How I Jumpstart My Earliest Mornings

Guys, I get it. Mornings totally suck. I am a morning person, not by choice, trust me. I think somewhere along the line, I sold my soul to the caffeine gods and suddenly I can’t sleep in past 8 AM. Maybe it was waking up for high school at 5 AM all those years or taking 8 AM classes in my freshman year of college. I’m not really sure.

Either way, people always ask me about how I’m able to get my day started so early. It’s not easy for me either. It takes me at least 30 minutes to full wake up in the morning even if I can’t sleep in. (That’s why I work out in the morning, so I don’t even realize what I’m doing until I’m halfway done already.) So, if you’re looking to get better at waking up early, learn it from the professional:

Set out my clothes the night before.

Setting out your clothes the night before eliminates way more time than you think from your schedule. You don’t have to pick out anything to wear or find them in your room (which is a real time saver if your room is as messy as mine)! Since I like to workout in the morning, I set out my workout clothes, which gets me out the door a lot faster.

Work out in the morning.

If you work out in the morning, your body will feel much more energized and you’ll get the blood flowing. You’ll release those endorphins and eliminate the morning sluggishness. Yes, it’s hard to get out of bed and workout but I feel better for the rest of the day.

Turn off the Snooze Alarm.

Trust me on this one. It makes it even harder to wake up. When you snooze your alarm, you can fall part way back asleep and it can interrupt your REM sleep. Instead of hitting snooze, just set your alarm a little later and enjoy the ten minutes of much better sleep.

Stick to a routine schedule.

The more you stick to a normal routine, as in bedtime and wake up time, the easier it gets to continually wake up early. I like to go to bed each night around 10 PM so I can get almost a full eight hours of sleep before my 6:15 AM wake up time. Figure out what time you have to wake up and set your bedtime accordingly to get the amount of sleep you need. Falling asleep and waking up at the same time will help your body adjust to a sleeping schedule to get better sleep and wake up easier.

Wash My Face.

If I skip a shower in the morning (which I usually don’t because I work out), washing my face helps me wake up. If I forego a workout for any reason, such as feeling sick or dehydrated, a good face wash does the same trick as a shower. It gets off all the night sweats (yes, I am that gross) and makes me feel so refreshed and clean for the day.

Enjoy A Cup of Coffee With Extra Caffiene.

I cannot start my day without coffee. Point blank period. Now that I’ve been drinking coffee for years, I’m actually a bit addicted. It totally jump starts my day.

Since I usually drink more than one cup a day, I switched to MAX by MAXWELL HOUSE coffee with extra caffeine. It has more caffeine than a traditional cuppa’ jo and you can even choose what level of caffeine you want. I got the 1.75x level of caffeine* since I need just a bit extra but I don’t want to be jumping off the walls at my office.

“*MAX BY MAXWELL HOUSE contains an average of 142mg caffeine per serving compared to an average of 11…”

Dress to Impress.

Dressing up for my day helps me feel better all day long. The longer I stay in my pajamas, the more likely I’ll sleep all day. If you want to wake up in the morning, dress for the occasion. Get ready for your day and you will be ready. Fake it ’til you make it.

Hi - my name is Kirsten! I am currently based in Chicago after a long cross-country move from Arizona. What will you find here? I love sharing all things sustainability and slow fashion, any of my day-to-day shenanigans, the latest new hobbies I picked up, and whatever concert or music festival I can find. Welcome and thanks for popping in to my little corner of the world wide web!