REAL tips on how not to sleep through your lectures!
This post is all about how to wake up on time for your morning class.
Before we get to the genuinely most effective tips EVER on how to wake up on time, I want to make sure you know something:
I have NEVER been a morning person naturally.
I’ve had my fair share of struggles when it comes to waking up on time for class (or for any reason, really). But I’m proud to say that I now know how to wake up on time (which is 7am for me) and I’m GREAT at it.
Another thing you should know:
The common tips everyone preaches online have NEVER worked for me. So, if you suck at waking up on time and no tip has ever helped you, I completely get you.
Trust me.
When I tell you that these tips really are tried and true, I mean it.
This post is all about how to wake up on time for your morning class.
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HOW TO WAKE UP ON TIME:
1. Drink water BEFORE coffee
Hopefully it’s no surprise that after you’ve been sleeping for a while, you need water. Starting with coffee right away will only leave you more dehydrated than you already are, and this is a recipe for disaster. Ultimately, being dehydrated just makes you feel way less energized in the long run.
I like to keep my water bottle on my nightstand so it’s right there when I wake up. I use a Brita to filter my water and have a ThermoFlask which is a reasonably priced water bottle that keeps your water at the temperature you want it. So, when I wake up after a long sleep, I have a bottle of fresh, cool water waiting for me.
(Hydroflasks are great, too.)
I don’t think you need to force yourself to chug a certain amount, but getting some level of hydration in your system before downing a coffee is essential to stay energized throughout your day.
2. Keep a (somewhat) consistent sleep routine
This is probably one of the hardest tips to keep in college. It’s also one of the most important ones.
If you’re waking up at 7am twice a week but sleeping until noon all the other days, you’re just setting yourself up to be exhausted on your early mornings. And I know, none of us want to wake up at 7am EVERY morning. But it’s important to keep it as consistent as possible if you want to be energized and healthy throughout the week.
As a rule of thumb, I try to wake up within the same hour every weekday, but allow myself a sleep-in on the weekends.
(I’m really not a fan of the whole ‘wake up early every day, even on weekends’ tip that people preach. We all love a good sleep in. And sometimes, we REALLY need to catch up on sleep).
So, if I have to wake up at 7am for an 8am class once per week, then on all the other weekdays I aim to wake up no later than 8am. This keeps my sleep schedule consistent. The weekend is for catch-up sleep!
3. Give yourself a morning face spray
If you suck at actually getting out of bed when your alarm goes off, this is for you.
All the blog posts about morning routines tell you not to hit the snooze button on your alarm. But if you’re not a morning person, this is so much easier said than done.
I never found success with that tip. I could never will myself, out of nowhere, to get up right away. I was determined to do it, but still always fell right back asleep.
UNTIL I started spritzing my face with a scented face spray first thing every morning!
Personally, I like scented face mists. The physical feeling of a spray + a strong scent will really jolt your senses. My favourite is this Face Mist from the Body Shop. I also like Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe. Usually, when I finish these, I refill them 3-4 times and the scent is still there (in my opinion, there’s no point in wasting money on a new one every time. Just refill it a few times and you’ll get MONTHS out of it).
If scents bother you, you can just use an empty spray bottle and cool water. Even without the smell factor, spraying water on your face first thing in the morning is an effective wake-up hack.
[RELATED POST — First Day of Class in College: 8 Things to Do the Night Before]
4. Socialize in the morning
If you can, find a friend in your morning class to meet you somewhere on campus 10-20 minutes before class starts. That way, you’ll be held accountable because someone is waiting for you to show up.
I did this in my freshman year and it worked so well. Having someone to meet up with before class made me look forward to my morning class so much more, guaranteed I had someone to sit with, and ensured I was always on time.
5. Respect your internal alarm clock
Maybe you can be up-and-at-’em quickly in the morning, or you might need hours of wake-up before you can function. Realizing this was a big game-changer for me when figuring out how to wake up on time.
If you need a good hour or two before you feel awake, factor that into your morning routine. I’m the kind of person who needs at least a good hour and a half before I can put my brain to use in the morning. And that’s not always possible before an early morning class. But waking up an hour before class and completing a proper morning routine is a lot more effective than waking up ten minutes before class if you can’t be productive that quickly after waking up.
If you need more time to warm up to productivity, respect that by waking up a bit earlier and creating an effective morning routine. If you can get away with waking up ten minutes before class… Well, lucky you!
6. Minimize your breakfast prep time… BUT EAT SOMETHING!
A great hack for this is to prep your breakfast the night before to eliminate tasks and decision making in the morning. When you’re ready to eat, you can just grab and go.
It really is important to eat something in the morning, especially before class. I don’t have much of an appetite in the morning, but if I go to class without eating, I’m miserable and unfocused.
Fuelling yourself with food first thing in the morning is just as important as hydration. Even if you don’t eat a huge breakfast, eating something nutritious and protein-filled is super important to keep you awake for that morning class and keep you sustained until you can eat again.
[RELATED POST — 3 Cheap Breakfast Ideas for Students]
7. Give yourself an incentive
If class isn’t a motivating reason for you to get up, sometimes all you need to do is add an incentive for yourself. Choose to treat yourself to something small but special on early morning class days.
Here’s an example: Most normal days I make coffee at my apartment instead of buying it (to save money). But, on days when I have an early class, I allow myself to hit a Starbucks, Tim Hortons (Canadian thing), or local coffee shop on my way to school as a treat.
This forces me to wake up on time because if I don’t, I won’t have time to hit a coffee shop and I’ll have to go to class without my coffee. If I stop for coffee AND meet up with a friend before class (tip 3), then the coffee has time to really kick in before class starts (another perk).
It might not be about coffee for you. But find some kind of incentive or treat that you can give yourself before class that will motivate you to wake up on time.
8. Naps are GREAT
As long as you don’t have back to back classes all day, naps are AMAZING. This can even be another motivation to wake up on time:
“If I wake up on time now and go to class, I can nap after class.”
Many people think naps are counterproductive, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. As long as you limit your nap to 20-30 minutes, it will really energize you for the rest of the day and make you extremely productive.
And hey, pair it with a cup of coffee right afterwards so that you can be at your ultimate level of productivity. Works like a charm!
This post was all about how to wake up on time for your morning class.
What tips help you wake up on time?
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