Before I had my daughter, I was not a morning person at all. However, once she was born that quickly had to change. Since getting through the newborn stage – where sleep did not exist – and we’ve found ourselves with a pretty consistent schedule, I’ve had to adjust to getting up early. Even though as moms we don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to what time we get up, there are some things we can do to make it easier on ourselves!
Having some time to yourself is a rare thing as mom, so I like being able to get up before my daughter to drink my coffee and start the day in peace. Doing these simple things every morning has slowly helped shape me into a morning person:
Don’t Hit “Snooze”
This was a really hard habit for me to break, but it honestly makes such a difference. When you hit snooze, you’re letting your body fall back into a deep sleep, but since you don’t get to finish a sleep cycle, you end up feeling more tired! Instead, I figure out the absolute latest time that I would want myself to sleep to, and set my alarm for then. When it goes off, I turn it off and that is it, I’m up for the day. Doing this takes a lot of willpower but it is truly a game changer.
Harness the Power of Natural Light
Before I purchased the house I live in now, I was living in my parents’ basement. That in itself had a lot of downsides but personally, the biggest one to me was the fact that there were no windows! You could sleep all day down there and not even know what you were missing. So, now that I have a real room with windows, those blinds are open 24/7. I love being able to wake up with the sun on my face, and I find that its a lot harder to want to go back to sleep when the world is already up.
Wake Your Brain Up First
I am all for waking up at the first alarm, but I am not a part of the instantly-get-out-of-bed club. I like to let my brain fully wake up before I really get to going. To do this, I have a couple of little puzzles I like to start my day with. Some of my favorites are the Wordle, Connections game, and Mini Crossword all from The NY Times. I’ve found that these are a great balance of being difficult enough to get my gears turning but simple enough that they don’t take up my whole morning.
Give Yourself Something to Look Forward to
Once I have my brain warmed up, I need the motivation to actually get out of bed. Whether that’s a nice hot coffee, your favorite breakfast, or a cute new outfit you’re excited to wear! Right now, I wake up excited to drink a Subtley Sweet Peach Iced Tea for my daily dose of caffeine. I love these because they’re lower in sugar, but still taste so refreshing.
If you cannot find anything that gets you excited enough to get out of bed, they also make these super annoying alarm clocks that will force you to get up!
These are just a few of my favorite tricks from a sleep-a-holic turned morning person. Let me know if you try any of these or if you have something different that works for you!
