Can you really condition yourself to become a morning person?
Over the past few years, articles and books regarding personal success often associate it with waking up early. To these successful authors, being a morning person allows you to achieve what most can’t in the first few hours after—even before—the sun has risen.
This includes going for a run or an early morning yoga session, eating a well-prepared breakfast, or even just good quality time with yourself.
We can’t deny that these are all wonderful benefits or perks that come along with being an early riser. But for those who can’t really get up that early in the morning, is there still a chance for you to make the switch?
The answer is an ever-excited yes, given that you’re willing to put in a wee bit of work, as well.
In this blog, we’ll talk about how to hack your morning—tips for becoming a morning person through routine.
Always Get Up at the Same Time
The first, and most important, part of hacking your morning routine is to make sure that you get up at the same time every single day.
This isn’t just so you can call yourself a morning person once you manage to, but it’s so you can condition your body to wake up at the time you’ve set. Human bodies are susceptible to conditioning and routine, making it easier for you to adapt to the schedule you’ve set.
You’ll find that you will no longer struggle to wake up to an alarm—sometimes, you might even beat it!
However, it’s worth noting that while you’re aiming to get up at the same time everyday, it’s not entirely necessary to do the same for bedtime. You can choose to continue sleeping late in the first few weeks of this shift in routine, but over time, you’ll naturally start to fall asleep much earlier as your body adjusts.
Never Hit Snooze
In line with the first point, you must never—ever—hit snooze. Not when your brain tells you why you need the extra five minutes, not when you’re justifying that it’s a Sunday, not ever.
When you start to hit the snooze button, you’ll be more inclined to keep doing it over the next few days. As much as you’re making a habit of getting up early, you’re also making a habit of hitting the snooze button—rendering all your efforts useless.
Instead, get an alarm that doesn’t even have one. It could be a smart alarm that forces you to stay awake just so you can’t immediately fall back to sleep. Or you can just choose to fight the urge to go back to sleep.
Whatever rocks your boat, do it. Just never hit snooze, not even for just an extra minute.
Give Yourself Something to Look Forward To
One of the best tricks to help you transform yourself into a morning person is to give yourself something to look forward to. That also means setting up long-term goals with a couple of short ones in between.
It doesn’t matter if you feel like the goal doesn’t seem as grand as being able to run 10 kilometers before the sun even rises. What’s important is that you condition your body to achieve something through waking up early.
Moreover, when working with a long-term goal, you can reward yourself by setting up short ones as important milestones. It can be as simple as waking up five minutes earlier than you usually do, or something like being able to prepare the breakfast that you’ve always wanted.
Having goals also strengthens the foundation of why you’re doing this, therefore, giving you an easier time to battle all the temptations of falling back to your old morning routine.
Do Not Rush Into It
And, last but not the least, don’t rush into being the newest morning person in town. Like what they say, all good things take time, so take as much time as you need—but be rational about it.
You don’t have to force yourself to wake up at 5AM tomorrow, just so you can start immediately. This can be counterproductive and may even make you feel more restless and exhausted.
What you can do is to gradually allow yourself to wake up early. Let your body adjust accordingly, until you feel like it’s ready to wake up even earlier. Say, week 1, you encourage yourself to wake up half an hour earlier than you’re used to. Then, week 2, make it an hour earlier.
This is so your body—and mind—won’t feel as if it’s a punishment. Instead, you’re just letting yourself fall into a routine that you can manage easily.
