Is it physically possible to enjoy mornings in college

Call it genetics, luck, or a divine gift, I, Paige Hoel, am now and always have been a morning person.

I am also 21 and in a sorority, two demographics that are majority morning opposed unless brunch is involved.

I get asked maybe 5 times a week how I am able to be a morning person, what my trick is, why I don’t sleep in, and my legitimate answer is that I’m in love with mornings. I love going for a run and seeing a completely empty college campus. I love exchanging smiles and greetings with gardeners and seeing the dewey grass. I love all of it, maybe because I feel as if it is a personal gift that a very small amount of people are able to see the way I do.

Regardless, aside from being a hopeless romantic of the untouched morning world, I do have a couple pointers that help on the mornings that I am not so enthusiastic.

1. Don’t snooze your alarm. Don’t tease your poor body like that. I’m sorry, I know a lot of people live by this, but go cold turkey. If you know you need to wake up at 6:30 set your alarm at 6:30.
2. Sit up in your bed, grab your phone, chug some water. I know you love your cocoon. Try easing out of it. I’m no doctor but I’m pretty sure water helps move things around?? Think of it as oiling up your organs maybe?? Idk just do it I promise it’ll help. I also cruise through insta, facebook, emails, for about 10 minutes. Something will either motivate me to get out of bed, or workout, or will look super delicious to eat. Just think- this person in this picture could be YOU but the first step is getting out of bed.
3. Go to the bathroom, wash your face. Splash water like those Neutrogena commercials. Make a mess. Wink at yourself in the mirror and feel cute. You’re a morning girl (or guy or gender non conforming individual) now! Werk ittt!
4. Make your bed. Make it look beautiful, so beautiful that if you were to crawl back in and mess it up it would be a tragedy.
5. Move your body. This is when I go to the gym. I believe everyone has an ideal time of day to exercise, and thankfully for myself thats 6:30am. If you are not in this boat, just stretch it out a little. A little bit of lunges never hurt anyone (not a verified fact)
6. Get dressed, shower if you’re into that. I am a morning shower-er as well. Forget about being productive if you’re wearing your PJ’s till 11am (again not a verified fact)
7. Eat a delicious breakfast. You are now dressed, stretched, hydrated, and eating the most important meal of the day. Look at you!!! Winner! I usually go for two eggs and some toast. Possibly berries if available. Coffee always. Insert at least one glass of water here.
8. WAKE UP AT THE SAME(ish) TIME EVERY DAY. Again, not a doctor, but I know your body is happier when its in a routine. Try easing yourself into your ideal wake up time over the course of a couple weeks and stick to it. Waking up at 7 one day and 12 the next is a NO GO.

And those are my tips for not hating mornings! Go you! I have some other additional tips if you are feeling like an overachiever:

• Go outside. Get that fresh air! If you live in a cold/ miserable place I am so sorry, I have no help for you.
• Lay out your clothes the night before. Pretend you’re in 2nd grade and tomorrow is picture day.
• Open your blinds asap OR set a timer on your lights so that they turn on when you wake up. Even I have a hard time waking up when its pitch black so try to and make it easier on yourself
• Turn on the radio. Get woke, literally. Listen to some NPR and feel like a real adult.
• Do some planning! Grab any of my free printables or go overboard and buy some of them off my etsy.

My final tips would be to work your way into a morning routine. Rome wasn’t built in a day! Try maybe 4 tips and work your way up to all of them, or ease into your ideal wake up time by 30 min a week.

I also want to say that not all of us are made to be morning people (again this statement is not purposefully backed up by any science whatsoever) I work more efficiently in the morning and after 9pm my brain turns to mush and I just don’t fight it anymore. If you’d rather stay up late doing homework don’t torture yourself by waking up at 6 just to feel productive. Also, if you’re in college, there realistically wont be many more times in your life where you can get away with staying up till 2am and waking up at 10am so if thats what you like I would savor it while you still can.

Have a great morning, afternoon, or night!