Yes, I Wake Up Early… No, I Don’t Drink Coffee
I have to get up at 5:50 am every morning and never need a coffee to get the day started. Trust me, I’m not a paranormal being. Here I describe how I make my morning bearable.
Everyone I know does it and you probably do it too: The alarm goes off, you hit snooze a couple of times and then finally drag yourself out of bed. The very first order of the day is to go and brew yourself a hot cup of coffee and check every social media app known to mankind. When this is not an option though, for example in a hotel without coffee in the room, the morning is simply ruined and a bad mood steps in.
Does this sound familiar? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it does. I hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t to me. You see, I do a couple of things differently in the morning.
I don’t really hit snooze
I know it takes me about 10 minutes to fully wake up and get out of bed. I admit, sometimes it does take 15 minutes, but that’s beside the point. Just write down how long it takes you from alarm to actually standing up. Then write down at what time you have to get out of bed to facilitate your morning routine. As the last step, set your alarm for the amount of the first number before the time you need to get out of bed.
This way, I know I’m screwed if I don’t start getting up as soon as the alarm rings. Snoozing just makes me more tired rather than helping me to get up and start the day.
I don’t look at social media just after waking up
Don’t make the first thing you do propping yourself up on your elbow and scrolling endlessly through your phone. Take a couple of minutes to relax and be mindful before yet another busy day begins.
I know this tip is on every self-help account out there, but this is actually quite important and definitely worth a mention. If you’re like me you follow many people and news channels on social media and have a presence on Twitter (cough… linked somewhere in this article …cough), Instagram, Snapchat and sometimes even Facebook. It only takes a mean comment, an offensive post or a piece of bad news to ruin your morning. From experience, if the morning is ruined, so is my mood for most of the day. This is why you should wait half an hour or longer until you check out social. I’ve noticed that especially this step has made me a happier camper than I was before.
Trust me, you don’t want a thousand notifications coming in just after opening your eyes!
It’s also a good idea to turn off notifications or leave on Do Not Disturb for the first half-hour or so. Otherwise, you risk getting immediately bombarded with pings and vibrations. That reminder of how busy your day is going to be is not something you need just after getting out of bed.
I get everything ready the night before
I usually have my bag packed and everything ready to go. If I feel really productive I already put the clothes out for the next day. I also make sure I have my shoes and jacket ready and don’t need to look for stuff in the morning. This way, I can have as little stress as possible and save my nerves and brain power for later in the day.
At this point, it’s important to mention that I am far from perfect and I do sometimes indulge in my phone after waking up and sometimes I am too lazy to pack the day before. However, I notice that there is a large difference in my mood and the way I get up if I take the steps mentioned in this article.
Now you know how I get through the day without coffee to get addicted to. Just try a week of mornings without coffee and maybe you’ll be surprised, or maybe I’m just plain wrong… who can really know?
