Can you become a morning person?
For most of my life I would have never considered myself a morning person. I also never thought it was within me to become one. I had tried to change up my routine occasionally to favor the mornings but I always fell back into previous habits. Maybe it was just not possible for someone to “become” a morning person. But today’s a Sunday and I woke up at 6:30 AM (which I would consider sleeping in). Most weekdays I’m up around 4:30 AM to get my workout in before I head to work. I love the early hours of the morning and the time I’ve created for myself. While it took intentionality and determination to change my routine, it is definitely possible to “become” a morning person.
I used to dread mornings…
High school and college were all about waking up at the last possible second and still making it where I needed to be on time (or close to on time). In high school, that meant less than 30 minutes before I had to be at school. My sister, on the other hand, was always up and pacing the house, anxious to get going, before I was even awake. We had the same argument every morning. She thought we were going to be late, and I reminded her that we’ve never been late before.
In college, that meant waking up 5 minutes before class, since my first class was only a 2 minute walk from my dorm. I always lived close to campus even when I moved out of the dorm because sleeping in was what I thought I needed. On the weekends I would sleep until at least 11:00 AM with no regrets. In fact, I remember my freshman year of college staying up until 3:00 AM most nights. I would take a nap between my morning and afternoon classes to catch up on sleep. I was pretty much always exhausted. In some ways I prided myself on my ability to function on little to no sleep. Of all my college years though I think I only pulled one all-nighter. I ended up being awake for at least 32 hours straight and vowed to never do that again.
Early attempts to change my morning routine
In college I worked as a co-op (a paid internship) every other semester. This was a required part of my degree and it forced me to have a somewhat normal schedule since I was working a typical 9-5 five days per week. But once I went back to school for classes, that schedule vanished almost immediately. I was back to late nights and sleeping in.
Fast forward to my first few years after college and I was again working a typical 9-5 schedule. I had a pretty good schedule, but I was still waking up about 30 minutes before I had to drive into the office. I also hit the snooze button plenty of times each morning. The weekends were meant for sleeping in and I was always feeling tired. I would occasionally wake up at 5:00 AM for a HIIT workout before work, but that habit never lasted more than a few weeks. I just couldn’t get myself to get up that early!
My husband has always been a morning person
Fast forward another few years when I started dating my now husband. He has always been an early morning person. I remember when we first started dating and he was studying for his CFA exam, he would get up at 2:00 AM to get a few hours of studying in, then work out, then make it to work by 8:00 AM. It was a crazy schedule that I could never understand. However, I always admired his dedication to the early morning study and workout sessions. Even in high school, he would get up at 4:00 AM to workout before he went to school. Although he had a crazy early schedule I still maintained sleeping in and staying up late.
The initial curiosity about a new morning routine
Once we got engaged, I decided to get serious about working out. We got engaged in 2020, the year of COVID, and our eating habits had gotten pretty pathetic. I had gained maybe more than the COVID-15 and was certainly not feeling my best. I knew I needed to make some changes and I knew I wanted to look good for our wedding. We were about a year out from our wedding day, so I decided to try working out more seriously.
At first, it was easy to work out in the evenings after work. After all, it was mid-pandemic. We were both working from home and there certainly wasn’t a lot of activity outside the house unless you count going to the grocery store. I was pretty dedicated to sticking with working out this time, but I quickly realized how much it sucked to have a fiancé who got his workout completed before I even woke up, but I still had a workout calling my name after closing my laptop each day. It would be so much nicer to move straight into cooking dinner, playing a game, or watching one of our shows.
The switch from a night owl to a morning person
Around this same time, we bought a house. Although our house was in pretty great shape, there were a few updates we wanted to make like light fixtures and painting. Since it was mid-winter in Ohio it got dark pretty quickly once we finished work for the day. I realized I needed to start working out in the morning if we ever wanted daylight to replace our light fixtures! I was already in the habit of working out multiple times a week, which was a great start. All I had to do was implement a new habit of waking up early to workout.
I admit I had a lot of things helping me with this habit change and it still was incredibly hard. I was working from home and rarely had to turn my video camera on for calls, so I could wake up a little later and start work with wet hair and wearing leggings. My fiancé was also getting up early to go to the gym, so there was less incentive to stay in bed in the morning. I had a long list of “fun” house projects I wanted to get done which needed to fit in the small window of daylight we had after work.
Even with all this going for me, I still hit the snooze button so many times before convincing myself to get out of my warm bed and head downstairs for a workout. It was HARD. But once I did it for a few weeks, it became less hard. I realized I had more time after work to spend with my fiancé doing things we both enjoy together. I realized I had more energy and concentration during the day when I worked out in the morning. And, I realized I genuinely liked my new schedule. Yes, it was hard, but I also liked how waking up early and getting things accomplished before many people’s days started made me feel.
Today – a proud morning person!
Fast forward to today and you’ll rarely find me sleeping in until 8:00 AM. It’s still harder for me to wake up than my husband. For some reason he can be up and out of bed before I even hear his alarm go off! I, on the other hand, still take a few alarms to get moving. Maybe that will change one day, or maybe it won’t. I know there are so many benefits of being a morning person and my life is better because I get up before a majority of the world. It allows me to start my day with movement either at home or at a less crowded gym than other times of the day. It allows me to have time to journal, pray or meditate. It allows me to not feel rushed in the morning before work. It allows me to have a consistent routine that decreases stress. While my mornings have a lot of activity, it’s also mostly silent. It gives me time to reflect and prepare for my day. It helps me prepare for hiking trips that require a 3:00 AM wake up call to watch the sunrise. It puts me closer to waking and sleeping at the same cadence as the sun which helps my circadian rhythm reset. Ultimately, for me, it helps me live the life I want to live.
Practical tips to become a morning person
You might live a much different life and have different goals. Maybe you are interested in the working out piece, but not the waking up early piece. If you are interested in waking up earlier, I have a few things I’d recommend to implement in the process of becoming a “morning person”:
- Write down the reason WHY you want to become a morning person. Is it affecting your relationships, your productivity, your physical health? For me, it was to spend more time with my fiancé and be able to work on the projects I wanted once my 9-5 job was finished for the day.
- Come up with a plan for things you’re going to accomplish when you do get up in the morning. I think it’s helpful to establish a routine for what you do every day when waking up early. If you’re not a “routine” type, consider forming a to-do list the night before. Make sure it’s a manageable to do list if you go that route! My typical morning routine looks like this… alarm between 4:00 and 4:30 AM, go to the bathroom, update my WHOOP journal, eat a filling snack (usually ½ banana + peanut butter) and drink some water, complete my workout, meditate/pray/journal, shower, get ready for work, make and eat breakfast. Three days a week by 7:30 AM I’m out the door to drive to the office. On the days I work from home, I have a little bit of extra time in the morning. I use that extra time to start work early, catch up on personal emails, bills, etc. or read a few pages of a book. When I was just starting my new morning routine I kept things simple with a workout, a shower, and breakfast. As I got more used to the routine, I added in other beneficial tasks as well.
- Prioritize quality sleep. This includes going to bed early to target 7-8 hours of sleep per night, limiting screen time in the evening, not eating right before bed, taking the right supplements, and finding a relaxing bedtime routine. I usually go to bed between 7:30-9:00 PM. We don’t watch TV Sunday-Thursday and I try to avoid social media after 5:00 PM. My bedtime routine is consistent including washing my face, brushing my teeth, and reading or meditating (when there’s enough time).
- Give yourself time to adjust. You will not immediately become a “morning person” after a week of getting up early. It takes at least 21 days to build a habit so try it consistently for at least one month. I remember being exhausted for a few weeks while my body told me to stay up late and I forced myself to get up early. Eventually I was able to consistently fall asleep earlier and get better quality sleep. It left me feeling rested and ready to attack the day even when waking up at 4:30 AM.
- Figure out a way to stay accountable. Even if no one in your house gets up early, do you have a friend you can text in the morning when you wake up? Does making a list and checking things off help you stay accountable? For me, it was probably most helpful that my husband already had the habit that I wanted to learn. He gave me an example of what to strive for and he encouraged me when I needed it. Knowing that we could end the day together without a giant list in the way was also really motivating for me.
What’s your morning routine?
While 4:30 AM is what works best for me, I’m not suggesting that as a blanket recommendation for everyone. We all have different goals, priorities, and journeys. But if you’re constantly late to work or feeling rushed in the mornings, maybe it’s time to try something new. Maybe it’s 15 minutes earlier to make sure you have time for a healthy breakfast. Or maybe it’s 30 minutes earlier for a walk outside.
The intentionality behind my morning routine centers me and changes my daily outlook. I am the best version of myself because I’ve created this time in the morning for me and my priorities. Let me know if you’ve been on this journey for a while and if you have any other tips to share, or if you’re planning to try out a new morning routine. While I have a great rhythm going for me at this moment, I’m always interested to hear others’ experiences and learn from them.
