If you're not a morning person by nature, that's totally fine. The sunrise has never seemed that much better than the more accessible evening version, and all of those people jogging perkily down the sidewalk at dawn seem like they're honestly just there to taunt you. Plenty of people go their entire lives without ever subscribing to the notion of mornings being a good or fun thing, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways in which you can learn how to become a morning person in college.
Personally, I am a big, big fan of the morning time. I rowed in high school and college, so any original love I had for dawn was cemented into my brain as a standard way of being. I think the air smells sweeter in the morning, the sky debuts its best colors, and the world is a generally better place between 4 and 8 a.m. That may have something to do with the fact that most other people in the world are still asleep at that point, but that's neither here nor there. I am convinced that my love of the morning has everything to do with my French press, and nothing to do with my aversion to human noises.
With a little help and guidance, you too can become one of those annoying college students who greet the day with spirit hands, like they're all extras on the La La Land set. Here are seven ways to make the most of your college experience by learning how to become a morning person.
If you're totally zonked every morning and hitting the snooze button 10 or more times, you might want to think proactively so that you don't have to act reactively. As it turns out, cherry juice makes you sleep longer. In fact, drinking cherry juice before bed will potentially allow you to sleep over an hour longer every night.
To state the obvious, going to sleep for longer periods of time is pretty much guaranteed to help you feel more rested come morning, and you might actually look forward to getting up and out of bed to start your day.
Try setting up a routine in which you drink a big glass of cold water every morning. Cold water has an energizing effect on your body: It improves cardiovascular circulation, boosts your happiness levels, and some people even argue water can wake you up better than a cup of coffee (although I strongly, strongly disagree with this argument on a fundamental level).
Set up a reward system for yourself that lets you look forward to waking up early. For example, you can set up a personal schedule in which you treat yourself to your favorite Starbucks latte every time you get out of the apartment without hitting snooze.
It sounds a little silly, but it works on a chemical level: Connecting an event you usually don't look forward to with something that gives you pleasure is a great way to reverse your mental circuitry and help you come to enjoy waking up early.
Although staring at screens is certainly not going to help you sleep, there are some apps that can help you maximize your sleep hours and wake up at the right time.
For example, the app Sleep Time works to keep you from that awful feeling that happens when your alarm goes off during the deepest part of your REM cycle:
Sleep Time uses the sensitive accelerometer in your Android to detect movements during the night. Our advanced algorithm determines your phase of sleep, and sets off the alarm at the perfect moment. You will never wake up from a deep sleep feeling groggy again.
Similarly to treating yourself, you can try to trick your brain into being excited by signing up for an early workout class you've had your eye on for a while.
If the excitement doesn't get you out of bed, the fear of incurring a cancellation fee will probably do the trick.
Pull the curtains back in your bedroom before you go to sleep. Waking up to natural light always makes it easier to get up and out of bed, especially compared to waking up to a pitch-black bedroom that's practically begging you to fall back asleep.
There's scientific proof that this helps, too: Your body's natural clock is sensitive to night and day, so seeing light lets your brain know that it's time to be awake.
OK, this one is a little risky, but if you schedule a ton of morning classes for yourself, it might force you to change your sleep and living schedule to accommodate that.
I'm not saying you should sign up for an 8 a.m. lecture class of 500 people; that won't do anything for you. Instead, consider a smaller, more intimate class that you actually enjoy going to, or with a professor you genuinely like. Even if you're not amped up to go to the class, most of these smaller courses typically penalize you when you don't show up, so, you know, there's that.
