Students love to sleep, but going to bed on time is often difficult — and getting up in the morning is even more of a challenge. Nonetheless, becoming a morning person at university can improve your life. Not only will you arrive to class on time (without needing to rush), you can also use your morning productively, which will make it feel like you have more time. This may sound like a dream, but anyone can become a morning person — here’s how.
1. Get Up When Your Alarm Goes Off
Instead of hitting the snooze button, get out of bed as soon as your alarm goes off. You may need to train yourself to do this. One method is to set your alarm to become louder every time you hit snooze; another is to set an alarm sound that you can’t stand.
If you use your phone as an alarm clock, avoid looking at any notifications — that will only keep you in bed that much longer. It can help to leave your phone across the room, making the only option to get out of bed. Just don’t allow yourself to climb back in.
2. Prepare Yourself for the Day
If you’re slow to wake up, it can help to spend a few minutes adjusting your mindset for the day. Think about what you want to achieve (such as how you’ll progress toward your goals) and check your calendar to see what you have on your schedule for the day. Perhaps think about how you’ll manage to complete everything on your to-do list, including how it will feel to check off that final item — which is much more likely to happen if you’re productive early in the day. Finally, you may like to meditate or reflect on the positive things in your life.
Turn all this into a regular morning ritual. Soon, you’ll find yourself adapting to this reflective morning routine.
3. Talk to Someone
A solution for morning irritability is to socialize. Call a friend or family member or strike up a conversation with a roommate. You may feel like this takes an unreasonable amount of effort at first, but it will soon lead to you feeling happier at the start of every day.
4. Start Moving
It’s impossible to stay sleepy when you exercise. Find an exercise routine that works for you to energize yourself in the morning. You could use an app for a workout to do in your room, head to a nearby gym, jog in the park, or even join a fitness class. In fact, exercising with others can keep you motivated and accountable. If there are no organized classes in your area, create something yourself with a group of friends.
5. Go to Sleep on Time
Unless you’ve slept enough, it’s impossible to feel anything but exhausted in the morning. If you’re struggling to fall asleep, try putting away all screens a couple hours before bedtime. If this is impossible due to your study schedule, at least enable a blue light filter on your devices.
6. If All Else Fails, There’s Coffee
If you need an extra boost of energy in the morning, turn to coffee. Just thinking about how it will taste and smell may be enough to incentivize you to get out of bed. Plus, you’ll feel instantly awake and ready to take on the day.
One more thing that can help you become a morning person at university is having your own room. No one will disturb you at night, which will mean you gain a better night’s sleep.
To have your own room, though, you’ll likely need to move out of your dorm and look for student apartments. Oshawa students have Foundry Simcoe. You’ll share an apartment with just two or four other people and have a private bedroom that comes with a comfortable double bed. Apply now to secure your spot in time for next semester.
