Morning people are a rare breed, especially on college campuses. Sending out a Snapchat with a time filter before 6:00 a.m. undoubtedly gets you a lot of responses four or five hours later, asking how it's even possible to be alive at such an ungodly hour. Just slightly over a year ago, I was the person still hitting snooze into the early afternoon, but, recently, I've been fighting that a little bit. Here are some of my tips for becoming a so-called "morning person."
1. Sleep when you start getting tired if you can.
This may sound like a no-brainer, but, as a college student, it can be a remarkable feat to get yourself into bed at a reasonable time. Homework assignments and cramming for midterms can get the better of us and, more often than not, our schedule can just seem downright impossible. There's no way to counteract this other than getting started on your work way earlier than you think that you should. Ultimately, your body will thank you for it. Feeling tired is your body's way of telling you that you need to get some rest—so start listening! Chances are good that going to sleep and giving your brain time to rejuvenate itself will increase your efficiency.
2. Avoid technology right before you sleep.
Countless studies have found that looking at screens that emit blue light right before you sleep will impair the quality of your rest. Try to power off an hour before you sleep and read or write instead. Not only will you sleep better, but you'll also put less of a strain on your eyes. At the very least, try using an application like f.lux, which will adapt your screen's display depending on the time of day and eliminate some of the blue light that is emitted from your laptop screen right before you head off to bed.
3. Leave your curtains open when you go to bed.
My freshman year dorm was located in the basement with minimal window exposure while my sophomore year dorm was located on the third floor and it included huge windows that faced the sunrise every morning. It is so much easier to wake up when your room is flooded with sunshine right around the time when you're supposed to wake up. Waking up to a completely dark room tricks your body into thinking that it's still nighttime and that it's time to go back to sleep. Alternatively, you could try an alarm clock that uses light to wake you up rather than noise.
4. Master your morning routine.
Having a set schedule of tasks to complete in the mornings helps on days where you wake up feeling especially groggy. Not having to think about what you need to do to get ready for the day makes it so much easier to just hop out of bed and start getting ready for the rest of the day. Starting off with an endeavor like taking a shower or washing your face can really wake you up too.
5. Wake up earlier!
This tip is, undoubtedly, the most important tip for someone who wants to enjoy their mornings more. A lot of people try to sleep in as much as possible and wake up as close to the start of their classes as they can. However, it's actually much more important to give yourself time to wake up fully and relax in the mornings. The easiest way to do that is to just wake up earlier. Scroll through your Instagram feed or catch up with a few YouTube subscriptions before you pull yourself out of the cozy comfort of your bed. You'll feel so much more relaxed, awake, and ready for whatever the day throws at you if you ease up in the morning.
Trying to become a morning person might seem like an incredibly daunting task at first, but it's actually a lot easier than might you think. Getting four or five more hours of daylight than most other people your age is pretty nice.
