5 Ways to Stop Hating Mornings
Mornings get a bad rap. I feel bad for them. Late nights get all the fun and the excitement, and morning is just full of regret, hangovers, and workday dread. Staying up “late” has been cool since we were kids, but getting up “early” is for old people and hipsters, right?
I am a member of the small population that genuinely enjoys mornings and fights to stay awake past 9pm. (Of course, my sleep schedule was a bit different when education social functions ((college parties)) demanded it be adjusted, but even then- staying up late was hard for me). I love mornings so much. It’s my favorite part of the day. It’s when I’m most productive. I won’t lie and say it’s when I have the most energy, but it is when my mind is most energized and I’m most motivated.
I’m not going to try and make you a morning person for multiple reasons. The first is, if you’re not a morning person, you’re probably reading this with vomit held in your esophagus, gagging over the morning cheer that is seeping through this writing. The second is, I don’t think everyone should be a morning person. If you’re naturally more productive and focused in the dead of night, more power to you, keep on truckin’. The third reason is, I can’t make you anything you’re not already. Learned that the hard way and have since quit trying to “make” people do/be things. Over it.
So what’s the point of this then?
Well, when choosing a title for this I teetered back and forth between “5 steps to becoming a morning person”, “5 tips to love mornings” and “5 things that will change your morning”. The first got ruled out due to the last reason presented two paragraphs above. The second one didn’t make the cut because these likely won’t make you LOVE mornings, but they might help you not HATE mornings. And the third one didn’t make it because it just overall sucked.
So you still never answered, what’s the point of this? Read the title, dingbat. I’m going to attempt to teach you how to un-hate mornings, assuming you are a morning-hater and that you read Medium.
Lesgo.
I would like to start off with this disclaimer: I enjoy mornings very much, but it is still often hard to wake up. I do not rise with eyes wide open and a smile (although my roommate thinks differently- upon watching my parents’ dog one morning bound around and run circles chasing her tail, I said “She has so much energy in the mornings!” to which my roommate replied, “That’s how I feel about you.”) Still, I stand by my claim that although I love mornings, I still love sleep, so waking up is still a slow and sometimes unwanted process. If there is such a person whose eyes do not remain half-shut for approximately 10 minutes post-wake-up, and who does not resemble a caterpillar emerging from a cocoon upon rising- reveal yo self. That shit ain’t natural. Naturally, after your body has been nearly still and your brain has been unconscious for an average of 6–8 hours, you will feel achy and your eyes will need time to adjust to light again when you wake up.
My dear non-morning people, this is not an attempt to change these biological happenings. It is merely an attempt to try and sway you from a position of hate to non-hate in regards to mornings.
Okay now lesgo.
1. Wake up significantly earlier than you need to.
Notice I didn’t say “get up”, just wake up. I don’t mean 10 minutes before your usual alarm, I mean an hour. 30 minutes for beginners. When I worked, I left my house at 6:50 a.m., but I woke up at 5:30, sometimes 5, everyday regardless. My roommate thought I was crazy. She is among the people who, if needing to leave by 6:50, wakes up at 6:30. She is also among the people who snoozes her alarm maybe once, so she’s actually out of bed by 6:40. I’m stressed thinking about that timing.
Why should you do this? Because then when it’s actually time to leave, you aren’t straight outta sleep-mode. You’ve recovered, rejuvenated, your eyes are fully open and your brain is fully functioning by the time it’s time to really start your day. Instead of being a zombie on the way to work, you’re a zombie for 45 minutes or whatever at your house, and suddenly the outside world looks a bit less annoying.
2. Make waking up a choice, not a must.
You might be thinking, “if waking up was a choice I’d never make it.” Or even, “if waking up was a choice, I’d be waking up at noon.” Well, obviously neither of these is really plausible, at least not that often anyway. What I mean is, if you set your alarm to the last possible minute, when it goes off, you literally have to get up or you’re late. This idea piggy backs off of #1, in that it helps significantly if you set your alarm earlier than you need to be up, not just for snooze time, but for the sake of your morning mood. If, when your alarm goes off, you have the option of deciding “hmm do I want to wake up now or in 15 minutes?”, you are much more likely to not hate the morning. If, on the contrary, your alarm is the ultimatum that says you absolutely positively must wake up right this minute, you will view it with a deep hatred and thus hate the morning.
Why should you do this? It’s like not being an invited to a party you didn’t even want to go to, but still wanting to be invited. Like, I don’t want to come, but I want to decide that I don’t want come. We like the freedom of being able to choose. So make your alarm a choice, not an absolute.
3. Do something consistently in the morning.
[I had typed “establish a morning routine” until I felt like that was sort of accidental plagiariasm and blatant unoriginality, so “do something consistently” sounded better, but lezbianest- they mean the same thing. (So, yes, 1 point towards being a basic blogger.) ]
I’m not going to say “do yoga” or “light a candle and read”, because while that feels good to me, it doesn’t work for everyone. It’s less important what you do and more important that you are doing something, that you establish some sort of morning activity to give you structure and also something to do with that time you hate right now. Scroll through an app, check your emails, watch the news, do a crossword, watch a quick episode of something, or (like me) read Medium articles and write some of your own. Whatever it is, give yourself something to do so that waking up isn’t just “waking up”. I like to go make a cup of coffee, then get back in bed and drink a cup while I read articles and brainstorm my day out. You don’t have to do that, of course, but pick something you enjoy and do it when you wake up every morning.
Why should you do this? Because it’s not the morning that’s shitty, it’s what you’re doing with your morning. So do something. Something you’ll look forward to or, at least, not hate. Do something every morning such that it becomes thoughtless and effortless, but rewarding and enjoyable.
4. Dont torture your eyes.
Like, no shit sherlock. So it sounds super stupid and cheesy, but try some soft lights in the morning instead of your harsh overhead eye-torturing light. I have Christmas lights galore. I have a fun plastic chandelier type lamp, and I light candles to block out the kitty litter, but also for a nice, small glow. I open my blinds to let the sunlight slowly infiltrate my room. I don’t turn my overhead light on until I’m getting dressed, really.
Why should you do this? To remind yourself to take it easy. To give your eyes a gentle wake up. To change it up. To finally use that decorative lamp you never turn on. You should do it because it works. Nothing complicated here.
5. Don’t be in a rush.
This one is, like, so obvious I almost left it off. It’s part of #1 and #2 combined and processed and repackaged, like how a poptart is basically jelly and bread but, like, different, right? So here’s the poptart version of #1 and #2. Don’t budget your time in the mornings such that you are consistently in a rush. If you know you have to do your make up, don’t give yourself only 5 minutes to do it when you know it take more than that. Even if you can get it done in 5, is it going to look the way you want it? Same with cooking breakfast. If you like to eat before you start your day (which, if you don’t, #BoyBye), then leave time to cook breakfast. Sure, you could pop a frozen Jimmy Dean in the microwave and be out the door in 2 minutes, but is that what you want? Scrambled eggs and instant oatmeal with berries and a coffee takes under 10 minutes, people. No excuses.
Why should you do this? Because you should want to have a good day, and you should know that it’s important to make time for the things that make your day better. Like when your brows are on point, or your breakfast game is strong. If your hair looking nice or your suit being ironed is relevant to you having a kickass day, then leave time for it! It’s simple. If you’re rushing, you’re probably skipping over all the “fun” extra details, and it’s those things that make a difference in your day.
So, this was insanely longer than I planned, but I ramble and I’m clearly passionate about standing up for mornings and, well, it’s morning so my productivity and motivation is through the roof. I hope this reached someone, somewhere, and even if it didn’t I’d love to hear from you- morning lovers and haters alike!
