How does one become a "morning person?"

chrissyrenee1029
chrissyrenee1029 Posts: 358 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am so not a morning person and thankfully I have a mid-shift job that allows me to take my time in getting up in the mornings. The earliest I'm up in the mornings is around 7:30, but it's usually closer to 8, and I could sleep every day until noon if my hubby would let me. So my schedule right now is get up around 8ish, take the dog for a walk, have breakfast, do a chore or two around the house, get ready for work, leave. That is totally going to change come August once my classes start back. It's my last semester and I loaded myself down with classes so that I can graduate in December and getting to class on time is going to mean getting up a LOT earlier than I'm used to.

Any tips on how I can train my body between now and then to be OK with getting up before the sun so I can still get a little physical activity in before my day starts?
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Replies

  • kmm0034
    kmm0034 Posts: 46 Member
    Oh yes. And you won't like it. It's just waking up earlier. I'm normally up a good two hours before I need to be anywhere, not to get ready, because if I don't, I will snap at people. And yet, people are convinced I am a morning person.

    It's pretty much the only way I know of. You just set your alarm clock, and your phone's alarm to wake you up earlier.
  • gangsterfurious
    gangsterfurious Posts: 56
    A triple shot soy latte from Starbucks every morning.
  • tuckeychicken
    tuckeychicken Posts: 167 Member
    I take Nature Made Super B-Complex it has Vitamin C in it as well. I didn't think it would do much for me but I haven't been drinking coffe lately, because of cafeine sensitivity. Well sure enough after taking this about 20 minutes later the fog had lifted from my head.
    Hope this helps you and good luck with the rest of your classes and Graduation.
  • markiend
    markiend Posts: 461 Member
    stay up really late :)
  • awomaninsane
    awomaninsane Posts: 75 Member
    You just need to set your alarm clock much earlier and do not hit snooze! I get up at 5.30am every morning to take the dog for a walk, make the packed lunches, do the dishes/jobs that need doing before leaving for work. Once you decide on the time you need to get up it will soon become normal for you!
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
    Habit and caffeine.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    Maybe just start setting your alarm 15 mins earlier and work from that, then by August maybe you'll be ok :smile:

    Or borrow some young children lol. My kids are always up early, so I have no choice!

    I'm on maternity leave now, but when I was at work I had to be up at 6 anyway, get kids ready, drop one at breakfast club for 7:45, then another at nursery, then on to work. When I go back to work I'll be doing that with 3 kids. Coffee helps :)
  • kirkor
    kirkor Posts: 2,530 Member
    Pretty boss article here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/
  • cpettigrew
    cpettigrew Posts: 168 Member
    Die.
    Get reincarnated as a morning person.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    You need to go to bed earlier. I'm naturally a late night person but when I have to get up at 7am (early for me), I get to bed at 11pm.
    stay up really late :)

    :laugh:
  • leantool
    leantool Posts: 365 Member
    Start setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier every 3 days and maintain at the time that would be ok, come august.
    Also, try cutting down on evening TV and internet time and go to sleep a little earlier.i work shifts so i train myself from being midnight person to morning person and back every 15 days!Lol :wink:
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I'm not sure there's any way to become a true "morning person," I think you have to be born that way. All you can do is gut it out, probably. Set your alarm early enough that you can get some coffee down before you have to face the world.
  • RefilweMofoka
    RefilweMofoka Posts: 11 Member
    Get to bed earlier
    set your alarm for the time you want to wake up and don't press the snooze button!
    I struggled with this too so I rolled out of bed when I couldn't open my eyes.

    After about a week of practice you'll find yourself waking up before your alarm clock wakes you up :-)

    if you can, try to wake up before anyone else in the house. the alone time will be good for you and you can be a ray of sunshine by the time everyone else wakes up.
  • 6ronXtreme9
    6ronXtreme9 Posts: 416 Member
    I was a morning person and used to wake up around 3-5 am.But not anymore.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    I'm not sure there's any way to become a true "morning person," I think you have to be born that way.

    Not true. It's called discipline which over time turns into habit which over time turns into "the natural state of affairs".

    I'm actually a bit cross, I can rarely sleep past 6.30 regardless of how late last night was. On regular days I get up at 5am. 3 years ago I struggled to get up before 9 or 10am and would happily stay in bed until noon on the weekend.
  • Cryptonomnomicon
    Cryptonomnomicon Posts: 848 Member
    For me personally you don't!

    There are two types of people in this world:

    1) morning people

    2) people who want to shoot morning people

    I am of the latter.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    How does one become a morning person?

    Wake up early. It's kinda that simple.

    I hate mornings, I work east coast hours, so I'm up in time for my 9am start.

    However, I live in the pacific time zone. It's all about shifting your point of thought.

    ETA - I'm also probably a better shot.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Have kids.

    Alternatively, go to bed by 9-10pm.
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
    I have to be at work by 6am which takes 30mins to get there so i have no choice but regardless to some of us it's natural, i've always been a morning person as far as i can remember and definately not a night owl as is my father and his father before him, my older brother and mother on the other hand are the complete opposite they stay up late and sleep in til the last possible minute

    as life long sufferer of frequent ensomnia and only sleeping in 2hr blocks.
    i'm awake by 7am at the very latest, usually 4:40am during the week (early work start time) and 6:30am on weekends, don't need an alarm clock my body wakes me up atleast 10mins before i have it set anyway and once i'm awake i'm awake, can still yawn and all but fully aware and no "morning fog" that affects so many people when they wake up.

    Not always, sometimes i get that but not often

    But if you really want to be conscious to do it and have energy maybe to exercise before work, the simple thing is goto bed early, giving yourself atleast 8hrs to atleast :) Personally i'm half asleep by 10:30pm on weekends, and during the week i'm in bed by 9pm.

    even as a kid my internal clock would wake me up as soon as the sun came up, almost like i was on Rooster time lol.

    as Awesome hinted at with discipline you retrain your body to do it. I just find i have the most energy first thing in the morning after fasting for 9+hrs and during the day it steadily drops off.
  • srslybritt
    srslybritt Posts: 1,618 Member
    1. Go to bed earlier (results may vary)

    2. Have a morning routine that you enjoy doing

    3. Don't look at it like a chore. You like having extra daytime! Ooooh, shiny sunrise!

    4. (last resort) Get up early but be a bear anyway. Some people just don't do well in the morning, and that's okay. Coffee was invented for a reason.

    Good luck, OP!
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
    I was born that way. I can't help it. It was not my choice - but has been going on for 56 years. According to this - it's all good.

    morningevening-people-300x292.gif
  • sarainiowa
    sarainiowa Posts: 287 Member
    Start now. Figure out what time you will need to be getting up. Then set your alarm and start waking up and getting up at that time now. However, don't just move from the bed to the couch. Actually set the alarm, get up, get ready and go somewhere.. like workout, go shopping, go have coffee get together or something. Get up and get moving, so when school begins, your body is use to that routine and your school work won't suffer.

    Get started now..
  • cootason
    cootason Posts: 59 Member
    Totally agree you really need an alarm clock and to hit the sack earlier so you still get your recommended sleep it takes time as a person that could sleep most the day and stay up all night it was particularly hard to change I had to pull a couple of all nighters and all days to reset mine or slowly stay awake an hour longer each day to get back to normal time easiest for me was simply staying up till my desired bed time and getting some really good sleep..
  • Cryptonomnomicon
    Cryptonomnomicon Posts: 848 Member
    Have kids.

    Alternatively, go to bed by 9-10pm.
    You win the internet!

    Anyone with kids knows this to be true.
  • j3nn75
    j3nn75 Posts: 1,234 Member
    you make yourself get up, after awhile you get used to it
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    Don't look at it like a chore. You like having extra daytime! Ooooh, shiny sunrise!
    That made me smile. :happy:
  • FP4HSharon
    FP4HSharon Posts: 664 Member
    My AVERAGE bedtime before kids was midnight, but after kids were born I needed to change my schedule. The biggest thing is going to bed earlier. If I go to bed earlier, then I get up earlier, get my exercise in, eat right, get more done, and am ready to go to bed earlier the next night. Figure out whatever your goal time is to get up early, then whatever time you went to bed last night, go to bed 30 min earlier each night until you reach your goal. Make sure that you allow 8 hrs of sleep so you will feel rested whenever you get up. Use a white noise machine like a fan to drown out little noises, keep your room slightly cool, cover your windows w/black out curtains (or foil) to make the room REALLY dark, & try not to eat or drink anything 3 hrs before bed so you'll sleep more soundly. A great NATURAL sleep supplement if you need something initially to help you is Nature Made's "Sleep," which can be found in most drug stores. Once you get up, make sure to get dressed right away, so you'll be less tempted to go back to bed, and try to exercise first thing. This former night owl now usually goes to bed around 9:15pm, and wakes up without an alarm clock before 5am. Everyone I've known who got into the habit of getting up earlier actually likes it better, and feels it's a much more productive day.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Everyone I've known who got into the habit of getting up earlier actually likes it better, and feels it's a much more productive day.

    It definitely a habit.

    And once you've got it, getting up late makes you feel like you've missed part of the day...
  • ZenInTexas
    ZenInTexas Posts: 781 Member
    It takes practice. I was never a morning person, loved staying up late and sleeping in. Once I had kids that all went out the window and then once I started running I got up even earlier to be up before the kids. You just keep doing it until it becomes normal. Go to bed earlier. Set your coffee pot to have coffee ready for you when you wake up. There is something really magical about being awake and out when the sun comes up, I love it. Early morning is now my favorite part of the day.
  • EmpireBusiness
    EmpireBusiness Posts: 333 Member
    Exercise early in the morning. It will make you more tired and want to go to bed earlier which then helps you get up earlier and the cycle continues. I also find socks help. For whatever reason, I find sleeping with my socks on helps me wake up earlier. If I take them off, dear god I'll sleep in.

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