6 Things You Can Do to Become a Morning Person

At 6 a.m., you might barely have the energy to chug a cup of coffee, let alone go for a run, plan out your day, and start your to-do list.

While it’s tempting to sleep in, waking up with the sun has its own perks—follow these simple tips, and you might even look forward to getting out of bed.

1. STOP SLEEPING IN ON WEEKENDS
It confuses your system, says Frank Scheer, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School in Boston.



Scheer says shifting your wake-up time from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Saturday has the same effect as going from Eastern Standard Time (EST) to Pacific Standard Time, then trying to wake up on EST again on Monday.

2. EASE INTO IT.
The part of your brain that controls your internal clock is evolutionarily wired to shift your wake-up time gradually with changing seasons.

Scheer recommends going to bed 30 to 60 minutes earlier and setting your alarm back by the same amount each day until you reach your goal time. Then give it at least a week to feel normal.

3. ELIMINATE DECISIONS
Humans are prone to “decision fatigue”—we have a finite amount of willpower, and deciding to get up early flexes that willpower muscle hard.

Eliminate as many subsequent decisions as possible, says Stephen Graef, Ph.D., a sports psychologist at the Ohio University Sports Medicine Center.

Prep your clothes, breakfast, and workout plan the night before.

4. MAKE A DATE
A study published in Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice found that exercisers who felt like part of a group were more likely to show up on a regular basis, regardless of the hour.

It’s easier to bail on yourself than a friend.

5. SLEEP IN CYCLES
Your body cycles between light to deep sleep and back in about 90 minutes, says Shawn Stevenson, author of Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success.

Being roused mid-cycle leads to that groggy feeling.

Instead, Stevenson says, try to get five or six full cycles (seven-and-a-half or nine hours of sleep) before your alarm goes off.

6. GET A LIGHT-EMITTING ALARM CLOCK
A 2014 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that when people were gradually exposed to light 30 minutes before they woke up, they felt more alert and performed better during their workout.

Try a light-emitting alarm clock (like this one) to gradually expose yourself to light in the morning.

The article 6 Ways to Bag a Sunrise originally ran on Bicycling.com.
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Article source: http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/how-to-become-a-morning-person/slide/6