How I am Becoming a Morning Person

I hate mornings, well I used to anyway.

I have never been a morning person. It takes me several litres of coffee and a good hour or two of sunshine before I'm even approachable in the morning. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but hear me out. I have always been more of a night owl. I was the guy nearly twenty years ago, playing World of Warcraft until three or four in the morning and then not wanting to get up despite needing to be in the office for 9 am. And that had become a habit. It was a habit that I built and nurtured for many decades. But here's the thing: I always wanted to be a morning person. I wanted to be that guy who woke up in the morning fresh a daisy, with a lovely English Breakfast tea and plenty of time to get stuff done before I had to go to work. 2024 is the year I will become a morning person.

Why

My main reason for wanting to become a morning person is to get more done in the time I have. I'd got into a bit of a rut. I was going to work, coming home, watching TV, maybe doing some editing and then going to bed. Wake up, shower, work, repeat - every Monday to Friday. Each Monday at 8 am (and as of January this year, Tuesday as well), I would have a PT session at the gym, which was about a 20-minute walk away; I'd set my alarm for 6.45 and get ready to go and be out the door by 7.30. I'd be half asleep, and by the end of the session, I'd be fine, but the first 30 minutes were always, from my perspective, terrible.

I wanted to renew my habit of writing morning pages: three pages of handwritten thought. It clears the mental fog. In addition, I'd been a meditator for years, but I'd fallen out of a routine. Meditation only seemed to happen when I was stressed. It's like when we pray when times are tough, but when they are not, we don't bother. I was a fair-weather meditator. If I wanted to do this daily, I needed to wake up earlier than I was.

How

Becoming a morning person is the hardest and simplest thing you can do. Here's how I'm doing it.

I set my alarm for 6 am. That's it. I didn't snooze it. As soon as 6 am hit, I got out of bed, went downstairs and turned on the coffee machine. I would drink 500ml of water whilst the coffee machine was doing its thing. By 6.15 am, I would sit at my desk in the office with some Lo-Fi music playing, and I would set a Pomodoro timer for 35 minutes. When I started doing morning pages, it always took longer because I would stop and check notifications or follow up on a thought I'd just had. I spent more time googling than I did completing the exercise, missing the point of it entirely. TickTick has a Pomodoro timer, so I use that. After 35 mins, or once I've written three pages, I open the Waking Up application and meditate for 11 minutes following a guided meditation. This takes me to about 7 am, give or take. I don't need to shower if I'm going to the gym. I can shower at the gym after my session. If I'm not, that's when I get in the shower. I do this every single day - even at weekends.

Benefits

At the weekends, when I'm not bound to a job or have to be in the gym for my PT session, this is when I will start to write; I'm constantly falling behind on my novel writing targets, but that's fine because the book that I once called terrible is becoming something that may be, dare I say it, quite good. The story is evolving in ways I never expected. Readers will notice that most of my writings are longer and far more detailed than this blog, so they also take time; mornings give me that. However, you're reading my attempt to write under 1000 words. I might have to cut this bit. The other main benefit is that getting up earlier gives my day a buffer; I have time to clear my head and focus, ready for when my working day begins. On weekends, I'm prepared to focus on my projects, and by midday, I still have most of the day to spend with my husband. The benefits may seem small now, but as I have titled this, I'm becoming a morning person; I'm not quite one yet.

Have I achieved?

Yes and no. I can say that it's been more challenging than I thought. I have been having trouble sleeping at night this past month, and waking up in the dark isn't pleasant. However, as I've been super strict with myself (apart from maybe once or twice where I've slept in as a treat), I have found that I naturally wake up a minute or two before my alarm goes off. But I'm writing a lot more and reading more, and I feel like my day is varied and interesting; I am in command of my day, and that is all just from getting up at 6 am. I was talking to my CEO the other week. He gets up at 4.30 am, which I respect. But that's just ridiculous.

What Advice Can I Give?

If you're reading this and considering it, I would advise getting to bed earlier if you can. Prioritise your evening tasks and move stuff around so you get at least 7.5 hours of sleep. I've been lucky if I got five recently. But I'm sure that if you commit yourself and, regardless of what time you go to bed, ensure your wake time is consistent, you can make a successful morning person.