Samantha Immer

I LOVE morning!!! I would much rather wake up early than sleep in. I love the feeling of being awake before the world and I haven’t seen a sunrise I didn’t fall in love with. But I wasn’t always this way. I used to be the kind of person who would stay up until 3am wake up at noon, eat, then take a nap. Now I get up at 3am to go hiking and can be wide awake in moments.

There are a couple things I did to turn from a “night owl” to morning person.

Routine

First understand that there is something called a circadian rhythm. We, as humans, are designed to rise with the sun. Our bodies naturally want to wake up early! Like any new habit, change takes work. Establish a routine and stick with it!! Our bodies like routines and will adjust.

The second part to this is creating a morning routine you actually enjoy. I hate feeling rushed in the mornings. If I am running around making sure I leave on time for work it will effect my whole day in a negative way. I love waking up and having time to drink my lemon water concoction, scroll Instagram, and  have extra cuddles with my puppies.

Having a routine you actually look  forward to in the morning will make it way easier to wake up when that alarm goes off. It also puts you in a better mental state to tackle that to do list or make it through another boring work day.

Light

Have you ever noticed its easier to wake up in the summer when the days are longer? Our bodies respond to sunlight! The shorter, darker winter days definitely make rising early more difficult. I have a light on a timer right outside my bedroom door (I sleep with it open) that I have set to turn on about 5 minutes before my alarm goes off. When I’m half awake trying to snooze my alarm, my body registers that there is light and its much easier to resist the snooze button. You can also use a sunrise mimicking lamp like this one.

Be cozy

One of the hardest things about waking up is leaving the warm cozy bed (especially in the winter!). I have this awesome fuzzy wrap and these super cute/warm socks that I keep by my bed and put on right when I get up. Its way easier to get up knowing I won’t be freezing.

Set multiple alarms

I have multiple alarms set at about 3 minutes apart. It makes it impossible to snooze and sleep through them. Your body can fall back asleep in 7 minutes. A lot of alarms is a lot of noise that will help you wake up.

Find a reason why

How do you feel when you wake up earlier? Do you feel more awake before leaving the house? Does it give you more time to be productive so that you have more evening time free? If you sleep in will you feel disappointed in yourself later, will it be worth it? Does waking up early allow you to see beautiful sunrises? Find something you love about waking up early! Focus on it and use it as motivation.

Like with most things in life, attitude is going to be a big factor here. If you go into this with a negative mindset, hating every second, waking up early is never going to feel good. Find JOY in it. Find the good!

Have you tried any of these? What are some ways you get yourself to wake up early?