My life is a miracle. Do you know why? I forced myself to become a morning person, that’s why. My former wake-up times were always about thirty minutes before I needed to leave the house and I was constantly spinning and hurrying and scrounging around for crumbs of peace. All my waking moments were filled with noise and kids and cooking and working and meetings. I love to study but it seemed that every hour was jammed with interruptions and I was bordering on the edge of burnout in my job as a pastor and a mom.
So, with much fear and trembling (because I know how much I adore sleep) I made the decision one Sunday that I would get up early on Monday and that I would do that for one week and see how it went.
That was six years ago and I’ve never gone back.
To this day, I can say: I don’t just tolerate these morning hours, I adore them. I allow myself three hours before I need to leave the house (3 hours and 17 minutes if I don’t stop for coffee!) and that time is filled with my most productive thinking, dreaming, writing and planning. At least 85% of the material in my book was born in those pre-sunrise hours.
I know that lots of people would like to use mornings to their advantage, but they don’t know how. To be honest, I don’t know how either – but I will tell you some things that have really helped me. And I sure don’t think anyone needs to become a morning person, but I do believe – even knowing what I know first-hand about old dogs and new tricks and such – that anyone can become one. So, here goes:
1. I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself when the alarm rings at 5:15, and to start feeling really lucky instead. This is a choice. The clock isn’t holding a gun to my head: I am called to this because it’s a privilege to be alive and awake before the rest of the world. This time belongs to me alone. It’s quiet-yet-noisy with possibility, but it’s a decision to embrace it without sorrow for lost sleep.
2. I made a space in which to spend my mornings. It’s mine, it’s perfect and it’s sacred. It has the perfect chair and lighting. My “heart” is there: the walls are lined with family pictures, quotes I love and words that inspire me. It’s stocked with all that I need to live a happy life for hours: good pens, good highlighters, an abundance of sticky notes, fat commentaries, lots of reading glasses and a coffee pot. I spent very little money making this space and it only takes up a small, hidden corner of our house. It has a re-purposed desk and a collection of mismatched picture frames (my favorite kind) gathered from closets and garage sales. An old flower vase holds dear memories and all my pens. My point is: it doesn’t have to be perfect to feel perfect.
3. I started going to bed earlier. The only way to make more time on the front end of the day is to take it from the back end. Unless you’re my dad, who kept logger’s hours for fifty years, you can’t successfully stay up late and get up early. You can do it, but not successfully. Something will suffer and that something will probably be whatever is happening at about 2:00 p.m. And then you’ll have an excuse to say, “I’m just don’t have a schedule that works with this early-morning thing.”
4. I resourced my systems. Cozi for time planning. YNAB for budget planning. Evernote for dream planning. It helps so much to have everything in one place and have some time set aside to plan the day, check on the budget and do a little dreaming for the future. This small investment of time (just a couple of minutes each day in Cozi and YNAB) has saved us countless mistakes with our minutes and money which adds a lot of value to this chase-the-morning adventure.
5. I devised a kick-start. This is non-negotiable for me. I would never make it if I got out of bed and went directly to my desk. I need a buffer. First, I make coffee and unload the dishwasher. If I feel particularly sluggish, I do a couple of sit-ups or jumping jacks – not for the purpose of working out (because I would never, ever get up early to work out…ever) but for waking up.
Fact: the very worst feeling in the world is the moment (or moments) between the alarm ringing and the getting up. That moment is consistently awful. Nearly every day, I have to remind myself that being up is not bad…it’s the idea of getting up that’s bad. Once I’m on my feet, the torture is over and the adventure has begun. I wish I could say that the feeling goes away, but so far for me it’s still something I have to choose to control by reminding myself that sleep is not the boss of me, and the snooze button is a fickle friend – it gives a little, but it takes a lot.
So, that’s how I’ve done it. How about you? Are you naturally a morning person (maybe keep that to yourself – I don’t want to resent you), do you have cool tricks for siezing the day, or do you feel hopeless that you’ll ever be able to carpe diem effectively? Share those thoughts here and let’s encourage one another.
Happy Mornings,
Bo
Wonderful article, Bo! I used to do something like this, but then I got pregnant.
Now that I am not pregnant I need to get back into it! Thanks for the tips. Blessings!
- Steph
Yes, Steph, I’ve often thought about how I could never have attempted this change when I was pregnant or with littles. Certain seasons in life, sleep is at a premium.
This is beyond what I needed to read! I need this for my year!
…and I really enjoy the fact that you have a coffee pot in your space! That really is wonderful!
Many Many Blessings Bo!
Danielle, I think I might have coffee pots hidden in most spaces in my house…just in case.
Bo,
Carl and I had this very conversation this morning. He is much more a morning person than I am but I actually have encouraged him by my getting up early to be in the Word and exercise…go figure. I agree with all your tips. It helps us to put our Bibles and whatever else we need out and ready the night before. A coffee pot with a timer is a life saver. Truly the best motivator is remembering how I feel when I don’t get up and feeling like I limp along the whole day until I can find some time…which is hard once the day is off and running. I have embraced that I am not a morning person but I just pretend so I can glean the benefits. I read a book by Tim LaHaye years ago and his mantra was No Bible No Breakfast…kind of harsh but it worked for him. I would not trade the gems that come from rising early. Sorry this is so long but I believe it is in Psalm 91 which speaks of allowing the Lord to satisfy us early with his love and mercy. I want to put myself before Him early to be satified before the day comes against me. Okay…that was my 25 cents.
oops…Psalm 91:14
Helen, I love that verse – I think I’ll write it on the wall above my desk. Beautiful.
I really like the fact you pointed out- being up is never as bad as the idea of getting up. If we can just make it past that one moment….love it! Thanks for encouragement and knowing that I am not the only one that goes through this every day.
Wendy…yes! It’s that one dumb moment when the covers are warm and my eyes are glued shut and getting up sounds like the worst idea I have ever had.
I’ve been in a real motivated life change mode recently and this fits right in with my collection of inspiring things to keep at hand (although I think getting up 3 hours early is more than I can expect from me this early on). And I am positively giddy over Cozi and Evernote! Except I don’t see them SAVING me any time – I see myself lingering there for a good long while. Thanks for the tips, Bo!
Tammy – it’s true, at first those programs absorb time because they’re fun and gadget-y, but then they help streamline things. And my cozi is set up with my phone too so I always have my calendar and grocery list with me. I really like that feature! It even texts my kids reminders of their chores. They probably don’t like that feature.
Unlike you, I can’t remember how I switched from night to morning person. But LIKE you, I wouldn’t give them up for anything (…okay, maybe and extra 1/2 hour of sleep on the weekends.) I knew that quiet time had become a necessity rather than a hit-and-miss conquest, when one evening the alarm didn’t get completely engaged, I over slept, and I was faced with my father-in-law already in the midst of his morning routines and my quiet space was no where to be redeemed. My eyes bugged out, I grabbed my hubby by the neck in the truest desperation I’ve felt and screamed: I NEED my morning time! (…maybe that’s a little exaggerated in reality, but not in my heart. I’ve never missed it since.)
I would say the main trick I had to get myself out of bed initially (before I wanted to) was changing the accuracy of my clock (either ahead or behind at first). It forced me to HAVE to get up, to see what time it REALLY was, so I wouldn’t be late, or it might be TOO early and I bought myself a few more minutes in bed. Silly, but it worked.
That’s a great tip, Jane. Your comment got me thinking: I wonder if “quiet time” is different for introverts than it is for extroverts. You and I are both introverts with jobs that require us to be extroverts – I wonder if maybe we need that morning time more than we would if we were fueled by noise and people. Just thinking out loud…
Bo, I start my day with Joyce Meyers and then I’m ready, perspective in check and motivated
But very first before anything I say good morning to God and talk to him and pray to him.
Kathy – I totally agree that morning time helps set the perspective for the rest of the day. I notice a distinct difference in the way I see the world if I don’t have a chance to sit quietly and reflect and refuel at the start of the day.
I love all of these! And employ some myself, but it really helps to see them all condensed and concisely stated. Favorite one is the feeling lucky to be up thing — gold. I had to devise some similar “helps” for the ol’ making dinner hour — something I really have dreaded for years. The bottom line: MAKE IT FUN. And that was the answer I got after praying! So I now have a stash of my favorite single serve sparkling apple cider, which i sometimes drink in a pretty goblet, and I get an I Love Lucy DVD or some other show going on my computer. Prior planning and prep is a bonus, but the fun stuff really, really helps! Thanks for the great perspective and tips, Bo, my friend!