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| Source: WeHeartIt |
My entire life, waking up before 10 AM was a major accomplishment. Getting to school by 8:30? By senior year I had mastered the art of the ten minute morning - eight minutes to clean my teeth, brush my hair, wash my face, and get dressed; two minutes to get into the car and out onto the highway. I would sleep the entire way there, all ten minutes of that commute. I didn't wear a single smear of makeup most days and my wardrobe was reduced to (dress code violating) T-shirts and crappy blue jeans that I'd been wearing every day for at least a month.
Freshman year of college was rough. My first class started at 10 AM, but I didn't get out of bed until 11 AM. Fast forward to junior year, and oh my god I wake up at 6:45 AM and I love it.
So how did this happen?
First, some background information: teenagers naturally sleep and wake late.
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| Source: Favim.com |
A hormone called melatonin is what induces sleep in everyone. For adults, this hormone gets released at about 10 PM; for teenagers, at 1 AM, explaining the usual 2 AM bedtime that most teenagers follow. So that 7:30 AM (or earlier!) wake up call becomes even harder when our bodies are telling us that it's still nighttime and we need to be in bed. Not to mention, sleep is crucial at this age for general physical and mental well-being! But there isn't much anyone can do at this point. A few schools have started to set start times later, with positive results such as improved attendance, increased alertness, and less tardiness. If my high school had lowered its start time to 9 or later, I would have been so happy. Let's not even talk about senior year, when I regularly started skipping my first period to go lie down in the halls and sleep, or when I started having to bike to school and wouldn't show up until noon. (Looking back, I have no idea why they didn't just fail me out of senior year.)
Hopefully, my increasingly earlier mornings aren't a sign of aging... I sleep at midnight and wake up 6:30 every weekday, clocking 6.5 hours of sleep a night - somewhat less than the recommended amount, but as long as I feel fresh and awake in the mornings, I don't really see the problem. Waking up early not only lets me eat breakfast (because breakfast foods are the BEST) but gives me the time to review the information I need to know for any upcoming tests, plan out the day, and even meet up with a few friends. I have the time to look cute and feel great. I love it! Naturally, it helps that my first class is at 8:30 AM, so I need to be up early regardless. If your first class is later than that, go hit the gym! Start your day with a huge boost of energy and sweat out all the toxins that build up in your body during the night.
But if you're less crazy than me, don't worry! There are still a ton of ways to grab every second of sleep you can and still start the day energized, put together, and on top of things.
Give yourself some leeway in the mornings.
How much time does it take you to get ready? 10 minutes? 20? 30? (60. I am ashamed.) Take that time, add fifteen minutes to it, and set your alarm to that time. Don't make a habit of sleeping that entire fifteen minutes either! Save it for when you go to bed late or when you're just absolutely exhausted. I only take that fifteen minutes if I went to bed especially late the night before. That extra time lets you relax as you get ready and go back for anything you might have forgotten.
If you actually want to wake up earlier, take it slow. Wake up half an hour earlier every week and you'll be good to go.
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| Source: WeHeartIt |
You don't have to leap out of bed and run a marathon, but when you wake up, before you do anything else, get up and get moving. 100 jumping jacks, fifty crunches, ten pushups - anything you want. It just needs to get your heart rate up and your blood pumping. Pretty soon your body will start getting used to it and you'll be leaping out of bed ready to go. That might be an exaggeration, but you'll have to find out for yourself! I personally favor 100 jumping jacks and four minutes of crunches to music, because my neighbors don't hate me enough. Not to mention, exercising regularly, even if it's in small quantities, is a great habit to incorporate into your daily routine.
If you want to kick it up a notch, try this: 100 jumping jacks every morning, 100 jumping jacks at lunch, 100 jumping jacks every evening. This might not sound like a lot, but 300 jumping jacks burns an extra 150 calories per day, to the sweet tune of 1050 calories per week, or .3 lb.
If that's too easy for you, try this: Monday, 100 jumping jacks 3x per day; Tuesday, 200 jumping jacks, 3x per day; Wednesday, 300 jumping jacks, 3x per day; Thursday, 400 jumping jacks, 3x per day; Friday, 500 jumping jacks, 3x per day. 4500 calories burned per week, or slightly less than 1.3 lbs! I'm going to be undertaking this challenge too as a matter of fact, so leave a comment if you're interested in coming along with me.
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| Source: Visualize |
Listen to music.
This is something I do whenever I'm tired, not just in the mornings, but it works amazingly in conjunction with both of the above. The trick is to find a playlist that has a good beat but isn't going to jerk you right out of bed and into the dark, harsh, and above all cold world outside of your bed. Even if your favorite band ever is Linkin Park, you need to pick some songs that bring a smile to your face and will get you in the right mood. To that effect, I have some suggestions for you below! Add your own in the comments if you so desire. I love music recs!
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| Source: WeHeartIt |
Streamline your routine
If you're rushed for time and find yourself constantly running back and forth between your room for forgotten objects (homework, books, pencils, anything!), do yourself a favor and get ready the night before. Lay out the clothes you want to wear, pack your bags, keep your daily makeup in a separate container by the mirror - whatever it is you need to do to shave a few minutes off your morning routine, do it! Do you drink coffee in the mornings? Can you make it in advance the night before and drink it iced? Or, if you need it to be freshly brewed and piping hot, set everything up so that all you have to do in the morning is hop out of bed and press a button. Every minute you save is an extra minute in bed.
A friend of mine says she has to launch herself out or she'll spend the next hour inching her way out from beneath the sheets. Brilliant (and hilarious)! I like to hide my alarm clock in my room and let the process of searching for it wake me up (in related news, I think my neighbors hate me).
What about you?
