As a daily practice, waking up early for work can be as demanding an experience as it is an uncomfortable one. While becoming an early riser is by no means an easy process, by changing our habits we certainly can make early mornings a more pleasant time and in so doing make our workdays much less stressful. Here are just a few ways to make the A.M. hours a pleasure to spend time in.
1. Change Your Bedtime Schedule
As a society reliant on efficient and time-saving devices, we often tend to incorporate technology into our daily routines. However, some of these forms of technology can also prevent us from getting the sleep we need. Making sure not to use computers or cellphones for an hour before bed is just one way to tell our brains that it’s time to doze: Light from computer screens often stimulates us by mimicking sunlight, just when we need to go into rest-mode. While it can be difficult to turn down the chance to watch a good YouTube video to relax after a long day, turning to a good book or listening to a good album instead will often do wonders for us when we’re trying to sleep.
2. Create Something to Look Forward to on Waking
Getting up early can be something of a chore, but when we do something enjoyable on waking it can be kind of fun to rise from our beds. If you have a favorite brand of coffee or morning news show that will motivate you to get out of bed, rising early can actually be a lot of fun. Since good coffee and a good coffeemaker will do wonders for your morning, ensuring that you have replacement Cuisinart coffee maker parts and your favorite make of java available each day is an important way to make your early hours run smoothly.
3. Use a Regular Sleep Schedule
Our minds are funny things that often rely more on routine than we give them credit for. While going to sleep early can feel like a monumental change, your mind will soon accustom itself to its new schedule. Thankfully, once you get into a new groove, your sleep schedule will soon reset itself, so you can rest easy and concentrate your energies on work and relaxation time.
4. Use Your Bed for Sleep, Not Relaxation
While our minds rely on routine, they also rely on key associations to function. When we treat our beds as places for waking activities, for example, it can become very difficult to get to bed when we’re ready to sleep. If you find yourself unable to get to bed early, try doing some light-reading in a nearby armchair until you become sleepy. Spending too many waking hours in bed can be detrimental to a healthy sleep schedule.
5. Create an Enjoyable Alarm
Like Pavlov’s dog reacting to stimuli, we often inadvertently train ourselves to respond negatively to the sound of an alarm clock ringing. Finding the right alarm clock, whether it’s a clock-radio set to our favorite station, or a coffeemaker set to brew a hot cup of Joe at a particular time of morning, can change the way we look at waking for the better.
About Hannah Whittenly
Hannah Whittenly is a freelance writer from Sacramento, California. A mother of two, Hannah enjoys writing on blogs of all niches.
