School time is here again. It is time to get the family into the morning person routine. Here are some simple insights to help the Claire Diaze Ortiz explains in one of her recent articles:
First she points out why the need to be a morning person:
You’ve it heard it before. Morning people get more done. Morning people are more effective at everything they do. Morning people win more often. They might as well just come clean and say what they really mean: Morning people do better in life.
Whether or not you believe this, the reality is that morning people do seem to get an awful lot done, and even night owls have reported that short periods of morning waking have made them feel more productive, even if they really aren’t.
And this is my point: even if they really aren’t.
As a self-professed genetic night owl who has worked hard to make myself a morning person(to varying degrees of success, depending on the season), I agree that waking up in the morning makes you feel you’ve done more.
Doing a lot between 1:00 and 4:00 am, like most night owls, invariably makes me feel behind when I drag myself out of bed, circa noon. In contrast, waking at 5:30 am, watching the sun rise (gasp!) and literally feeling that you beat everyone at the first competition of the day — getting out of bed — is a feeling that can’t be beat.
So try it, even if you’re a night owl. And tell me you don’t feel you’re doing more.
The next step is to understand how to tackle the subject of how to become one.
It turns out that switching your waking patterns and getting up earlier on a regular basis may be easier than you think. As a “genetic” night owl (if that exists), I’ve spent an immense amount of time trying to hack my body to do just this. I’ve learned a lot in my journey to become a morning person, and here are the three most important things I’ve done in my quest.
Hopefully they’ll help you as well. When you’re done, don’t forget to download my free ebook on developing a morning routine.
Accept the Fact that You’ll be Tired for a Week
The first step in hacking your way to become a morning person is to acknowledge that the initial adjustment ain’t pretty. If you aren’t already in a state of perpetual exhaustion (I hope not!), when you try to go to bed 2-3 hours earlier than you normally do it’s not going to work. Thus the result of the initial shift to waking earlier will be a tired you who hasn’t slept enough. Deal with it for a few days, and know that it’s for a greater cause (like these great reasons that being a morning person rocks). Better yet, try to combine it with that necessary red eye flight you have to take, or that crying baby that just doesn’t seem to go away;)
Immediately Find a Way to Reward Yourself in the Morning
Especially in the beginning, you’ve got to find a way to reward yourself for the effort of getting out of bed before the sun brightens the sky. What is one thing you wish you could do each day that you rarely give yourself time for? Read a novel? Watch a TV show you love? Geek out on Mashable for 30 minutes? In the beginning, do that fun thing each morning to reward yourself for getting up, and to make you excited to keep doing so.
Quickly Develop a Morning Routine
Once you’ve found a way to create the initial shift to getting tired earlier at night, and doing so for a few days in a row, you’ve got to find a way to develop a strong morning routine that will get you waking up at that same (early) time each morning. I use a specific morning routine that works well for me, and might give you some inspiration on finding your own. See a detailed explanation of my routine here. Ultimately, it’s about finding a series of morning steps that work for you, and then making them automatic.
Soon, your productive self will thank you.
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