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There’s not enough time in a day. While some college students are naturally early risers, the nocturnal types often struggle to go to sleep, and get up, on time. Building healthy habits to tackle early mornings productively can be difficult. By instituting simple changes to your routine, you’ll find yourself feeling more energized upon waking and more prepared for the day. We’ve put together a list of life hacks to help ease you into a positive and productive morning routine.
1. Get Organized
Early mornings are often associated with that rushed feeling of trying to do everything in a limited amount of time. To avoid this, organization is the ultimate key. Make sure you take time every night to get your clothes ready and ironed for the following day. You can even go the extra mile and prep your lunch so it’s ready to be added to your bag the next morning. Once you begin organizing your routine in the morning, you’ll soon find yourself less resistant to getting up and out the door.
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2. Stop Snoozing
Starting your day by hitting snooze on your alarm only makes you feel worse. When you hit snooze, you restart a new sleep cycle, but it’s interrupted every 9 minutes, and you eventually give in. Research shows that you are the most rested when your alarm initially goes off and not after you’ve managed to squeeze in the extra few minutes of sleep. Set your alarm to a realistic wake-up time and when it goes off, get up. No exceptions.
3. Drink Water
While you sleep, your body regenerates all of your cells. That’s a lot of work! So when you wake up, drink a big glass of cold water to help your body to re-hydrate. This will make you feel a lot more alert throughout the rest of the morning.
4. Eat Breakfast
Do not underestimate the importance of a proper breakfast. It’s your first source of fuel for the day ahead and should keep you going for several hours. Although some say they’re not hungry in the early hours of the morning, breakfast will give you the energy to power through the day without crashing. Be sure to have a healthy, well-balanced meal packed with protein, like eggs, beans, and avocado. Protein contains amino acids that help your brain perform at its best. Protein also releases the food’s energy at a slower rate, keeping you even-keeled.
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5. Get Some Sun
As soon as you wake up, open your curtains, or better yet, step outside and get some real vitamin D. Even if you find it a challenge to leave your bed to go outside, you can still reap benefits from dashing to your window and opening your curtains. The influx of daylight tells your body that is time to be awake by reducing the “sleepy” hormone, melatonin.
