“Oh god I am late again?” I say over a glance at the clock that sits pretty on my night stand. With sleep still in my eyes I am able to read the numbers 9:17am! “What day is it?” I start to count the days of the week on my fingers and I realize that today is “THURSDAY! Oh god I CANNOT be late again! Dang it, Jillian, you didn’t even go to class last week!” The next ten minutes is a haze of brushing my teeth and drinking coffee at the same time, and do not even bother to try and imagine the taste that circulated my taste buds. The trip to campus was a blur yet I am able to recall the shouting and the anxious glancing from the clock on my dashboard to the road as if I would manage to make it to my 9:35am class! Shocker, I didn’t, but I did have to make the embarrassing walk of shame from the door to the only empty seat which happened to be in the back of the room. And, as usual, the  professor chose to act as though I wasn’t walking through his class with my leggings and old torn-up hoodie! I sit down seeing if the chair could eat me whole in the time being. ‘I swear, Jillian, get your stuff together! You will not be late for the rest of year. You got this.”

Please tell me that this is not something only I have experienced! If, by the rare occasion, this is something you cannot relate to then you must the best student known to man….or a liar! I’ll let you decide which one is the truth. If you are like me, then you understand the struggle of waking up in the morning because your bed has a velvety voice which is calling your name as if it is mermaids leading you the rocks. How many times will we wake up late before we decide to make an AMAZING morning routine? Wait no… we aren’t making an amazing morning routine? Oh I am? Okay, here are 10 ways to wake up in the morning like the adults we are trying to make everyone believe we actually are!

• Move your alarm clock across the room!
  • If your alarm clock is not by your bed then you lose your ability to just hit the snooze button and doze back off to dreamland. Closing your eyes for just a ‘few minutes’ after your alarm originally goes off will forever be a dangerous game to play; one second you’re thinking of what outfit you’d wear to class and the next you stare at the back of your eyelids. And trust me, that is not as cute of a view!
• Drink a huge cup of coffee and make yourself a good breakfast.
  • Fuel your body when you wake up and take a few moments for yourself! If you take this time each morning allowing your body and mind to prepare itself for the day ahead, this helps lower your stress levels throughout the day, and overall make you a happier and more inspired person.
• Pack and prepare everything the night before.
  • Do you normally bring your lunch to campus? Great! Meal prep the night before and pack it all away in a nice little lunch box so it’ll be ready when you wake up, ready to walk out the door. Also while you’re at it, go ahead and set out your outfit with your shoes and accessories alongside it. Make sure your bag is packed with all of the things you will need in your classes for the day to come, and you can’t forget to set the delay for your coffee pot. By preparing everything you need the night before you are now able to smoothly go through the motions the next morning when you are still only half awake. And now you no longer have to worry about forgetting things that may be deemed important throughout the day.
• Know what time you need to go to sleep.
  • Even if you are a college student and you are super busy, your body still needs sleep to function. Having a lack of sleep is going to cause weight gain, irritability, and you are going to end up driving yourself crazy. Even in your busy schedule you need sleep or it is going to cause your body more harm for it is not healthy!
• Change your alarm names on your phone.
  • No one wants to wake up to something mean and un-motivating! So change the name on your alarm clock and build up to something more aggressive.
  • 8:00 am (wake up sleepy heady)
  • 8:20 am (you need to shower still)
  • 8:45 am (Did you want coffee?)
  • 9:00 am (WAKE UP YOU’RE GONNA BE LATE!)
• DO NOT use your phone before you go to sleep!
  • The blue and white lights that a phone produces is tricking your body into thinking that it doesn’t need to go to bed! Cell phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronic devices stop the brain from releasing melatonin (a hormone that tells your brain it’s time to settle down and go to sleep). So log off your devices and snuggle in bed with a good book.
• Stop eating two to three hours before your bedtime
  • What is the point of eating? To give your body energy and fuel to power through the day! So why eat right before bed? When you eat two to three hours before bed, you are letting your body digest food and supply more energy which you want to naturally burn off.
• Figure out your WHY!?!?
  • Why are you getting up this morning? Days hit where you just can’t think of a good reason to get up and get ready for the day, so find your reason! Are you waking up early to workout and to get in shape or are you waking up early to study so you can get a good GPA and your dream job. When you wake up already knowing your why, you will feel more motivated and overall more inspired to get everything down on your to-do list.
• Make your bed!
  • This one sounds crazy, yes I know, but it is the easiest thing to do. Making your bed in the morning makes you no longer want to crawl back under the warm and inviting blankets. Also when you make your bed, you have already accomplished one thing at the very start of your day. And, when you feel productive, you are normally likely to keep working throughout the day.
• Exercise in the morning
  • I know that this sounds crazy, but trust me! When you workout in the morning, you are getting your body moving and ready for the day, and you are preparing a healthy lifestyle! When you work out in the morning, your willpower is higher versus at night when you are able to come up with 101 excuses to not put the work in when you exercise.

“When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.” -John Lennon