Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Early to bed, early to rise, makesa man healthy, wealthy and wise. -An old proverb (no idea from where) that my mom said to me often in my adolesence :)

I am not a morning person. It has aways been very difficult for me to wake up. I used to feel really guilty about it, but I tend to be very groggy in the mornings. But I've found a groggy mommy= a grumpy mommy. My mornings usually didn't start out well.

I made it one of my New Year's goals to get up earlier. I hoped to be up by 7AM reguarly by the end of January and today I was up around 7AM! Woohoo!!

I do not by any means want to make anyone feel guilty for not getting up early, especially if you're a mom of little ones. There a season for everything and moms with little ones are in the season of snatching any bit of sleep they can!

My youngest daughter is 19 months now and she and her sister are reguarly up at about 8AM everyday. I would often sleep until they woke me up each day, but I often woke up grumpy and groggy and our days were starting off on the wrong foot. I decided to make it my goal to be up and awake and ready to go before my girls got up. I knew it was time to discipline myself in that area.

If you're trying to make a habit of getting up earlier, here are a few of the things I've found that helped me:

• Know yourself. I soon figured out that I love sleep so much that I needed something tangible to get myself up. Just getting up early "because" wasn't enough of an inducement. I needed a reason. My husband and I started reading the Bible together in the mornings. This accountability was enough to keep me heading in the right direction.
• Take it slow. I started by setting my alarm at 8:30. When I had that down, I'd make it 5 minutes earlier. Every day or two I would try to make the alarm time 5 minutes earlier. Now my alarm is at 6:50 which is a real accomplishment for me! :)
• Stanard, noisy, turn off alarms don't work for me. I have been known to turn them off in my sleep without even remembering it. I now set my cell phone alarm, put it on vibrate and put it under my pillow! LoL. Sounds weird, I know, but it's really working for me!
• Plan on snooze time. I set my alarm 10-15 minutes before my target wake up time. I know myself, I will hit snooze a few times, no matter how hard I try not too!
• Have a morning ritual. Because I'm groggy in the mornings, I need a routine to remember what to do in my morning haze. I've found it really helpful to go downstairs to the kitchen and fix warm drink (hot lemon water or tea). The action of making something helps to wake me up enough to pay attention when my husband is reading the Bible. Otherwise, I'm still in a fog!
• Early to bed..... It's true. Going to bed early enough makes it much easier to wake up on time. I am, by nature, a night owl. I can seriously stay up half the night. I learned in college that it's easier to stay awake all night, rather than getting just a few hours of sleep. :)

Ok, I think that's it. As hard as it was at first, I'm very happy that I've been getting up earlier. I get to spend time reading with my husband, I have a warm drink to get my stomach ready for the day, I'm a nicer mommy and it feels good to be on a schedule rather than just getting up "whenever." If you're able to wake up earlier in your season of life, I highly recommend it!!

What works for you? What tips do you have for non-morning people (like me) trying to wake up earlier? Share with us! You can check out Works for Me Wednesday for other great tips!