Summer, 2014, the conversation went like this:
Mom: “Good morning Allison!”
Me: “Hi.”
Mom: “How’d you sleep?”
Me: “Fine.”
Mom: “What does your day look like today?”
Me: *eye rub and big sigh* “Ummmm. Normal?”
And this was a good morning. I have been notorious for being….less than pleasant in the mornings. It just hasn’t been my thing. I go to bed at a normal hour, sleep vey well, but wake up cranky and angry at the world. It was known in my family: Don’t speak to Allison in the mornings (you think I’m exaggerating this for the sake of a good post? I promise you, I’m not).
So, when the boyfriend and I realized that our precious gym runs were being sacrificed for long days at work (school for him), and that our energy for the gym at 7:00 pm was nonexistent, we realized that our only option for keeping the gym AND work AND our relationship intact was to commit to working out….*gulp* in the morning.
The first week or two was ROUGH. Every morning the first week consisted of texts from me asking, “Are you awake?” Secretly hoping that he wasn’t awake and I could blame my going back to sleep and skipping the gym on him not waking up. But every morning his response was something along the lines of “Yup, let’s do this!” And thus, I became a morning person. But how?
1. Take out the obstacles: I’ve had to place a glass of water next to my bed, literally put my gym clothes next to me in my bed, have my jacket hanging on the door, and set at least 2 alarms (one for 45 minutes before I had to leave to warn me that the next one was coming 15 minutes later). When it’s work early in the morning, this involves packing my lunch the night before as well. It’s part of my morning routine, and the more obstacles I take care of the night before, the less effort it requires in the morning. Less effort = more likely to follow through.
2. Text someone else who is awake: Undoubtedly if Mike wasn’t awake most of those mornings, I would have jumped at the opportunity to go back to bed. Know anyone else who is a morning person? Text them in the morning. It’ll get your brain going, and the thought of stopping a conversation because you fell back asleep will keep you going.
3. What’s your motivation? My motivation: if I work out now, I get the hours from whenever I get home until I go to bed totally to myself. If I don’t, then I lose an hour and a half of that time. AND I’ll probably be feeling sluggish throughout the day. All of that is more important to me than an extra hour of sleep. Find motivation that is greater than your desire to sleep in, and you’ll see it pay off. Which will only reinforce your morning person-ness!
4. Stick with it: Remember how I said the first week was rough? I wasn’t kidding. I did NOT want to keep it up because my mentality was “I’m SO tired, this isn’t working.” But after the first week and partly into the second one, it got easier. I began to be able to do it without anyone else doing it with me. In fact, I was better at it. Suddenly, I found myself with more energy and less need to nap when I got home at 6:00 (not okay). They say that it takes two weeks (or is it 3?) to make something a habit. So stick with it, give it some time, and it’ll get easier!
For all you blessed people who naturally wake up early and pleasant, I hate you (and by hate I mean I’m completely jealous). If you’re like me, and mornings are your arch nemesis, try these tips and see how you feel within the next month. Next thing you know you’ll be voluntarily waking up to watch the sunrise! OK maybe that’s stretching it….
