What is the best way to Become a Morning Person if you are a Night Owl?
GETTING UP EARLY in the morning is the only thing experts in every field will suggest if you want to achieve a big goal in your life, such as writing a novel, establishing a new business, starting a new exercise regime, or any other productive work. This suggestion is easier said than done. As Julie Morgenstern, time management expert and author of Never Check Email in the Morning says,
“You might think getting up earlier is just a matter of discipline, but it actually takes much more than that.”
You must have to overcome some obstacles in order to change your morning routine. It is possible to overcome these hindrances but the key is to start the night before.
Morgenstern offers six strategies in order to make getting up early easy for you. These six strategies are given below:
1. Change your mindset:
The first and most important strategy is changing the mindset. Most of the people sleep at night in order to separate themselves from hectic routine. But you have to think differently. You should consider the sleep as the beginning of the next day. In this way, you can get an exciting sleep and change the mindset. It will change your life completely. Morgenstern says:
“Sleep becomes an active element; you are charging up your battery”
2. Adjust your bedtime:
Most of you always feel sleepy and consider ourselves as sleep-deprived, and are always trying to take a quick nap from to time. But the only way to get rid of this is to go to bed earlier. First of all, decide how many hours of sleep you and your body need. Then, count backward from there.
As Morgenstern says:
“Getting up earlier requires a fundamental shift in your neuro-pathways. While the change makes total sense to you the day before, actually doing it the next morning is hard work and requires you to break a lot of patterns”
3. Adjust other night-time activities:
You have to change your other activities such as adjust the time of dinner or time of hobbies like book reading or movies watching. One must eat dinner no less than two or three hours before bed. In this case, your body is able to digest the dinner and makes you able to fall asleep and sleep well. This having dinner activity time is also applicable to our other hobbies or night time activities.
Like you should read a book or watch any movie before bedtime. You should try to relax your body before going to sleep. This will also help you in a positive manner. Morgenstern says:
“You are not being realistic if you say you’ll get up early but then don’t build everything else into your day”
4. Prepare for your morning activity:
Most of the time you stay in bed not because you are tired but the task you are going to perform is overwhelming. To overcome this fatigue you should have to plan the morning activity before. The night before the task, you have to organize our equipment and do other necessary chores. If you are planning to exercise, set your gym clothes, water bottle, yoga mat, shoes, etc. Similarly, if you are going to perform some work on your computer, then tidy your home office, arrange your files, preprogram the coffee maker, set your alarm clock and then go to sleep. According to Morgenstern:
“Starting something new can feel complicated but take the time to prepare and you will increase your chances for success”
5. Turn off electronics:
According to research, you should have to turn off all our electronics at least 90 minutes before going to bed. It means to pull out the plug of electronic devices, like stop watching television, do not check emails, or other social media applications or stop reading on an e-reader. Because by doing so, you are trying to avoid the negativity of daily life, relaxing and putting yourself together for morning activities. Plus by turning them off before bed, you are restoring your health. Morgenstern says:
“Science says it is a source of energy and over stimulates us. It is like drinking some energy drink before bed- there is no way you will not fall sleep”
She also suggests that you have to replace your activity of using mobile phones before bed with something relaxing such as listening to music or drawing something or preparing yourself for morning tasks, or preparing meals for the next day.
6. Create a pre-bedtime routine:
The foremost and dominant strategy is to create a pre-bedtime routine for yourself. You have to give yourself something to do that will give you peace of mind and a bit of happiness. The activity should give you time to unwind by creating a calming pre-bedtime routine. For example, make the habit of checking locks and close the windows of your house. It will give you a sense of pleasure. Another activity is to dim the lights and stretch or go for a leisure walk. This will relax you and is necessary for you before going to bed.
Morgenstern says:
“This routine will help you fall asleep quickly and easily. It will also significantly increase your chances of getting up in the morning”
These six ways will definitely help you to get up early and do your work in an energetic matter. Moreover, it has many advantages. Like, it will help you to look at things in a positive manner. You have more energy, have more time to exercise, and become more organized. Your body system reboots. It helps your skin to look healthy. In short, there are various benefits of getting up early in the morning. One should have to adopt this habit and be successful in your life.
