The 4 tricks guaranteed to make you a morning person
It can sometimes seem like the world is divided into two distinct groups of people. Those who happily hop out of the snug confines of their doona of a morning and those who cling on to the last few minutes in bed for dear life. For the duvet dwellers, rest assured that it’s not just your penchant for snoozing that generates your reluctance to get up of a morning. Scientists have actually found that our genetics play a role in whether we’re morning or nighttime people. Regardless, the majority of us do need to get up and function first thing. Here are four of the best tips and tricks to help you fire on all cylinders before midday.
- Eliminate night waking – The nights of waking to small children may be well and truly behind you but that doesn’t mean that you always sleep soundly for eight-plus hours a night. It’s biologically normal to briefly surface from sleep a handful of times a night as we move between sleep cycles and we usually don’t remember the interruption. What can be problematic are night wakings where we wake fully and can recall trying to get back to sleep the next day. This type of sleep interruption can leave us groggy and impact the quality of the rest of your sleep. The most common causes of poor sleep quality are sleep apnoea, sleep talking, insomnia, drinking too much alcohol, and even hormonal changes. If you find yourself alert more than once or twice a night, speak with your doctor about the possible causes and how they can be rectified.
- Do something enjoyable upon waking – It can be very easy to roll out of bed and straight into an activity that we feel we “have” to get out of the way first thing. Exercise is the most obvious one that springs to mind. The thing is, if you’re not naturally a morning person who enjoys working out at sunrise then you’re most likely setting yourself up to feel angry and resentful for the rest of the day. Try switching things up and kicking off your day with something you look forward to. You’ll find that mindset carries over into the rest of your waking hours.
- Make breakfast count – When you don’t want to be awake, skipping breakfast or grabbing something less than nutritious while you’re on the go can seem like an easy way to add a few more minutes to the time you can spend in bed. Unfortunately, a subpar breakfast has lasting repercussions for your energy, health and happiness levels. A good breakfast includes a source of lean protein, high-fibre carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, or vegetables and some healthy fat. By making the time to enjoy a meal that ticks all the boxes, you set up your metabolism for the day ahead while stabilising your energy levels and helping your body to “wake up”.
- Get ahead of your to-do list – Thinking about tomorrow’s tasks a whole 24 hours before they need to be done may seem impossible but experts actually recommend doing so as one of the easiest ways to alleviate morning time stress and feelings of disorganisation. The closer we get to the end of the day, the less likely we are to have the brain space to carefully consider what we need to do tomorrow so it makes sense to take five to 10 minutes in the late morning or around lunchtime to come up with an action plan. It’ll also mean you feel far more in control of your day to day activities and less likely to want to hide in bed all day due to sheer overwhelm.
Tell us, are you a morning person? How do you get motivated to get up and go?
Related links:
10 foods to help you get to sleep
How to tell if you’re getting enough sleep each night
The reason why some of us talk in our sleep