I'm a morning person.

It's not unusual for gasps of horror, shock, and disgust to follow after I make this proclamation aloud. I mean, a college student that wakes up with a spring in her step instead of being surrounded by a shadow of doom and despair? Rare indeed. Many people think that I was born loving the a.m. but I actually decided to become a creature of the morning while I was in high school. How does one 'become a morning person,' you ask? Well, it's simple really...

1. Wake Up Early

I know, I know. This is the most obvious, frustrating thing to you that I could've written but it's true. Before I committed to improving my relationship with the morning, I would wake up with just enough time to shower, dress, and eat breakfast. I would run to school and feel entirely worn out before I had even completed an assignment. This routine made my mornings hectic and it felt like I never had time to slow down.

I eventually became fed up with the constant hurry and began setting my alarm incrementally earlier everyday. The first morning, I woke up five minutes earlier than usual, then ten minutes earlier, and so on until I had two hours of free time in the morning before school. Not two hours of getting ready and eating breakfast but two hours of just being. It was incredible because my mornings became so much more peaceful and that feeling carried through a good chunk of the day. Waking up earlier also gave me time to...

2. Write Morning Pages

I don't know about you, but about ten seconds after waking up and checking the time on my phone, my brain explodes with words:

Why did I just dream about someone I've never talked to?

I have so much work to do today.

What's for breakfast?

That thing I said in class yesterday was so weird.

It's super distracting to get ready for my day while thinking about that word I completely botched the pronunciation of in French class the day before. The best way to get unwelcome thoughts out of your head is to put them on paper. Morning pages are a popular phenomenon among writers but you don't have to be Jane Austen to incorporate morning pages into your routine. Simply find a piece of paper, a pen, and write whatever comes to your head, stream-of-conscious style. It doesn't have to make sense or be "beautiful." The only strict rules: write before you do anything else in the morning, don't go back and correct mistakes, and don't contemplate the perfect way to word something. These pages are for you and you only. So, the morning after you read this, write your thoughts down and experience more clarity of mind.

3. No Early Morning Social Media

I'm not one to completely bash social media. I love the connections that it makes between strangers and the joy it brings to my day (mostly in the form of cute cat videos and cringy memes). Though I appreciate the upsides of social media, I'm not blind to the negative effect it can have on one's state of mind. Websites like Twitter and Facebook are often used by people to vent their frustrations and bring notice to important but distressing social situations. For those of us that are especially ruled by our emotions, one sad internet story can put a real downer on our day.

One way to still get your Instagram fix without letting our world's turbulent social climate completely ruin your mood is to wait to use social media after your morning routine is complete. Having a clear mind in the morning makes a world of difference for the rest of the day. It allows us to feel about an hour or two of calm before we have to deal with reality and our daily To-Do lists. Of course, it's vital to stay up-to-date on the news and the struggles that people face everyday but it's equally important that you allow yourself the benefit of self-care.

You won't be singing morning songs with the birds after one day of trying these three tips but you will likely notice a difference in your peace of mind. Morning sets the tone for the rest of your day so it deserves to be great.