Rise and Shine: How to Become a Morning Person

1. Create a Ritual You Actually Look Forward to

I’ve found that waking up is much easier when you set out something to look forward to the night before. Not all of us can wake up at dawn and bang out fifty sit-ups or a morning run (if you do, more power to you), so you’re not someone who gets excited by exercise, don’t force it. Instead, I suggest looking to rituals that inspire you. Is it fifteen minutes of slow yoga? Is it listening to a relaxing playlist while making your favourite breakfast? Or maybe you like going on a short walk in the morning to clear your head? Whatever it may be, ensure you wake up with enough time to complete your ritual at your leisure.

Read More: How to Create a Morning Skincare Routine

Need some inspiration? Here’s what we do to wake up in the morning…

2. Maintain Good Sleep Hygiene

If you haven’t heard the term before, sleep hygiene refers to the healthy habits, behaviours and environmental factors that can be adjusted to help you have a good night's sleep. Most of us know that we need between 7-9 hours of sleep a night, but who is actually achieving that much-uninterrupted sleep? Of course, going to bed earlier would be the obvious solution but there are a few other things we suggest:

• Exercise regularly – a walk a day or twenty minutes of exercise a day
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, especially before bed
• Avoid afternoon and evening naps (what a shame!)
• Find relaxing pre-bed activities

Jessica Kumar, Liberty’s Omnichannel Marketing Production Lead Digital, shares her tip for early wake-ups:
"I'm not typically an early riser by nature, but I have gotten better at it over the years. The main thing I do is avoid having caffeine after 2pm as it's really bad for your sleep hygiene, (caffeine can stay in your system for several hours!). But I'm not the kind of person who restricts myself of small joys, so instead of cutting out coffee completely, I opt for decaffeinated versions of my favourite hot drinks – green tea and decaf coffee are my go-to afternoon drinks."

3. Establish a Cosy Evening Routine

When it comes to becoming a morning person, your night-time routine is just as important as your morning routine, because, ultimately, the more relaxed you are before bed the better your sleep will be and in turn, the easier it will be to wake up. Things like “breathing exercises, mindfulness, reading, drinking warm non-caffeinated herbal drinks, using lavender and essential oils or taking a bath are all good in bringing about a more relaxed state,” according to sleep physiologist Dr Kirandeep van den Eshof.

Read More: How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

Something that has helped me prepare for sleep is to set the scene – in other words, optimise your space for sleep. Creating an inviting, warm ambience and a dreamy bedscape that has you excited about going to bed. Candles and diffusers that emit spa-like fragrances are great for preparing your senses for relaxation, as well as a soft pair of pyjamas that make climbing into bed all the more enjoyable.

Gabriella Carr’s tip for night-time routines:
"Reading an hour before bed is really good for helping you unwind, and it actually encourages me to go to bed earlier. I also sleep with an eye mask on to help me sink into a deeper sleep and block out the morning sun for an uninterrupted night."

Read More: Relaxing Living Room Ideas to Transform Your Space

4. Avoid Tech Before Bed and in the Morning

This one was a deal-breaker for me. My old routine used to look a little something like this: showering and getting ready for bed, climbing under my duvet and mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and TikTok for at least half an hour (or let’s be honest, sometimes a whole hour). In the morning, I’d groggily turn off my alarm and lay in bed contemplating going back to sleep, before grabbing my phone and, again, scrolling mindlessly on socials. This is quite possibly the worst way to go to sleep and wake up, as the blue light can disrupt your sleep, and the vast intake of information first thing in the morning can overload your mind, making you less able to prioritise tasks in your day.

If you need a distraction before bed or can’t possibly think about going to bed or waking up with your phone, start slow, and limit yourself to ten minutes on your phone instead of 30 and then in time, remove it completely. Alternatively, try swapping technology for a book or a sleep podcast to help drift you into a less disruptive sleep.

5. Some Things to Remember…

• Get a dose of vitamin D when you wake up – of course, with our temperamental weather, this might not be possible every day, but when you can, a dose of sunshine in the morning will tell the body to suppress melatonin (the chemical that makes us fall asleep), making it easier to get up and ready for the day. Either step outside or simply draw back the curtains and soak it in.
• Streamline your morning routine – to make room for all the new exciting rituals you’ll be doing in the morning, take care of all the less favourable tasks the night before.
• Make it a habit – like everything in life, consistency is key, so as tempting as it may be to sleep in on the weekends, try your best to stay in the routine of waking up early.
• Start scheduling your leisure time – many of us reserve our calendars and diaries for work meetings or appointments, but scheduling in activities or leisure time ensures you prioritise your downtime just as much. Try to pencil in one “appointment” a day to give you something to wake up excited for alongside your morning ritual.