There are a lot of guides out there on how to become a morning person, but the simple fact is that for some of us, mornings are just never going to come as easily as we’d like. Sure, we can make ourselves wake up on time for school, work, and other commitments, but we certainly don’t like it, and when left to our own, natural devices, we will happily snore away until noon.
So, what do you do if you hate mornings, but have no choice but to deal with them? Here are 4 simple tips that should be able to make mornings easier for you.
1. Pick out your clothes the night before.
Use your night owl self to do your morning self a favor, and pick out your entire outfit the night before, right down to your socks. Throw your outfit over the back of your desk chair or put it all on one hanger and hang it from the doorknob. It’s a habit that might take a while to get into, but you will be thanking yourself every morning for it. You’ll probably start dressing better too, as your tired, grumpy, morning self might have a questionable fashion sense.
2) Prepare your breakfast the night before.
Do your morning self another huge favor by having your breakfast ready before you wake up. Try to make something that can be pulled out of the fridge and that only requires heating. Or, better yet, get into the habit of making smoothies. Use your favorite fruits and juices for a quick, easy, and nutritious breakfast that will require minimal work on your part.
3) Stick to a strict morning routine.
One of the best ways to make your mornings easier is to structure a routine and stick to it, right down to the number of minutes it usually takes you to get dressed. This might seem tedious and obsessive, but you’ll be thanking yourself for it when you manage to head out the door on time. Create certain benchmarks for yourself, so that you know, for example, that by 7:15am you should be dressed and about to have breakfast.
4) Give yourself 10 minutes more than you think you need.
It seems cruel to tell a person who already hates waking up early to wake up even 10 minutes earlier, but those 10 minutes could save you some major headaches down the line. If you stick to your schedule, then it gives you 10 minutes to simply relax before you head out, which you can use to watch the news or leisurely drink your coffee.
But think about the mornings when you can’t find your keys or your cellphone. Instead of running around frantically, stressed because this means you are going to be late, you now have 10 minutes to find everything and make it out the door on time. If you often lose things and end up finding them in the most ridiculous places, then you might even want to extend this buffer time to 15 minutes.
