Do you find yourself hitting the snooze button far too many times and envious of your friends who are self-proclaimed early risers? Don’t worry – it’s possible to train yourself to be more of an early riser. Check out these 5 ways to become a morning person.

LIGHT ROOM

Since your brain is sensitive to light, inviting light in is one of the best ways to help your body know when it’s time to wake up. Try placing your bed next to a window or get an alarm clock that mimics a natural sunrise to wake you up in a gradual way.

Read before bed

One of the most important impacts on how you start each day is how you end the day before.

I’m not going to tell you to go to bed super early, because that will make you frustrated and push you away from a productive morning.

However, it is important to get proper rest, and that means turning off your phone and computer for at least two hours before bed. Doing this will give you a chance to read quietly and get in a mental state that’s prepared for sleep.

Reading challenging material will be especially helpful because it takes focus and concentration to read. Once you can’t focus anymore, you’ll quickly go to bed.

GO TO BED EARLY

If you’re going to bed late and getting up early, it’s no wonder you are feeling tired and sleepy in the morning. When you wake up tired, your day is not as productive as you want it to be. So try to go to bed earlier and you’ll see how you feel full of energy the next day. If you have difficulty sleeping, reading a book in bed can help you to fall asleep faster.

In order to wake up earlier and still get the proper amount of sleep you need to be functioning and alert, you will need to go to bed earlier. Bedtime and wakeup time work hand in hand so you can rise feeling more rested. If you’re practicing earlier wake-up times in smaller increments, do the same with the time you get into bed at night. But instead of just trying to go to sleep five minutes earlier, shoot for a slightly longer adjustment, more like 20 – 30 minutes as it can sometimes take longer to fall asleep when your schedule changes.

EXERCISE IN THE MORNING

You are more likely to get busy and find excuses to not work out in the evening. Plus, a morning workout will give you that extra energy to get you through the day ahead.

I know, I know, exercise is the last thing you want to do in the morning, but it can actually make you feel more alert and energized. Once you realize how great you feel after 15 minutes of yoga or a morning jog, you will start your morning with exercise every day. Exercise can also boost your mood and help keep your weight under control.

Morning positivity  

Using your mornings productively or feeling fresh and ready is how a ‘morning person’ starts their day. But if you consider the factors mentioned above, they help you prepare and start your mornings actively. If we’re to start our day right and fix things in our lifestyle, it also needs a positive approach. That is, waking up feeling good (even if it is by force initially) to start your day in the right tone. If you’re used to reading newspapers and social media, the bad news, negativity, and other issues can get you. This deteriorates your mental health and leads to a bad start and not something to look forward to. When you wake up in the morning, the best way to be a ‘morning person’ is to look forward to something. It can be your work, exercise, time in nature, night time relaxation, or a list of goals you aim to beat daily. Waking up with an objective helps one start their day with the above tips and build momentum. That way, you’re able to retire for the day by evening and spend time doing things you like, and eventually unwind for the sleep transition into the next day. This is more of a lifestyle issue than a morning activity, but having something to do in the morning without putting off your morning routine is a great way to feel motivated and start the day right.

DON’T SKIP BREAKFAST

The most important meal of the day, breakfast, is something you should never skip. Never swap your breakfast for a black coffee and a chocolate bar. Your breakfast must be healthy and it must consist of whole grains, protein, and colorful fruit and vegetables. You can try a bowl of hot porridge or Greek yogurt with your favorite berries and fruits. You might not see this as the way to become a morning person, since it doesn’t involve coffee, but a healthy breakfast is a must when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.

To be your best self, it’s helpful to eat a good breakfast (trust us, morning meetings are better when you’re not hangry). Whole grain carbs plus protein give you a quick hit of energy and keep you going all morning. For an all-in-one solution that you can prep ahead, try these homemade protein bars or overnight oats.

Keep learning and educating yourself

It’s totally relatable that Jen casually mentioned to her manager that she wanted to educate herself more, so her manager arranged conversations with icons like Jay Shetty, Jessica Yellin, and David Sinclair (to be read in your best Chandler Bing-level sarcasm). I guess when you’re an icon yourself, you have access to all the other icons. But as a total wellness nerd who loved school (yeah, I was that girl), I love that learning is a key part of Jen’s self-care routine. The goal of wellness is really just growth: growing in health, growing in self-love, and growing in knowledge. When we’re constantly learning, we’re constantly growing.

I always make an effort to attend lectures, listen to podcasts, and read books to grow my health knowledge, but the major change from this week was how I saw those efforts. I typically see education as an extension of my career, like I’m staying up-to-date to be the best I can be at my job. But seeing it instead as a way to care for myself really transformed what I got out of it. Education, even in the name of a career, helps us grow as people, not just as a job title. If you ask me, that’s caring for yourself more than a face mask or smoothie ever could.