We all have different sleeping chronotypes. While some people prefer to sleep late and wake up late, others wake up early and sleep early. And if you are an entrepreneur, it’s important to learn how to become a morning person.
According to Professor Christoph Randler at the University of Education in Heidelberg, Germany, morning people are more successful than evening people. And that’s because they tend to be more proactive in their day-to-day lives.
A survey conducted by The Guardian supported Professor Randler’s idea. The survey revealed that the CEOs of some of the most successful brands in the world always wake up on or before 5 am.
You see, if you want to be successful in your entrepreneurial journey, you must learn to become a lark (morning person).
Read Also: 7 Kinds of Rest You Need to be More Productive
So, here are some helpful tips on how to become a morning person.
Helpful Tips on How to Become a Morning Person
#1. Plan a Morning Schedule for Yourself
One of the tips on how to become a morning person is to plan a morning schedule for yourself. Try to have a wake-up, exercise, and breakfast routine every day.
Of course, the routine may be challenging for you during the first few months. But over time, your body will naturally adjust to it. Our body system is designed to anticipate what’s happening and settle into it over time.
Again, your focus should be on waking up early. Don’t stress yourself with bedtime; it will adjust itself. Once you don’t renege on your wake-up routine, your bedtime will sort itself out.
By the time you are through with the day’s workload, you will eventually get tired at night. And that will make you go to bed early.
Like I mentioned earlier, getting used to your new morning schedule isn’t as easy as it sounds. You may find it challenging initially. But if you are committed to becoming a morning person, your body will get used to the routine over time.
#2. Use a Smart Alarm
One of the best tips on how to become a morning person is to use a smart alarm. Most times, people often set alarms, and once the alarms ring, they use the snooze button to postpone their wake-up time.
Even though there’s nothing wrong with snoozing your alarm, it could disrupt your transformation into a morning person. So, if you are serious about changing your chronotype of an early riser, you need to use a smart alarm.
Using a smart or math alarm tasks your brain before turning the alarm off. And after setting it off, you won’t want to sleep again.
Again, when setting your alarm, try to use different songs from your music library. Your alarm will be less effective if your brain gets used to a particular song. That’s why you have to change your alarm tone from time to time.
#3. Use Light to Realign Your Body’s Clock
Our body system has an inner clock that’s very sensitive to light. So, once there’s light in the room, it tells the brain that the day has started. And this will, in turn, send signals to your body to stop the production of melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone that regulates sleep.
Even though it’s not dawn yet, you can switch on the room light to awaken your brain. No matter how dizzy you are feeling, bright indoor lights will always obstruct your sleep.
Whenever you are still feeling a bit drowsy after your alarm wakes you, turn on your bright indoor light, and you will be fully awake and active.
#4. Get Some Exercise
Exercising is one of the best tips on how to become a morning person. Once you exercise the first thing in the morning, your body will wake up, and your brain will be active.
Furthermore, a good exercise routine in the morning helps you sleep better at night, lower your blood pressure, and reduce stress and anxiety.
And it’s more effective to do your early morning exercise in bright light. Some of the exercises you can do to wake your body are jogging, skipping, biking, dog walking, etc.
But whatever exercise you decide to add to your morning routine, try to be consistent with it. That’s the only way you can get great results.
#5. Always Look at the Bigger Picture
Let me remind you again, becoming a morning person is more difficult than it sounds. A time may come when you are discouraged and don’t want to keep to your routine.
You will mostly have this experience during the first few weeks of the exercise. Try not to give up. Encourage yourself and try to look at the bigger picture.
Ask yourself why you want to become a morning person in the first place? Is it because you want to get a degree, increase your income, get fit, or build a business empire?
Once you continuously remind yourself about the bigger goals, you will always have the zeal to continue.
If possible, try to think or write about something whenever you feel discouraged about your early morning routine. You can write about relationships, personal values, hopes, aspirations, etc. This will undoubtedly motivate you to keep following your routine.
#6. Give It Time
One of the tips on how to become a morning person is to give it time. Trust me, it won’t happen overnight. Just be consistent and honor your new schedule.
But there may be instances when you will press the snooze button a few times. For instance, you may not want to wake up early while on vacation or during the weekend. It’s perfectly understandable.
However, it’s better to be committed to your new routine if you want it to become a lifestyle.
It’s an open secret that waking up early is difficult. But some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world are early risers. For instance, Tim Cook, Apple CEO starts his morning by 3:45 am, Richard Branson wakes up between 5 and 6 am.
So, if you want to go far as an entrepreneur, learn to wake up early. It seems to be one of the keys to success.
