Naturally, I’m a night owl. I used to get a second wind in the evenings and would regularly stay up until 1:00am. I used to get hungry in the evenings before I starting Intermittent Fasting and would eat as late as 10:00pm. I was never a morning person, but I was responsible and would get out of bed early to take care of my business.
Being a Trainer, I now have to be up very early and provide energy, enthusiasm, and motivation as early as 5:00am for a large group of people. I’ve had to change quite a few things around with my morning routine to make this a reality. Now, I actually enjoy my mornings and consider myself a morning person.
I wake up at least an hour before I have to train a client or teach a class. If I’m not up for more than an hour I don’t feel as if I have the proper energy to tell people what to do and demonstrate what their training will entail, especially that early in the morning.
The best change I’ve made to my morning routine is that I stopped using my iPhone’s alarm clock and switched to the alarm clock on my Apple Watch. I’ve traded in the loud, jarring jingle of my alarm to a gentle vibration on my wrist. It’s made waking up early a breeze. Instead of being jolted awake by the screeching alarm clock, it feels like an angel caressing my wrist, easing me into my day. Side note, sleeping with your Apple Watch may take some getting used to. It took me a week before it normalized and I was comfortable sleeping with it on my wrist. You could also do this with a Fitbit if you don’t have an Apple Watch.
I don’t think the use of a traditional alarm clock is good for us. Throughout human history, any time we were woken up by a sudden burst of loud noise it was a bad sign. It’s an inherently stressful situation. I don’t think your first conscious moment of the day should involve a startling alarm ripping you out of your current sleep cycle.
I also stopped hitting the snooze button. This is another great addition to my morning routine. That extra five or nine minutes, depending on your alarm’s preset snooze, isn’t going to make you feel any better. You’re going to be just as tired, if not more so after that snooze cycle. You set your alarm at that time for a reason. Snoozing your time away only puts you behind schedule and you’re going to start your day off by scrambling to get things together at the last minute. Another source of unnecessary stress first thing in the morning. You’re already letting yourself down, losing from the jump.
Force yourself out of bed. Yes, I know this is the most comfortable you’ve been in bed since you got in the night before. This is the hardest part of every morning. Get up and start your day as you intended. You might need to give yourself a pep talk, use affirmations, or a mantra to get you going. Do whatever works best for you.
At this point I go take a piss and then head straight to the coffee maker. Depending on the day I’ll make enough for one or two travel mugs. If I’m training that day I’ll brew two. I drink one travel mug at my apartment before I leave for work and save the other for 20 minutes before my workout.
Right after I turn on the coffee maker, I head over to my couch and spend 5 minutes meditating with the breathe app on my Apple Watch. I’m not sure why 5 minutes is the max on the app, should be at least 10 minutes, but I run through one cycle anyway. Those 5 minutes each morning help center me for the rest of the day. It’s calming yet energizing. It puts my mind at ease but wakes my body up, if that makes any sense.
Once I finish my meditation I walk over to the coffee maker and pour up a fresh mug of coffee. I let the coffee cool a bit as I get dressed and wash my face. As I drink my coffee, I read one of the two books I’m currently working through. This is another important change I’ve made to my mornings. Rather than watching the divisive sensationalism on the news, checking email/ texts, or seeing whatever the daily outrage is on my social media timeline(s), I get to decide the information I consume first thing in the morning.
This is more powerful than you may realize. All the information you absorb in the morning frames your mindset for the rest of the day. Don’t give someone else the ability to dictate how you feel/ what you think about as you start your day.
At this point in the morning I’m feeling great. I now look forward to sipping my coffee and reading each morning in peace. Once I finish my coffee, I brush my teeth and I’m ready to make the most of my day.
If I can become a morning person, so can you. Try out a few of the things I mentioned above and see if it helps you with your morning routine.
Talk again soon,
Shane