How to Become a Morning Person

Some people are night owls and are able to arrange their lives around this trait. For the rest of us, a new job with an earlier starting time or with children who are up at the crack of dawn make it necessary to learn how to get up early. You may never truly love the morning, but the tips below can help make the transition easier.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Pick a time to get up and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Try to get up 15 to 30 minutes earlier each week until you meet your goal. Force yourself to get out of bed. Move your alarm clock so that is difficult to hit the snooze button.
2. Get enough sleep. Try to go to bed around the same time every night. In the beginning, you may need to go to bed earlier to catch up on your sleep. Try not to take naps unless you are really exhausted.
3. Arrange your schedule so that you are able to go to bed as soon as you get tired. If you are in the habit of cleaning your house, catching up on work or doing other chores late at night, find time to get them done earlier. Try to stay away from distractions like late night TV or web surfing.
4. Set realistic goals and activities for the day and stop when you reach them. If you have a hard time shutting down at the end of the day and are always cramming in one more activity, force yourself to get out of this habit.
5. Plan enjoyable things to do in the morning so you have something to look forward to. Listen to music, take a long shower, have a healthy breakfast or drink a good cup of coffee. Go outside or sit next to a window to enjoy plenty of morning sunshine and try to move around and get some exercise.
6. Change your attitude. Stop thinking that you aren't a morning person. Realize that you can become one, and keep telling yourself that you will.
7. Commit to changing your schedule. Make sure that it is something you really want to do. If you can't seem to get motivated after a few weeks, think about whether it's really necessary to make the change at all. Perhaps you can alter your life to fit your sleep schedule, rather than the other way around.

Tips & Warnings

• If you always feel tired even when you get enough sleep, see your doctor.