Make your mornings rock, not suck
Why you deserve to wake up early
Mornings suck
The sound of the alarm clock echoed through my head as I reached for the snooze button. I did not need to see the time to see that is was early, too early to be honest. It was time to go to work and I wasn’t ready for it.
Early mornings never were my strong suit. I would much rather stay in bed and would only casually stroll out at 9, 10 or 11 o’clock.
When I got my first job things changed. I had to wake up early, earlier than I preferred. I would wake up tired and all I wanted was one final dose of heavenly goodness that is sleep.
Instead, I had to work. And so I went. I would get out of bed, get ready and hasten myself to work. After spending a few hours at work I finally started to wake up. I remember a Garfield comic with the punchline: “Mondays suck”. well to me “Mornings suck”.
Forming a new morning
It wasn’t until recently that I discovered that mornings are actually awesome. It’s the perfect time to get things done and to enjoy some me time.
Now here’s why:
According to Dr. Joerg Huber of Roehampton University. “There are morning people and evening people, and morning people tend to be healthier and happier as well as having lower body mass indices.” (Dr. Huber, J. — British Psychological Society conference — 2019).
And
According to Randler, C. a biology professor at the University of Education in Heidelberg, Germany. “When it comes to business success, morning people hold the important cards. Morning people anticipate problems and try to minimize them. They’re proactive. Many studies have linked this trait, proactivity, with better job performance, greater career success, and higher wages.” (Randler, C. — The Early Bird Does Not Get the Worm: Time-of-Day Effects on College Students’ Basic Cognitive Processing — 2008).
For me, mornings are the perfect time to go for a walk, read a book, write a story or whatever I like. Doing something you like carries a lot of weight. You get a kind of energy and flow that will get you through the day. That’s why the morning is awesome.
You can enjoy your life and get some “me-time” when everybody else is still sleeping. It’s the only time reserved just for you. It’s quiet, peaceful and in that sense allows so much space.
For most people, the day starts with responsibilities like a job or taking care of the kids. When you get home a lot of energy is spent and you feel like doing nothing at all.
But you deserve the time to get things done and the morning is the perfect stage for that. You can do things that you normally would not have the time or the energy for.
Mornings rock
So maybe you want to wake up early but you feel like you don’t have the energy or the time for it. Or maybe you are not a morning person (just like a younger version of me).
At first, it might be difficult to wake up early; especially in the beginning, forming a new habit is hard work.
But you can do it. Resist the urge to go back to sleep.
One way you can do this is by sitting up straight or removing the blanket from over you. Your bed will instantly be less attractive, making it easier to get out of the comfort zone.
You may also take a look at your circadian rhythm, which basically works like a 24-hour internal clock with ups and downs. Everyone has its own rhythm that can be influenced within certain bounds (it’s also affected by external factors such as lighting and temperature). So waking up one hour earlier should be possible for everyone, provided you go to bed earlier also.
Wake up and break those habits. You have the power to make your days awesome. Any amount of reserved time at the beginning of the day, just for you, can spark a lot of creativity and happiness. And you don’t even have to wake up that much earlier. Fifteen minutes can be enough to start your day feeling energized.
Fifteen minutes can be enough to start your day feeling energized.
Naturally, you can take as much time as you need. I prefer reserving 30 or even 60 minutes in the morning.
Once you make waking up a habit your mornings will be super awesome, productive and fun. And maybe you appreciate waking up early, just like I have.
You deserve it.
