“How can I become a morning person?” “How can I wake up earlier so I can get the most out of my day?” “I’m a night owl, is it even possible for me to become a morning person?”

ANYONE can become a morning person and I can promise you that waking up earlier has its health benefits. I don’t care if you tell me “Millie, I’ve NEVER been a morning person. It just isn’t me, I can’t do it”. If I was Dwight Schrute, I would look you dead in the eye and say this one word…FALSE

There was a study published in the journal Sleep Medicine that examined 22 “night owls” health and behavior habits as the adjusted to becoming “morning people”! Research shows night owls have a higher risk of suffering from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, mood swings, depression, and high levels of stress.

After the study, they noticed that earlier sleeping and waking patterns led to improved wellbeing and mental and physical performance.  They felt less stressed and depressed, scored better on cognitive tests.

⁣Becoming a morning person doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a process! Similar to getting into a new workout routine or transitioning to a new diet. You are retraining your body to adapt to a completely new sleep schedule. So let’s talk about HOW you can become a morning person:⁣ ⁣

☁️ This seems very “duh” but GO TO SLEEP. How many of us get into bed right at our bedtime and then all of a sudden it’s three hours later… ⁣Stop that! Stop that right now! GET SOME SLEEP⁣

⁣ ☁️ Stop electronic use TWO HOURS before your bedtime. If your goal bedtime is 9 pm, turn off Netflix, stop those YouTube videos and stay away from your phone and computer starting at 7 pm! 🛑 ⁣ ⁣ This will give your brain and body the perfect amount of time to wind down. Have dinner at the dinner table with your loved ones, get a tub going with that bath bomb you’ve been staring at every time you open your cabinet. RELAX.

☁️ Re-evaluate your “me time”. We use our entire day hustling and then whatever energy is left over for ourselves…which usually looks like laying in bed and scrolling on our phones.⁣ What if instead of saving the crumbs for ourselves, we make “me time” a priority and do it in the morning? Give yourself something to look forward to, something that makes you feel good!

☁️ If your body naturally wakes up before your alarm, DONT GO BACK TO SLEEP. ⁣ ⁣ You know those mornings where your body naturally wakes up and you just feel awake? Then you look at the time and you think “oh I still have another hour till my alarm goes off…I’ll just close my eyes for a bit” ITS A TRAP⁣!⁣ Your body naturally woke up for a reason. Get your booty out of bed.

☁️ Start easy on yourself! Go one month at a time. If you’re getting out of bed at 9 am, try to get up by 8:30. Then work your way backward 30 minutes each month after.

☁️ Weekends aren’t what you think they are! Everyone thinks of weekends as sleeping in and being lazy. WRONG. You should carry your new sleep schedule into the weekends! I know this sounds taboo, but trust me. In order to build this habit, you need to do it every day…INCLUDING WEEKENDS.

This is something I’ve been working on this year so I know it can be a struggle. However, I’ve been seeing the benefits. I wake up around 5:30 or 6 am to work on my business for an hour or two before I even have to get ready for work. I’ve been able to write blogs (like this one), edit my YouTube videos and spend time engaging on Instagram. I’ve seen my business start to grow simply by waking up 1-2 hours earlier.