I used to consider myself a night owl. I would remain tired all day right until 10pm, and then I would get a rush of energy and not be able to calm myself down until midnight to go to bed.
Well my friends, this little thing called getting older is happening. At this point in my life, I’m straight up exhausted by 10pm. And this is a major problem because, you know, I come home from my full-time job to work on the blog most nights.
I don’t get home from work until 7-7:30 usually, and by the time 9:30 rolls around I run out of steam. So now I only have two hours after coming home to eat dinner, relax, and prep my blog for the next day. These past two weeks I’ve majorly been struggling. I know I need to be more productive before 10pm, and there’s only one way I can achieve this goal: get my butt out of bed earlier.
I’m going to be honest. I’m that girl who has to set 5 alarms in the morning (and hits “snooze” on every single one of them). I usually have 2 cups of coffee before noon to stay awake. My body doesn’t like to get up in the morning, but I would love to start my day sooner just so I can be a more productive person.
I have a few things in mind to help me wake up earlier. If you have any tips/tricks, let me know!
- Prepare a quick breakfast. Is anyone else guilty of putting off breakfast until they get to work? I’m also one of those people who’s hungry as soon as they wake as well, so I get slightly hangry (hungry + angry) when I wait to eat 2 hours after waking up. Through my friends at St. Ives, I was reminded that things like oatmeal only take a mere 5 minutes to prep. I can certainly spare five extra minutes in the morning to satisfy my hunger; I’m also able to focus at work way better if I’m not hungry!
- Put my alarm across the room. I’ve done this before, but I need to start doing it everyday. Sometimes I’ll charge my phone super far away from my bed so I’m forced to get out of bed to turn it off. The act of physically getting out of bed wakes me up pretty well! Because getting out of bed is honestly the worst part about waking up.
- Give yourself incentive to wake up. For me, showering is probably my favorite thing to do in the morning. Something about it is just so calming, and it’s when my brain really “turns on” for the day. I gave St. Ives Nourished & Smooth Oatmeal Body Scrub a try, and I loved the way it exfoliated my skin. My skin was left ridiculously smooth, and it’s absolutely perfect to use in the dead of winter when your skin is super dry.To finish off the nourishment, I used St. Ives Nourish & Soothe Oatmeal & Shea Butter Body Lotion. I go crazy over anything with shea butter, it’s one of the only things that keeps my skin hydrated this time of year.
- Workout in the morning. Good news, I’ve been cleared by my doctor to start working out again! As tempting as a 6:30 pm workout is, I need that time in the evening to finish up blog projects and answer emails. I’m challenging myself next week to start taking 6:30 am barre. Wish me luck!
- Blog in the morning. I don’t know why, but I’m a way better writer in the mornings. Half the time when I write my blog posts at night, I fall asleep in the middle of writing it. You don’t even want to know how many times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night with all of my lights still on and my laptop in my bed. Yikes! I hope I can start getting blog work done in the mornings just so I can start being more efficient.
I’ll check in with you all in a month or so to tell you how this attempt at becoming a morning person goes!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of St. Ives. The opinions and text are all mine.