Creating a Morning Routine for Night Owls.
Are you a night owl? Do you love being awake long into the late night hours? Does the idea of getting up early every day sound torturous to you? I’m right there with you and today I’m going to give you essential strategies that I use every day to get my self out of bed — and on with my day — when all I want to do is stay asleep.
When I was in college I had some early morning classes — like 7:30 am early — horribly early. 7:30 am shouldn’t even exist — we already have a 7:30 pm — why do we need a 7:30 am? Anyway . . .
I would set my alarm the night before, with naive intentions of getting up for class. But the snooze button became my biggest enemy — in fact on more than one occasion, my room mate found me sleeping on the floor of our dorm closet — apparently I had fallen asleep while picking out my clothes for the day. I know what its like to live for the night — but live in a society that requires us to be up during the day — often super early. So, let me try to help you by telling you the essential strategies I use every day to make sure my mornings are productive.
So here is the most important thing to remember . . .
Getting up in the morning begins the night before.
Let me repeat that . . . getting up in the morning begins the night before.
Six things I do each night to prepare to get up in the morning.
#1. Lay Your Clothes Out. The reason I fell asleep in my dorm room closet is because 2 seconds after I was up, I simply don’t have the brain capacity to make decisions about my attire. So, I make those decisions at night. I let night Arthur do it and give morning Arthur a break. Doing this is huge!
#2. Prepare The Bathroom. Each night I prepare the bathroom for my morning shower. I hang my towel next to the shower — I pull out all my hygiene products and put them by the sink — I put my clothes that I’ll be wearing on a shelf in the bathroom. When my alarm goes off each morning, the bathroom is the very first place I go — and I try to make it as easy as possible for me to take a shower — run my hygiene routine — and get dressed.
#3. Prepare Your Morning Drink. I’m not a coffee drinker, but each night I make a cup of Green Tea that I put in the refrigerator over night. When i’m ready for it each day, its there for me to grab with out having to spend any morning energy to prepare it. For you coffee drinkers there are hundreds of different types of coffee makers that will let you schedule the time your coffee is being made. Don’t spend the time and energy making coffee each morning — automate the process.
#4. Put Your Alarm on The Other Side of The Room. Whatever you use as an alarm, don’t keep it right next to you — that is just begging you to hit the snooze button over and over again. My alarm is on the other side of my room — and the volume is up all the way. It forces me to get out of bed and turn it off. And if your room layout allows for this, consider putting the alarm right by the door to make it even easier to leave your bedroom and begin your morning routine.
#5. Ask Yourself This Question: “What am I Looking Forward to Tomorrow?” Each night, before you drift off to sleep think about the things that you are excited for tomorrow (Hopefully you can think of something). When you wake up in the morning, remind yourself of those things.
#6. Create an environment to get at least 7–8 hours of solid sleep. We could spend a ton of time simply taking about sleep, but suffice it to say, a good night sleep is crucial to your productivity. Arrange your schedule so that you can get a good 7–8 hours. And yes, that may mean you might need to go to bed earlier than you usually do. And keep your room dark, cool and quiet. Sleep is so important.
So, those are the 6 things I do each night to prepare for the morning. Letting night Arthur do the work, so that morning Arthur doesn’t have to has been critical to get me up each morning. And you know what time I get up every week day? 4:30 am — that’s right — I’m a night owl — but I have put systems in place that allow me to wake up each day at 4:30 am. Obviously you don’t have to get up that early if you don’t want to, but the strategies we discussed today should help you get out of bed and get on with your day — regardless of what time you need to get up.
- Arthur (The Productive Student Academy)
Originally published at https://vocal.media.
