Becoming a Morning Person

In my quest to get it together I have been researching becoming a morning person.  Happily I have found a wealth of information on the subject.  There are many clever tips and ideas out there.  They have worked so well that I have been getting up at 7 am or earlier almost every morning for the last week.  I thought recording them here would be the best way to imprint them on my brain and maybe benefit a couple other people too.

On article on how to become a morning person pointed out that morning people tend to: make more money, be more productive, be healthier and live longer, and be more happy and satisfied in their lives.  That is a good little boost of motivation to try to make getting up early a habit.  This page has some good reasons for being a morning person and good tips on how to achieve it.  Here are a few tips I have found that I want to apply.

1) Making a list of what you can accomplish by becoming a morning person and then another list of what you risk if you don't.  I love lists.  This is a good way to get excited about something and make it solid and then can be useful to review it later when the initial burst of enthusiasm has died.

2) Turn on all the lights when you get up, a way to trick your body into thinking it is full day.

3) Set out your clothes the night before.  No decisions to make in the morning about what to wear when you are miserable and groggy.  Getting fully dressed reduces the chances of crawling back under the covers.

4) Put your alarm clock somewhere you have to get up and walk to in order to turn it off.  I've been leaving mine in the living room.  It is loud and we have neighbours above us so I get my butt up and out of bed quick to try to avoid disturbing them.

5) Get out the door and go for a walk immediately after waking up.  This one is really ideal for me with my goal of 10,000 steps a day.  It would give me a good jump start on my steps.  Also Danger dog would enjoy the walk.  If I can get him up, he is always the last one out of bed.

6) Dim the lights several hours before bed.  One website even suggested wearing glasses with yellow lenses to block out the blue spectrum light that makes you alert.

7) Be rigid with your wake up time, even on weekends, until you really are a morning person.

8) To help you get to sleep at night have a hot bath or shower to relax you before bed, write down anything that is worrying you so you can put it away until tomorrow.

9) If after half an hour in bed you are not yet asleep get up and do something quiet like reading (not some heart pounding suspense novel, something you can put down any time).  Avoid turning on any overhead lights, use dim desk lights.  Go back to bed when you are drowsy.

10) Start getting up an hour or two earlier than you are used to and then start getting up an minute earlier each day until you are at your goal time.

11) Give yourself a get up incentive.  Promise of a nice breakfast.  Reading a book that you're excited about.  Pick something you love.

12) Write, with pen and paper, three pages of whatever goes through your brain. Wakes up and primes your mind.

13) Have a glass of water with lemon waiting for you in the fridge to down just after waking up.

14) Exercise.  The one day last week I did cardio in the morning I was obnoxiously alert for the rest of the day.  The obnoxious part I will have to work on but the alert part was wonderful.

15) Eat a breakfast with protein.  Avoid processed foods and sugar.

16) Splash cold water on your face, several times.

Those are the highlights so far.  If researching and writing things down works for me I should be a morning person within a month.

Knowledge is power

So I'm thinking that I must be missing something here. Something that will make my goals realities and see me constantly improving on the past. As if there is a big chasm between having a desire to accomplish something and then actually getting it done. I have come to the conclusion that desire is not enough. Wanting something doesn't make it happen. Staggeringly insightful, I know.

Why has it taken me thirty odd years to figure out that just wanting something bad enough isn't enough? It isn't that I've failed to realize you need a plan to reach your goals. I've made such plans and I usually have more success when actually I follow my plan. But somehow I have only had a hazy idea of where knowledge has fit into all this. For years I have been making up schedules to manage my time and be more productive. They are very nice schedules, include everything I could possibly want to do, often color coded, and if I only followed them I would be an amazingly organized and efficient person. Where is the gap? How can I make such great plans and absolutely fail in following them?  Simply put I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.

Recently I sat myself down and had a nice chat with my brain about what successes I have had lately and how I achieved them:

My step goal last summer; I looked up a ton of information on walking, pedometers, and having a step goal. Then I acted on that knowledge. Knowledge is power. I met and surpassed my step goal. Felt great doing it.

Started living on a tight but reasonable budget; watched Gail Vaz Oxlade instruct dozens of people on how to live on a budget (spent a whole weekend watching a marathon of "'til Debt Do Us Part" on Slice TV). Read her website, used her suggestions, read other sites and success stories. Then put these into practice.  Knowledge is power. We now live on a budget without even giving it much thought. It is second nature.

Comparing these successes with my flops in getting on a schedule I tried to see what I could translate across to finally get a grip on how I use my time. One thing became quite obvious. I have no idea how to work up a proper schedule and even less of a clue as to putting it into effect. I am lacking the knowledge. So now my plan is to educate myself and then attack this scheduling problem with overwhelming force.