What do your mornings look like? Do you wake up feeling rushed and stressed out?
As a natural night owl, waking up early in the mornings has never been much of a priority to me in the past. I would either wake up to rush and get started on work, or wake up to Little Miss screaming for me to come get her.
Not exactly a serene way to begin the day on a peaceful and enjoyable note.
I have been very intentional with my morning time and getting out of bed well before I need to lately though, and I’ve noticed how much it’s really helping me set myself up for a day of success and fulfillment.
I feel so much better in general when I have a few hours to myself before Little Miss wakes up for the day.
It helps me to recharge my soul, get my most important tasks of the day completed, and be caffeinated before she’s awake. It is a game-changer you guys.
I’ve been slowly seeing myself turn from a natural night owl to *gasp* a morning person! I know, as someone who routinely would get my supposed best work done between the hours of midnight and 2am, this has been kind of a shocking experiment for me too. But it really has been for the best!
Instead of sleepily dragging myself to Little Miss’s room to respond to her screams after being awaken from a deep sleep, I find myself practically skipping to her room to grab that sweet little nugget from her crib since I’ve already been awake for several hours at that point.
I am excited to see her in the morning when I’ve had a chance to wake myself up a bit first, and it really makes me appreciate her and that morning time when she’s typically the happiest so much more!
I cheerfully converse with her while she’s eating breakfast instead of blindly rifling through the kitchen to make myself coffee and try to shake myself awake. It has been such a nice and needed change of pace.
Remember when I talked about the importance of making time for yourself and how I was feeling overwhelmed and worn down a few weeks ago because I wasn’t getting enough “me time”? I’ve found the solution to be waking up earlier and setting aside those first few hours of the day just for myself.
I’m a better Mom and person in general when I feel like I’ve had the chance to take care of my own needs and desires for the day instead of putting everyone else first when I’m running on empty myself.
Do you yearn to get into a morning routine that begins with time to fill your soul before your family needs you?
How to makeover your mornings:
Crystal Paine of MoneySavingMom.com is someone that has used her own successful morning routine for years. She manages to run a hugely successful business in addition to all of her other responsibilities – including home schooling her three kids.
She has designed a course around the tried-and-true habits that she has used as part of her own morning routine. Crystal not only walks you through the principles and tools that she uses for her own morning routine, but shows you how you can apply them to your own life, your situation, and your family, so that you can makeover your morning.
Her 14-day Make Over Your Mornings course walks you, step-by-step, through a process that creates a routine that will assist you in:
- Discovering why a well-planned morning revolutionizes your whole day
- Establishing bedtime routines
- Designing a morning routine centered on your biggest priorities
- Goal-setting
- Setting up a task management system
- Prioritizing exercise and healthy breakfasts
- Creating internal and external motivators
- Establishing accountability
- Battling lies
- Building stamina when things get tough
Every day of this course covers a different topic – from streamlining mornings to setting up bedtime routines to goal-setting to creating a task management system, and much more.
Are you telling yourself that you don’t have time to dedicate to a course like this to help you change your habits?
Good news! The beauty of this course is that it takes a unique three-fold approach: a chapter to read, a video to watch, and a daily project to complete – all of which will take no more than 15 minutes of your time to complete each day!
We all have 15 minutes to spare, especially if it’s being spent on something that is going to liberate you from that constant feeling of exhaustion. A tiny time investment of just a few minutes of your day can yield potentially amazing results for yourself and your family.
This course is designed to help you revolutionize your productivity, streamline your routines, invest your time in things that truly matter, and find more joy and peace in the process.
If you’ve ever wished that you could figure out how to get more done, have more organization in your life, and find time to spend on things you love, the Make Over Your Mornings Course is for you.
I can tell you that I feel so much happier from encouraging myself to become a morning person. I feel like I’ve made great strides in improving my routines and my life by doing so, and I’m grateful that I took the plunge to make it happen.
You can read an update and more about my experience with this course here.
Are you a natural night owl like me? What do you hope to gain from making over your mornings?
There are affiliate links in this post.
I am absolutely a night owl like you, and always will be! One thing I struggled with is that I really benefit from getting to work earlier. In my perfect world I would get in at 7 and leave right at 4. Unfortunately staying up late doesn’t help that. I guess my ideal morning would be a quick and efficient one that allows me to get out the door as quickly as possible without feeling TOO rushed. I used to get up at about 5:30 and comment on blogs, but now I do it at night (a smart shift I think considering I’m a night owl). I guess if we were talking IDEAL IDEAL situation I would work from home and be able to have some time to slowly wake up and get into my day. Perhaps one day 😉
I’m still working on the getting to bed early part, DC! Haha last night I fell asleep around 10 and that was HUGE for me. Yes it is definitely smart to play up your natural most productive time of day. Being a night owl definitely worked for me when I was working from home before Little Miss came along. It didn’t work very well when I worked at an office or after she came along though, now it’s just hectic when I wake up “late” and have no time to myself before having to scrounge up breakfast, etc. for us. I still need my coffee to be a morning person ;).
As crazy as this sounds, I’m a night owl AND a morning person. I’m versatile like that. My mornings are okay right now because the kids are back on the ol’ school schedule. That makes my work life a lot easier.
I kind of am too Holly! I still have a difficult time falling asleep early enough at night to be completely discounted as a night owl. I really do love life so much more though now that I have a crazy toddler if I’m up for at LEAST an hour before she is so that I have a non-hectic start to my day. I’m sure that will evolve as my kids get older though!
Well you officially just moved “need to try to be a morning person” to the top of my “things that terrify me about having children” list 😉 Unless my kids take after me instead of the hubby – according to my mom I would sleep in late ever since I was a baby ha
I totally understand the appeal though! I think I’m going to try to enjoy being a night owl as much as possible for now… but I may end up joining you on the dark side in the future 🙂
Haha that is so awesome, I wish Little Miss was like that!
Yes, definitely enjoy your night owl time now lol. I don’t know that I’d choose to be a morning person without kids or an office job to get to, but I definitely am a better Mom when I have had that morning time to myself to slowly wake up without waking up to screams.
I am naturally a morning person, but a 7 or 8 am morning person, not a 6 am person! I do have to get up early for work though, which is sometimes a challenge. I have been thinking lately of getting up earlier than necessary to do some morning stretching and exercise. It seems like it would really help set a better tone for the day than just getting up and immediately rushing to check email and get to the office.
Absolutely Ali! It really is a much nicer start to the day. And believe me…if I can start to become more of a morning person, ANYONE can. lol! I’m notorious for staying up until 3 or 4am working (in the past). It wasn’t an easy adjustment by any means, just a very worthwhile one!
Interesting! Just earlier this morning I was looking for ways to become a better morning person. I feel I’m not naturally a morning person but I really want to be one. It seems like the early AM really sets the tone for the rest of the day. I want to get better at the AM so I’ll get better at the PM.
Note: We’re looking for guest posters on the Phroogal blog. If you’d like to take about your vision/the class we’d love to have you.
It really does set the tone Will, and this is coming from a notorious night owl lol. I never thought I’d be able to make myself a morning person.
That’s awesome, I will keep that in mind. Thanks for sharing the opportunity with me 🙂
Yikes, I’ve never been a night owl. My son is and that was always difficult for me to deal with when he was young. I love the early morning, the earlier the better! If I can wake at 3 am and get to bed by 9 pm, I’m happy. Best wishes on staying with your morning routine, Christina. I know how difficult the adjustment can be, just from watching my son go through it from baby to adulthood!
Haha Kay, I have always been a natural night owl too. It would baffle my parents when I would stay up until 2 or 3 am at night during high school and college doing homework or studying. They would wake up in the middle of the night thinking something was wrong if my bedroom light was on, hah!
My Dad is like you, he wakes up at 4/4:30 every morning and goes the gym right away and then starts working around 6/7a. I wish I got those natural early bird hours from him, but it’s definitely harder for me to get used to early morning rising!
I’m a night owl too and I’ve known for a long time that getting up early and have a more peaceful and intentional morning would be a good thing for me. The only thing standing in the way is myself and my snooze habit. I know I need to change it….I just need to DO it.
Haha I hear you Heather, maybe try putting your phone/alarm clock across the room so you are forced to get out of bed to turn it off 🙂 That always has worked for me!
I used to be a night owl too. I’ve had to revamp my day to be up and alert at 8 a.m.
My main trick is just to have a non-jarring alarm. Being scared awake by a loud noise is no way to start your morning. We use a white noise app at night, and it just goes quiet for a moment, then gradually increases in noise. Usually, just the cessation of noise is enough to wake me up without scaring me.
The next step is to have a shower with my husband. It’s a good way to wake up over the course of 5-10 minutes.
By the time I’m done with that, I’m awake and alert.
That is a great idea Abigail, I will have to try that white noise app. Thanks for sharing!
This is a great post Christina. I put myself through college by working the 4:30am shift at Starbuck 5 days a week, so when I have to get up early I usually do it with a smile on my face. That is, as long as I don’t have to talk. My boyfriend pointed out I’m in a great mood until…. he asks me a simple question and tear his head off and leave him for dead. Thank God he’s understand and tries his best not to talk to me for at least an hour after I get up. When he forgets and I snap his head off he always takes it in stride and apologizes… I think I need to work on that. 🙂
Haha Mary! I need at least an hour too to be social. I’m kind of a natural introvert too though, so I really thrive with a lot of alone time.
I LOVED Crystal’s course and couldn’t recommend it more! However, my kids must have known I was wanting alone time in the mornings b/c now they wake around 5:45/6:00 when they used to wake closer to 7:00/7:30 hahaha. That’s OK tho! I still love getting up early. I’m up by 5:45 with my husband every morning and we have a coffee before getting the girls 🙂
Haha oh man, YES! Little Miss usually wakes up at least 30 minutes earlier, if not an hour earlier on the mornings I wake up super super early. They always know!!
This is such a good post, Christina (as usual!). I love your point about how you can be a better mom when your own deepest needs are met, and it’s encouraging to know that you’ve become more of a morning person. I have a tendency to wake up stressed and anxious (and tired!), so I’m definitely going to look into this. Thanks for sharing it, it’s much needed I think.
Aw thank you Daisy! It’s so true, becoming more of a morning person has really helped me in that regard!
I am naturally a morning person. I seriously confused as to how you’re productive between midnight and 2:00! Now I could be super productive at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning but I would have to go to bed at 7:00 or 8:00 the night before! Yeah; wake up, not stay up! As it is right now, I’m up by 5:00 but my real problem is staying up just a bit too late! I hope to remedy that this week. I was in bed by 9:00 last night!
Haha I used to be able to be pretty productive until 3 or 4am ;). I’m working on that too, I still have some night owl tendencies in me so I’m working on getting to bed earlier so that it becomes easier and easier to wake up early too. It’s a work in progress! I was in bed by 10 last night and was so proud of myself!
You are my hero! I have trriiieeed forever to become a morning person, and it seems that no matter what I do I just cannot do it. I literally always think WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WHEN I AM A MOM. I admire your strength. You have motivated me 🙂
You are very sweet 🙂 Haha you’ll be just fine Samara! When you’re a Mom, you officially have no choice in the matter and your body just kind of adjusts to having to wake up more earlier than you typically do.
I have always been a morning person, but even though I can wake up easily in the morning, it doesn’t automatically mean that I will be extremely productive. My problem stems from bad bedtime routines and failing to make the most out of the small amounts of time I have in between tasks. I’m working on it though and this sounds like an extremely helpful course.
I struggle with bad bedtime routines too Chonce! I’m also working on it, because I feel like it will definitely help me feel more well rested when the morning rolls around and I want to rise early. Baby steps! 🙂
Love this post, Christina! I agree with how waking up earlier than you’re meant to can bring a positive effect on your day. I started doing this a few months ago, waking up at 6-ish am to squeeze in a 15-min workout before I go to work and I’ve never been more productive and energetic. I also have night time to do other stuff instead of working out (I hated the feeling of coming home knowing that I have to exercise after a long day…blech). It’s a bit of a struggle these days because it’s winter here — the bed looks so attractive in the morning — but I’m trying not to give in. 🙂
Getting out of bed is always SO much worse in the winter. I live in Chicago, so some days when it’s -30 with windchill, I just cringe at the thought of having to be up hours before the sun. That’s great that you’re fitting in AM workout, that’s the next thing I want to tackle in the early morning hours!
I have to admit, I AM a morning person. HOWEVER, I have been caught in a bit of an unhealthy pattern of staying up to midnight to catch up on a few self-indulgent interests – pinterest, anyone? – knowing full well that I need to get up at 5am the next morning!!
I just want to say how much I appreciated this post!! It is the kick in the pants I need!
I’m with you on that Jelica! Although I can wake up early these days, I still struggle with going to sleep at a decent time. Pinterest, working, trashy tv….all unhealthy reasons why I stay up way later than I need to!
Mothers of small children (and some dads of small children)) really have to find ways to replenish their energy, and I believe alone time is huge in accomplishing that. I’m glad you’re getting a better start to your days. Sounds like a great course. For both you and Little Miss : )
That must be a really interesting course Christina,
Basically, i enjoy working in the morning too especially writing, i think I’m usually more focused and productive in the morning.
Even though i always sleep late because, i comes back from work around 7PM even 8pm sometimes then, I’ll find something to eat, take a shower and have some rest. After doing all these, it will be around 9-10pm then, I’ll still open my laptop to do one or two things and before you know it, it will be 11:30pm and sometimes, 12am before i will now retire to bed.
And by 3-4am, i will still wake up to work of which i will be on my laptop till day break. This has been my routine for awhile now and I’m really getting things done this way.
Though i know its not a healthy way of leaving but, I’m still trying to see how i can adjust it.
I will have to check out your friends course Christina.
Thanks for sharing.
I am SO not a morning person! I’m going to check out this course. I have so much on my plate so I need to be better with mornings. Thanks for sharing!
It’s been so great for me Lisa, definitely check it out if it sounds like something that would help you too 🙂