The alarm screeches to alert you another morning is here, and your first instinct is one of frustration; or for those who really hate mornings, one of anger. Hating mornings is a sure way to ruin your days and it’s logical that enjoying the start of each day would be a much more positive life choice. What if you’re just not a morning person? What if you have tried and failed to enjoy mornings, and you still feel a sense of dread at that alarm disturbing your sleep? Here are ten tricks to make your mornings a more enjoyable experience for yourself and everyone around you.

 

 

  1. Light it up

Our bodies produce melatonin; a hormone that regulates sleep. Our exposure to light and darkness helps to regulate this melatonin production, with exposure to light reducing the level of melatonin in our bodies. By lighting up your mornings, you can help your body wake up. The light doesn’t need to be natural, and if you’re morning starts before the sun rises, you can set a lamp on a timer to help light fill the room and kick start your morning’s by letting your body know that day time is here.

 

  1. Make a conscious choice

Ok, so you really don’t like mornings, but there’s nobody else who can change the way you feel about your life, other than you. It’s time to make a conscious choice to put some effort in and take control of your morning attitude. If you go to bed dreading having to get up in the morning, and if the first thought you have is how much you hate waking up, of course you’re going to feel negative. It’s time to re-think your attitude and create an inner dialogue that will create a positive mental attitude to waking up. While some people are genetically more prone to being night owls and others morning people, you are in control of waking up and making the most of each day.

 

  1. Create a positive morning space

Do you have a lovely nook in the house where you can spend time enjoying your breakfast? If not, create one. It could be as simple as a gorgeous place setting where you can enjoy a morning coffee at the kitchen bench. It might mean treating yourself to a comfortable chair to read the morning paper, perhaps it’s a patio setting so you can sit outside and breathe in the new day.

 

  1. Organise your wardrobe

Knowing what you’re going to be wearing makes one less issue you have to face in the morning. You don’t have to plan the entire week in advance, but set out your clothing the night before if possible, or at least have some go-to items ready to wear without giving it too much thought. Overwhelm is one of the biggest issues facing non-morning people, so a little planning goes a long way to removing that feeling.

 

  1. Get active with exercise

If you’re not moving, you’re not expelling energy and you simply won’t be sleeping as well as you should be, so exercising should be a priority for everyone. Even better, getting some exercise when you first wake up in the morning will kick-start your day and leave you feeling energised, while helping to reduce stress and anxiety.

 

  1. Commit to your new routine

While it can be tempting to sleep in all weekend, switching your body back and forth from late nights to early mornings can be tough. The secret to becoming a morning person is consistency. Sure, you might be a night-owl right now, but by creating a morning habit of waking early, even if you’ve had a late night, your body becomes accustomed to rising earlier. Don’t make weekends an excuse for sleeping the day away, keep going with an early morning routine that leaves you feeling positive.

 

  1. Ease yourself into it

If you’re planning to enhance your mornings and wake earlier with ease, then going to bed earlier is going to be a necessary change. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to enforce an early bedtime as a first step. If you’re a night owl, you might like to read, watch television or just enjoy the quite of night time; forcing yourself to go to bed at 8:30pm isn’t going to work if you normally go to bed at midnight. Start by getting yourself to bed earlier in slight increments. Try aiming for 11:30pm, then a few days later 11pm, until you’re going to bed at a reasonable hour. As you take time off your bed time, set your morning alarm earlier by the same amount of time.

 

  1. Get alarmed

Forget annoying beeps, if your mobile phone or alarm clock has the ability to play music, set it to something upbeat that you enjoy listening to. Music is a much more enjoyable way to wake up, and as an extra incentive; set your alarm loud and away from the bed, so you’ll need to get up in order to turn it off. If you think you’ll ignore music, then alternatively stick to loud and annoying beeps and definitely move it as far away from the bed as possible, so you have no choice but to get moving.

 

  1. Track your success

Set yourself a goal and a purpose for waking up early and when you succeed, celebrate it. Whether it’s getting to work earlier so you can leave earlier in the afternoon, exercising to get fit or lose weight, adding in some extra study time so you can achieve bigger goals. If you have a reason to wake early and you find success, then celebrate it.

 

  1. Evening routines work for better mornings

One key way to wake up feeling positive in the morning is to wind down each day with an evening routine that allows you to wake refreshed and focussed. Get organised by writing down what needs to be done for the next day so you’re not thinking about it all night. To-do lists and journals allow you to empty your thoughts to help reduce worry that might inhibit sleep. Switch off your phone, or at least put it down for the night an hour or two before going to bed. Limit caffeinated drinks, and don’t eat within a couple of hours of going to sleep.

Melbourne City Institute of Education (MCIE) is a vibrant and innovative registered training organisation, which offers a range of courses in Melbourne to help students to fulfil their career goals.

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