Question: Help! How can I become a morning person? Do you have any tips?

If you have been following Maple Alps for a while both here and on Instagram, you know that I am a morning person. So many of you have asked this question in the Ask Amanda, that I figured I’d best get onto answering it!

A little bit of background before I go into this: I was not always a morning person. In fact, I hated getting up in the mornings because I was not getting enough sleep. I would stay up all hours of the night with thoughts running through my mind on full speed. As a result, my sleep was not restful, and mornings were a drag. I could sleep in for hours if allowed to. I could even sleep through the most dramatic of situations and fall asleep anywhere.

It wasn’t until I was forced to unplug from everything that I finally trained my body to wake up early. Now, I know that sleep is a pretty complicated thing and not everyone is designed to be a “morning person” but here are some things that helped me get a handle on waking up earlier and more refreshed on a regular basis.

Create Routines around Bedtime and Waking Up

Having evening and morning routines can trick your body in profound ways. Waking up at the same time - even during vacations and on the weekend can help! I read somewhere that even if you went to bed late the night before, you should wake up early the next day. I’ve been doing this for years and find that I’m greatly productive in the mornings - especially on the weekend because I’m less stressed about my usual schedule. Eventually, like me, you won’t even bother setting your alarm anymore because your internal clock knows what’s up!

Do Something Positive or Productive

I like to start my day out spending time with Jesus. It sets the tone for my day and helps me be productive later. Once I’ve spent some time meditating on the Word and noting what I’m grateful for, and journaling and praying, I feel more ready to take on my day. In fact, once I started doing this, I began getting up even earlier because I wanted more uninterrupted time to do it. 

Make Your Sleeping Area Your Haven for Relaxation

My parents always told me that I shouldn’t study or read or work in my bed so that my brain would associate my bed with sleep. They must have been talking to some experts about the insomnia I was suffering from. Turns out they were pretty much right (okay, okay, see parents?). While I am guilty of even typing out this post from my bed right now, I have experienced the benefits of making sure my bedroom is a haven for relaxation. Making your room cozy and having your brain associate it with relaxation will make for better sleep. 

Sleep When You’re Tired

Listen to your body at night when it tells you it’s tired and go to bed. If you wait too long, you won’t be tired anymore. Kind of like when you take Melatonin and stay awake too long and force your body up and it’s not effective anymore. No one else? Just me? Okay. 

Try a Smart Alarm

I’ve had little success with smart alarms - alarms that wake you up during a specific frame of your sleep cycle rather than at a specific time of the day - but I know others who have. Doesn’t hurt to try it and see if it wakes you up feeling more refreshed than usual! I’ve also heard of alarms that wake you up with light. 

Get Up and Out

When that alarm goes off, get up and out of your room ASAP. Go grab a drink of water or take a shower or exercise, but since your brain is going to be associating your warm bed with sleep now, you have to tell it that it’s time to get moving! 

Don’t Stress

Life happens. Don’t stress when you can’t sleep when you want to. From experience, it keeps you up even longer. Don’t stress when you sleep a little later than you wanted to. Even if it makes you late. Life happens, and taking it in stride will make you happier and healthier.

How do you make early mornings more desirable?

If you have a question, feel free to leave one below for a future segment of "Ask Amanda!"