Rise and Shine! 5 Easy Steps to Make Mornings More Tolerable

Lifestyle

A seafoam green mug is filled with black coffee and sitting on a matching saucer. A person's hand is gently holding the handle of the mug. The scene is set against a white tabletop.
Photo by Aleksandar Kyng on Unsplash

Originally published in November 2017

Rise and shine? More like rise and whine, amiright?

If you’re not of the early bird species, I’m not here to convince you to become a morning person. There are things like circadian rhythms to consider with that! I am, however, here to convince you that there are ways we can all make the a.m. a little more tolerable, no matter what time you have to begrudgingly roll out of bed.

Good-effing-morning, sunshine!

5 Easy Steps to Make Mornings More Tolerable

1. Be prepared.

Tap into your inner Girl Scout. Before you go to bed every night take one minute to chicken scratch your tasks for the next day. Some big things, mostly little things, often things you’d do whether or not you wrote them down. It helps relieve your brain of morning anxiety so you won’t wake up with “What day is it?! What do I have to do today?” mania anymore.

Blankly staring into your closet, playing the I-have-nothing-to-wear game, is no way to start a morning. Plan your outfit the night before instead. Hitting the gym first thing? Get your gear ready to go. (Or hell, sleep in your workout clothes. They’re basically pajamas anyway.) If your coffee maker is set to a timer, you know what to do.

2. Chuck your phone far, far away.

What have we become? We’re all useless without our little hand-held robots. Hate to be all broken record with every article ever written about modern society, but your phone is not a fifth limb. Before bed, banish it to another room if you can, and turn the damned thing off. All the news notifications, texts, and emails will be there after you put your contacts in. Give yourself as long as possible—fifteen minutes, fine, an hour, great—in the morning before turning it on.

Here’s what’s healthy in the morning: stretching, journaling, downing a glass of water (or warm water with lemon, if you want to be Goop-y), making your bed. (Am I turning into your mother?!)

Here’s what’s not healthy in the mornings: falling down an Instagram rabbit hole of Parisian photographers, seeing that Kathy from HR emailed you about those forms again, anything Trump tweeted at 3:00 a.m.—or any time of day, for that matter.

3. Choose an alarm that’s not, well, alarming.

Unless you love starting every day in a panic (you masochist!), stop using a beep-beep-beep blaring alarm. Switch to a gentler sound, something that feels like a nice electronic nudge.

I’m a big proponent of buying an actual alarm clock—that way you can turn your phone off at night (see above rant)—but if you can’t quite quit your codependent relationship with your phone, the iPhone’s bedtime sound options are straight out of a yoga playlist.

I once dated a musician who had his alarm set to spooky, goofy synth sounds he created. Every day we woke up in a fit of laughter. Now that’s an A+ way to start a day.

4. Make a breakfast, any breakfast.

I get it, I do. You’re busy. I’m busy. We’re all just trying our best to get here, there, everywhere and not have food on our faces. Yet every time I take five minutes—five minutes, max!—to throw some breakfast on a plate and then sit down and eat it without a screen full of unread emails or “What did he do now?” New York Times headlines in my face, I feel like I’ve discovered some giant secret to happiness.

I don’t care if you poach a couple of eggs or blend a smoothie or dump some cereal into a bowl. Just sit down for a few minutes and enjoy. If you have a porch and the weather is cooperating, revel in the morning air. If you have a magazine lying around, flip through it. Your body and your mind will thank you.

Hell, I’ll thank you.

Thank you!

5. Spoil yourself.

Emily L’Ami, the founder of Bodha Modern Wellness, starts every morning by washing her hands with traditional French lavender soap. “It’s a funny little habit that I find really comforting,” she says.

You deserve your own lavender soap. Or donut. Or leather-bound journal for morning musings. Whatever little thing you need to lure yourself out of bed in the mornings, do it / buy it / use it.

Lately, first thing in the a.m., I’ve been treating myself to a spritz of rosewater. It’s refreshing, it’s relaxing and, whad’ya know, literally spraying water on your face will wake you right up. Try it.

Oprah, queen of the world, says her first thought when she wakes up is, “Oh, I’m alive. Thank you!”

You’re alive. At the very least, just for that, it’s a good morning indeed.

BY Megan McCarty - November 3, 2023

22 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

No phones indeed! If I had my phone next to me, I’d be late to work everyday. I keep my phone switched off during the night, away from the bedroom, and use an old school alarm clock. It gets the job done just fine.

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

August 18, 2020 8:09 am

Such a great article! I am a morning person right now, but it was not this way all my life, I taught myself to love mornings with simple rituals that make me happy – I love all the tips in this article – they do work!

Ia Brown
August 23, 2020 6:39 pm
Reply to  Vidal

How did you teach yourself to love mornings? Would you mind sharing a ritual or two?

November 5, 2017 11:39 am

I just want to say thanks to the one who recommended the website; it’s been very helpful to me. And now and I’m happy.

November 5, 2017 1:29 pm

Such a great article! I am a morning person right now, but it was not this way all my life, I taught myself to love mornings with simple rituals that make me happy – I love all the tips in this article – they do work!

November 5, 2017 3:23 pm

I always end up staying on my phone for at least 20 mins in the morning, it’s got so bad I have to factor this in and set my alarm 20 minutes earlier!

LoneTeenTraveller | Travel Fashion Lifestyle

ELEANOR JANSEN
November 5, 2017 4:40 pm

I am so NOT a morning person so I really need to try these tips

http://www.petiteelliee.com

Ellie xx

November 5, 2017 4:56 pm

What do you think it would be of utmost importance to have in terms of interior design for a perfect morning? 🙂

November 5, 2017 11:53 pm

Very nice blog information.Thank You.

November 6, 2017 6:46 pm

I’ve been trying to become more of a morning person– I’ll have to use some of these tips! Thanks!

November 11, 2017 10:25 am

I am so not a morning person. I rely on ritual to survive – brush teeth, wash face, do hair, get a cup of coffee, put on makeup, get dressed, make bed, take dog out, eat breakfast, make lunch, check emails, take dog out again, she is so ritualized that she goes right in her crate, and its time to leave.

Umi Abdul-Mateen
November 12, 2017 8:05 am

This was an excellently written article, and I found myself laughing along the way. It was witty and quite delightful. You have a new reader.

November 12, 2017 12:15 pm

Love all these ideas! Definitely going to start incorporating them more into my routine!

November 14, 2017 5:53 am

I need to do the phone trick.

November 14, 2017 8:49 pm

So happy to have found your blog and I love the way you wrote this article; I’ll definitely be coming back ☺

Annie C. | betweenthehangers.com

January 15, 2018 12:22 am

This post is really nice and attractive.

May 6, 2020 3:50 pm

I am a morning person (and a late-night one also) and I am retired so I don’t need an alarm clock unless I have to get up at a certain time for an appointment. I do wake up early and I have to make my breakfast right away because I can’t wait until an hour or so later to eat. My first thing to do in the kitchen is to make my coffee.

May 15, 2020 11:53 am

A very beautiful article, passionate about decoration and fashion. Articles and photos of this magazine are fantastic. A greeting!

May 15, 2020 3:08 pm

I’m so not a morning person but the alarm tip sounds like a good one, going to give it a go thank you.

Valentina Guarnaccia – Wellness Blogger
http://www.daretoglow.co.uk

May 31, 2020 11:57 pm

For me I found out it is the type of alarm waking me up. I changed to a alarm which slowly turns on light instead of loud noise. This is so much better!

July 11, 2020 4:09 pm

Can I ask about the rose water? Is this something you purchased or something you made from scratch? I was never a morning person – I was the “I have not had coffee, don’t even breath near me” gal until an old roommate of mine had had enough. “It’s a choice to be like this when you wake up! It’s a chose to be grumpy. It’s a choice to have it in your mind that you can’t even squeak out “good morning” before you’ve had your coffee”. Well, that did it. Every morning since then, I remind myself that regardless… Read more »

September 30, 2020 2:37 am

I like your motivation, no I really do, but I am afraid it is not enough, you need more to achieve your goals.

Most-read posts:

Did you know W&D now has a resource library of  Printable Art, Templates, Freebies, and more?

take me there 

Arrow Alone

Get Our Best W&D Resources

for designing a life well-lived

MORE STORIES

Arrow Alone

the latest

Thank you for being here. For being open to enjoying life’s simple pleasures and looking inward to understand yourself, your neighbors, and your fellow humans! I’m looking forward to chatting with you.

Hi, I'm Kate. Welcome to my happy place.

follow  @WITANDDELIGHT

ELSEWHERE

PINTEREST

FACEBOOK

332k

2.9m

16k

INSTAGRAM

CREATE

A LIFE THAT

follow us on instagram @witanddelight_

DELIGHTS