Growing up I never understood how my parents woke up so early. How did they survive? Did they enjoy being awake at these tortuous hours?
Now that I'm older and slightly wiser, I do realize they had these things called "jobs" and "responsibilities." My parents are just like the majority of the rest of the world and whether we like it or not, waking up early is just something we'll have to do.
If you're not a morning person, but need to be, here are a few tools to help you embrace the waking hours.
Start With Sleep
Tackling the morning is a lot easier when we are well rested. When we are in our teens we need upwards of 10 hours of sleep a night. When we're fully formed adults, we need anywhere from 7-9 hours.
I know, I know, "I WISH I could get 7 hours, I just have too much to do!" Luckily, sleep isn't all about quantity. Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule, adding blackout curtains to your room, and avoiding screen time while in bed can all help make those few hours you do get more valuable.
Cold Showers
If you've had social media in the last year your algorithm has probably shown you some maniac busting ice out of a cow's water tank to do their daily "cold plunge." What used to be a fun way to raise money for charity has now become a daily habit for a lot of people around the world.
The science behind it is rock solid and the benefits are numerous. Increased energy and focus, boosted mood and metabolism, and muscle recovery are a few of the documented benefits to taking a cold shower in the morning.
Delaying Caffeine
The best part of some people's day is waking up to find their automatic coffee machine has a hot cup waiting for them. Unfortunately, most of those people also experience a "caffeine crash" in the early afternoon. Delaying our caffeine intake by 90 minutes each morning has been proven to stave off that afternoon crash.
We may never be morning people, but if we have to be awake that early, we might as well make the most of our mornings.
Action
Charge your phone out of arm's reach from your bed to limit screen time at night and in the morning.
Question
If you know there are things you can do to make mornings easier and better, why aren't you doing those things?
Quote
"Lose an hour in the morning and you'll spend all day looking for it." - Richard Whateley