Not everyone is a morning person. Most people can’t seem to function properly for the first half an hour after they’ve woken up; at least, not until they have had their first cup of coffee. But if you have an early start in the morning, an early meeting to attend or a morning flight to catch, it is very important that you are alert and focused from the moment that you’ve woken up. 

These days, we have a lot to deal with every single day of our life; there’s absolutely no chance to lie in bed till noon, contemplating our life, with nothing to do all day. Even on vacations and holidays, and weekends, we have just too much on our plate to waste a single minute. This is exactly why we need to be just as focused and energized in the morning as we do the rest of the day, because the day starts from the very moment that we open our eyes in the morning. 

Now, you can deal with this in two ways: things you can do the night before when you go to bed, and things you can do to feel refreshed after you’ve woken up in the morning. 

Before you Go to Sleep 

  • The first step would be to ensure that you get enough sleep at night. The adult human body needs at least 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep to be ready for a new day. You can expect to wake up energized at 7 in the morning if you’ve gone to bed after 4 am, can you? If your body doesn’t get enough hours of sleep throughout the night, can you actually blame yourself if you wake up unable to function? 

So give your body enough time to rest. If you want to wake up early and fresh, you need to go to bed early too, and maintain a specific bedtime every day. 

  • For a restful sleep, your bedroom should be the perfect haven you wantfor your rest. At and before bedtime, dim all the light in your bedroom, turn off the television and any other electronic gadgets that you have lying around and lower the sound level. The ideal environment for sleeping should be slightly cooler than your body temperature, so keep the air cooler on. You can also use a white noise machine since that seems to help some people. In short, your bedroom should be a peaceful and tranquil place, fit for a restful sleep. 
  • A soothing bedtime routine can help. A hot shower, a 10-minute breathing exercise or mindfulness exercise session, or reading a favorite book will give you a more peaceful sleep throughout the night. At least, a relaxation routine before bed is better for your rest than going to bed exhausted, irritated or angry. 
  • Avoid consuming any kinds of caffeine and alcohol before bed. In some people, alcohol can actually induce sleep, but it will also make you restless throughout the night and lower the quality of your sleep. If you have an alcoholic drink or a cup of coffee before bed, chances are you’ll either wake up with a bad hangover or a heavy head. 
  • Finish eating and drinking at least an hour before bed. Going to bed immediately after eating, especially after a heavy meal, will give you indigestion at night; a glass of water before bed will also mean going to sleep with a full bladder and getting up at least twice in the middle of the night. Finish dinner and your drinking an hour before it’s bedtime, and you can have uninterrupted sleep for a few hours. 
  • Pressing the snooze button on your alarm clock might give you 5 to 10 minutes of extra sleep, but that’s not enough time to go back to deep sleep. You are only delaying waking up by hitting the snooze machine, and it’s not even giving you 10 minutes’ worth of sleep. So avoid the temptation and keep your phone or alarm clock away from the bed. Keep it at a distance that you’ll have to leave the bed to turn off the alarm. 

After you Wake Up

  • If your bedroom has direct access to morning sunlight, leave the curtains open at night. It is much better to wake up to the sun on your face than to your alarm clock. This is also the more natural way to wake up – the way our ancestors have known it was time to get up without the help of an alarm clock. You don’t have to keep the whole window open; just a flicker of morning sunlight through the edges can remind you that it’s morning. 
  • Keep a fresh drink ofwater beside your bed, to be drunk the moment you wake up. This is the first thing you should do after you wake up – sit up and drink a full glass of water. This one simple act wouldn’t just make you open your eyes and sit up, but also rehydrate you after a full night of dehydration. Water on an empty stomach will help flush out toxins first thing in the morning, and give you a more refreshed feeling on the inside. 
  • Start your morning bybrewing your favorite coffee, as you complete the rest of your morning routine.Make your bed and finish your bathroom regime while the strong aroma of your coffee fills up your home; by the time your coffee is done, you will have finished half your morning responsibilities and woken up properly in time for a peaceful cup of coffee. 
  • If you’re finding it difficult to properly wake up or get out of the bed, remind yourself of something exciting that you have planned for that day. It could be a new show that’s coming to Netflix that day that you plan to binge on, or meeting a friend that you haven’t seen for a long time. If you don’t have anything exciting planned for that particular day, promise yourself a treat – perhaps a chocolate muffin for breakfast that you deny yourself on other days, or something similar that will bring a smile to your face. 
  • Set your alarm at least 30 minutes earlier than you absolutely have to get up, and make this half an hour completely yours. Simply by waking up 30 minutes earlier, you can have more time to yourself before you have to quickly get ready for work or help your children get ready for school. You can lie in bed for these few precious minutes if you want, or you can sit back with a cup of coffee and the newspaper, enjoy a few extra minutes before joining the rest of the work force. It is definitely an better option to drag yourself out of the bed and hurriedly starting all your morning responsibilities. 

Every now and then, especially on the weekends, we might be tempted for a longer time with our beloved bed and pillows, but not always. Most of the time, our hectic life insists that we get up early in the morning and immediately start the day, which is not so easy. However, with practice and determination, you can start your day feeling refreshed and energized, ready for anything at all.