Becoming a Morning Person

Let me start by saying I am not a morning person by nature, and that is putting it mildly. Thankfully, my toddler is also not a morning person, so for the past year of my stay-at-home mom adventure, we have happily started our days after 9am.  I recently made to decision to become an Independent Beachbody Coach, primarily to help others in their fitness journeys, but to also contribute to our family finances.  If you read my first blog post, you know that I am one of those people who goes all out when I commit to something.  I have made pretty lofty goals for myself regarding this new endeavor and have been studying the elite coaches in our business to figure out what behaviors have made them successful.  One of the behaviors that all of these successful coaches have in common, much to my dismay, is that they are early risers.  To clarify, when I say early, I mean very early, like 5am early.  Yuck.

The more I researched behaviors that lead to success, the clearer it became. Successful people make it a point to get up early. This lead me to research how to become a morning person and come up with a plan to help me learn this behavior. Here is what I have found:

1. Baby Steps -- Start by turning back your alarm by 15 minutes a day or every couple days. Some people can go cold turkey and turn their alarm back to 5 am in one day, but if you want a better chance at forming a lasting behavior, small increments are the way to go.
2. Create a Routine -- Humans are creatures of habit.  Most of us thrive on routines.  Making a morning routine and sticking to it will help you pop out of bed with your first alarm instead of hitting snooze.  Consistency is key.  You may have heard that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  It can actually take a bit longer than that.  One study I read recently determined it took members of their test group an average of 66 days to form a new habit.  Be patient!
3. Get Moving -- Getting your body moving soon after you wake up will energize you just as much, if not more than, your morning cup of coffee.  Even just a set of jumping jacks will do the trick.  Make a morning workout part of your routine.
4. Accountability -- Tell someone a friend or family member what time you want to wake up.  This helps your mind commit to behavior.  If you need it, ask whoever you tell to send a wake-up text or call.  It won't take long before you are waking up before your accountabili-buddy sends their message.  Don't want to rope someone else into helping you get up?  I found a free app for iphone called BetterMe you can download that Publicly shames you by posting to your Facebook that you snoozed your alarm.
5. Get Enough Sleep -- Your body needs at least 7-8 hours of sleep depending on the length of your sleep cycle.  If you are not getting enough quality sleep, you won't be able to sustain early wake-ups and still be productive and efficient in your daily task.  That kind of defeats the purpose of getting up early, doesn't it?  I really struggle to fall asleep at night.  It takes me an hour or two of laying in bed, in the dark, to fall asleep.  A couple of tips I have found and begun to implement are unplugging 45 minutes to an hour before bed.  Electronics stimulate our brains, which is not what we want before bed.  Also, I read an article that stated the blue light emitted by our cell phones can change our biological clocks by making our bodies think it is still daytime when its not. This prevents us from falling asleep quickly after we have put our phones away for the night.  I have also found that for myself, I cannot exercise late at night.  The reason it is good to exercise soon after you wake up is the same reason it is not ideal to exercise late at night.  Try to relax the hour before you go to bed. Read a book, take a warm shower or bath, or do whatever helps you feel calm and content.

Today is day two in my path to becoming a morning person.  So far, so good.  I am still struggling to get out bed with my alarm, but once I get through the morning routine I created, I feel great. Are you a morning person? What tips and trick have helped you get up and going?  Feel free to share in the comment section for this post. I'd love to hear what works for you!