Whether you’re entering first year of university and wondering how you ever made it to school for eight thirty every day, or you’re a second or third year with a promise to attend more lectures than you did in your first, waking up for those dreaded 9am lectures can definitely seem like a challenge. But, before you automatically hit that snooze button, check out the following tips on how to master an early get-up.
First thing’s first. Waking up early is not just about unwillingly managing to crawl out of your pit at an unearthly hour. The trick to feeling fresh in the morning is good preparation the night before.
One of the key ways in which you can survive an early morning is clean eating the previous evening. Try to avoid spicy foods, or meals that are high in fat as they will keep you tossing and turning all night. More importantly, on those quiet nights, try and avoid alcohol as although they’ll help you fall to sleep quicker, it will be a struggle when the morning comes around.
Ok, so it’s highly probable that you had no control over what time your head eventually hit the pillow, and the ‘avoid alcoholic beverages’ tip went out of the window as you were out the night before… Don’t panic. There are still many simple steps you can take to ensure your early morning is a success.
Firstly, pour yourself a large glass of water to keep by your bedside. Not only will this be useful when early morning dehydration kicks in, but taking a sip of water first thing will make you increasingly alert.
Set your alarm clock not once, not twice but three times. This way, you’ll give yourself an ambitious, a realistic and a desperate time to clamber out of bed. In between alarms, as opposed to fighting sleep, browse through your phone to slowly break yourself into the day whether that be aimlessly scrolling through your Twitter feed or clicking through Buzzfeed. Just make sure you don’t use this time to conjure up a great excuse why it is totally acceptable to write the morning off.
Albeit a little cheesy, tell yourself reasons why you are excited to start the day. If this fails, think of all the things you have to do and therefore why you couldn’t possibly stay in bed a second longer.
Leave a gap in your curtains so when daylight arrives, it’s shining straight through your window. Understandably, seeing a misty haze won’t make you want to jump out of bed in a hurry, but I can guarantee seeing the light rolling in makes it much less easier to turn over and fall back to sleep.
Upon waking up, drag your tired self to the bathroom. If the harsh lighting itself isn’t enough to bring you out of your sleepy state, taking a shower, splashing your face with cold water, or even brushing your teeth will perk you up straight away.
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. With this in mind, try and resist scoffing that big fat fry-up your delicate self is craving. Hangover cure? Yes, but in the long term it will leave you feeling sluggish and bloated. If you want to stay energetic for the whole day, opt for some fruit, yoghurt, wholegrain bread, or eggs in the morning.
Finally, if you can, arrange to meet course mates to walk to lectures with. You might not feel too guilty convincing yourself that a lay-in is totally acceptable, but you’ll start to feel like a huge let down if you’re having to send the ‘sorry I can’t make it’ again.
