Finding the motivation to get out of bed in the morning is one thing that I often struggle with. I often find myself snoozing my alarm and wishing I had just 5-10 more minutes to sleep. And when 5-10 extra minutes to sleep suddenly turns into 30 minutes, I often find myself angry that I hadn’t gone to bed earlier. However, once I began implementing these tips I noticed that I was more alert and ready to get up in the morning.

1. Aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night

Before I started doing this, I would often tell myself that this was impossible. I would assume that I would have to go to bed around 8 p.m. in order to feel well rested in the morning. However, my first year of college was when I started noticing how my body would respond to not getting enough rest. If I do not get enough sleep, I will often forget things like the day of the week or important due dates. If I had an exam or a paper to write, I would often misspell a ton of words.

In order to ensure I got enough rest, I would use the Bedtime alarm clock on my iPhone, which would send me an alert when it was time for me to go to bed. This year I also began briefly using an app called Sleep Cycle. Sleep Cycle tracked my sleep quality, which initially was very poor and even recorded me snoring, which I thought I didn’t do. I also enjoyed the fact that it encouraged me to turn my phone over so that the blue light wouldn’t interfere with my sleep and I was also able to use the app to track my heart rate when I woke up in the morning.

2. Exercise for 30 minutes

I used to start my day off early by hitting the gym at 8 am. Though I am not a morning person, whenever I would go to the gym each morning, I noticed I had more energy and looked forward to whatever life threw at me. For mornings where I couldn’t go the gym, I would do an arm and ab workout in my room.

3. Make your bed

As U.S. Navy Adm. William McRaven said, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed." When I have made my bed in the morning it has made me feel “more put together.” For me personally, cleaning in general and having things neat and in order allows me to focus more and think more positively.

4. Instill positivity into yourself and others around you

I recently went to a Women’s Empowerment Summit in which one of the women in attendance mentioned that it’s important to start your day off with positivity. This made me think of the Law of Attraction, which simply states that in order to get what you desire, you have to think positively or simply act like the feeling you’re trying to attract. If one wakes up grumpy and thinks negatively all throughout their morning, chances are they’re not going to have much of a great afternoon. I also have apps like Sprinkle of Jesus and Shine, which send me positive quotes or messages for me to see as soon as I wake up. I also strive to read a motivational quote every morning. I have also noticed that whenever I listen to music, specifically R&B music, while walking to class in the morning, I have a much better morning.

5. Plan your day

I have tried doing this and it honestly has made me feel very productive. I will typically add any upcoming events or assignments to my Google Calendar app as soon as I am made aware of them. However, I also like to keep a written copy of these events in case my phone or laptop dies. Having multiple notifications has allowed me to remember things better.

6. Don’t skip breakfast

Time and time again I have to remind myself that breakfast is truly the most important meal of the day. Anytime I have an early morning class, didn’t get enough sleep and skipped breakfast, is a sign for disaster. Now imagine not wanting to get out of bed until 10 minutes before class starts and then not having time to stop and get food on your way to class as your stomach growls. Needless to say, skipping breakfast makes me less attentive in class and more grumpy.

7. Give yourself enough time to get ready

For me personally, having to rush to get ready completely kills my vibe. I often find that when I’m rushing I’ll not only forget things and then I’ll think about what I should’ve been doing with the extra time I had. What I did my first year of college was go to my classes the day before they started and just make note of how long it would take me to get to class. I also started giving myself two hours to get ready to ensure I had enough time to get an assignment done within the first hour or a quick workout in.

8. Try watching the news or your favorite tv show

When I was in high school, I would have to wake up at 6 am to get ready for school. Now considering I am not a morning person, 6 a.m. wasn’t ideal for me. However, what got me motivated to wake up each morning was watching the news. Not to sound biased considering I am a broadcast journalism student, but whenever I would watch the news each morning I felt really informed and empowered as education is the most powerful weapon one can possess.

9. Be present at the moment

One thing that I often forget to do each morning is give myself time to breathe. I typically find that I get too caught up in what automatically needs to happen in the morning rather than just focusing on things like the sound of the birds chirping outside. When I was in high school, I would often “breathe” each morning by simply taking the time to read the news, do my hair or read my horoscope.

10. Understand that there’s no such thing as a perfect day.

I can honestly say that I do not have the perfect morning routine, as I often find myself switching it up. But what I have to keep in mind is that when things don't go well when I first wake up, that's only a small battle. And you have to win the small battles in order to ultimately win the war. So I have to tell myself, "Despite not doing this or that before I left this morning or not getting enough sleep, I still have the power to determine how well of a day I ultimately have."

All in all, just being conscious of what you need in order to have a successful day is really the key to having a great morning. My tips may not work for you and vice versa. However, the one thing we all can agree on is that no matter what we have the power over how well our day goes. And if we constantly wake up early and do nothing throughout the day to cheer up, then we are bound to have a horrible day.