I am not a morning person. I do not love waking up early and it doesn’t come naturally. On one hand, this makes it odd for me to write a post on this. On the other hand, I am no uniquely qualified to give advice on how to become a morning person, because this was something I had to figure out all on my own. Some days, I

1. Set your bedtime alarm. If you have an iPhone, then you know what I’m talking about. If not, here are the important points: Use an alarm that helps remind you when to get to bed. It’s also a major plus if you can have a sound for your alarm that slowly gets louder as it goes off. This creates less of a shock when your alarm goes off so you can wake up more gradually and calmly. What works for me is to set my bedtime around 10:30pm with a wake-up time of 5:45am. Everyone has their own needs when it comes to hours of sleep, so just use this as a template for crafting what works best for you.
2. Figure out your routine. Once I got my morning routine figured out, I was way happier to get to bed on time. Every morning, I water my plants, drink my coffee on our patio, and do a little online window-shopping. I have figured out that if I shower, get dressed, and pack my lunch for the day all before 7:00 am, then I have around 1.5 hours to relax and take my time going about my morning. This free time is so exciting to me that I definitely feel compelled to get to bed on time so I can enjoy that huge chunk of free time.
3. Bedroom hygiene is key! And I also suck at it but, again, I am a work in progress! In a perfect world, you shouldn’t have any screens in the bedroom because the screen light will affect your quality of sleep. Of course, like any other smart phone owner I can commonly be found scrolling Instagram before bed, however if you can swap this bad habit for reading a book or journaling, you’ll be better off. Or, if you really love listening to something before bed, try a podcast! I love listening to a story before bed, and you won’t have to worry about staring at a screen or the light.
4. Avoid unusual eating or drinking patterns at night. A lot of people avoid caffeine before bed, but just eating weird foods late at night can make it difficult to get good sleep. Keeping a regular diet helps with quality sleep. I notice that when I have ice cream before bed (my favorite time to eat ice cream), I have the worst sleep! I don’t know why, but now if I’m going to have ice cream, I have it earlier in the evening. On the other hand, a cup of decaf coffee before bed makes me feel cozy and warm inside and usually helps me sleep better.
5. Have some CBD in that tea! I purchased a lemon flavored CBD tincture (water soluble droplets) that you can add to really whatever you want. In my opinion, the best combo is Oolong tea with CBD in it. Something about the combo makes it cozy and you don’t get a super strong taste from the CBD. An even easier way to incorporate CBD into your routine is to pick up these sprays from Rejuvia. They’re quick and easy to use and, in my opinion, super effective and less cumbersome than having to drink a cup of tea.
6. Get a good mattress. Andrew bought me a Nectar mattress for my 30th birthday (don’t even get me started on how this played out in my house) and I think it’s really comfortable. However, the mattress we have in our guest room is far more affordable, and I honestly think it’s more comfy! Switching to a mattress without springs did wonders for me, and I really notice that I sleep much better on these types of mattresses.
7. Cultivate calm. The greatest obstacle I face in getting good sleep and being a morning person is my busy brain. I always have so many things going on that it’s hard to shut my brain off and really enjoy sleep. I’ve started to spend 5-10 minutes before bed creating a calm atmosphere for myself. During this time, I moisturize my feet, apply facial oils and serums, and use my facial massage tools to just zone out. Just like when you go for a facial or massage, try to be really present as you do all of this. It will center your thoughts on self-care and shift your mind away from your never-ending to-do list. Below are all of my favorite products for my nighttime routine. The Maelove bundle is the best deal and those are the products I use every single night.

Becoming a morning person didn’t happen overnight for me, so don’t get frustrated if it takes you a little bit to get things on track. If you’re really looking to take a deeper dive into switching up your sleep, check out this piece from the Sleep Foundation.

If you try switching up your sleep, shoot me a message and let me know how it goes and what changes you made to become a morning person. I hope this helps you on your sleep journey!