser? You are doing yourself a huge injustice. Morning people get shit done. That’s what it all comes down to, maximising productivity. This is why it’s so important to love your mornings. You are giving yourself an advantage over your day.

You’ve heard the old adage, “the early bird gets the worm”. It’s so true. Take it from me. For years I was a self-confessed sleepaholic. I slept long and late. I loved it. The sun would peep through my curtains and I would bury my head in my duvet. Please world no, just five more minutes. I never got the worm.

Until I realised how much life and opportunity was passing me by. I was a sucker, and I knew it. I wasted my weekends. My time was not my own, it belonged to the sleep demon in my mind.

Now I embrace 6 AM everyday. I can achieve more before 10 AM than I used to in the entirety of my day. I look forward to the alarm call. I move my ass out of bed quicker than Trump can grab a woman by her lady parts. The day belongs to me. I devour the worm.

How can you wake up earlier?

I started by trying to go to bed early. I thought this would be where my sleep culture change would come from, honestly I couldn’t, it was like a war I could not win. The more I tried to sleep, the more alert I became. Ending in later nights than normal and later rises than ever.

I found the change I wanted by focusing on the morning. I set my alarm super early, for me this way 6 AM.

On day one, I felt like utter crap.

I was not at all productive in the morning. You will in all likelihood experience a similar level of anti energy. The important part is I stuck at it long enough for my sleep routine to be affected. That’s what you need to do. The key is consistency. The more I did it, the easier it became, each day less daunting. Until a time when waking early became second nature.

None of this matters though, if you have got no motivation to wake early. You will probably fail. Don’t worry about that though, motivation is everywhere when it comes to getting up early. My motivation is family and work.

I wanted to balance it all better. A bit of that freshness that I saw in others. I wanted to get ahead with my own objectives without sacrificing my family time or my social life. I wanted to have my cake, and I wanted to eat it.

For you it could be to get ahead in college, or perhaps you’re starting a business. Whatever your reason is, commit to it fully and own it.

You could do it to include a workout early in the morning so you can slide yourself into new jeans or to show yourself the sun rise everyday.

If you wake up early, you can use the time for writing or painting. Giving yourself a better way to begin your day.

Find your motivation.

A few tips

No matter your reasons, these tips will give you an advantage.

• Leave your curtains open

This lets the light in and helps you wake. If you live in a built up area and your not comfortable with this, then you can use a dawn simulator. It’s a light that mimics sunrise. You can set it so it gradually wake you up over a period of an hour. This is a more natural way to start your day.

• Put your alarm far from your bed

This means you have to get out of bed and walk to turn it off. This will help awaken you.

• Drink water

I used to not eat or drink anything for at least a few hours when I woke. Now I always have a cold water immediately after waking. This gives me a sudden rush of alertness. Try it.

• Turn your phone off.

If you use it for your alarm, then just turn it on aeroplane mode. Never look at your phone whilst you are in bed.

• Television too

A no screen rule is good practise. At least a few hours before bed you should turn it all off and just relax. Use the time to relax with a book or a bath, perhaps even both.

• Try an app

There’s plenty of apps out there which can help you wake. Like challenges alarm clock, this one gives you a minor task when you wake, like a maths question. Others make you spin round or take a photo. Search your app store and find the one you like the most and give it a go.

• Stop the caffeine

That double espresso isn’t actually helping you, in the long term you’re better off without it. Try decaf.

• Practice yoga and mind fullness

One reason many people cannot sleep well is because they are stressed. Yoga can help relieve this. Mindfulness, too.

There’s a worm ready for the taking. All you need to do is wake up.

Do you have any advice on how to wake earlier? Let me know how you own mornings.

Delilah Brass

April 2021