For Your Health: Stop Sleeping In

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It’s Monday morning and you wake up to the buzzing of your alarm. You quickly check the time and hit the snooze button. You can wait another five minutes. Then the alarm goes off again. You mean to turn it off, but you “accidentally” hit snooze again. What’s the harm? Well this goes on, the next time you wake up and see snow on the ground outside. That’s not good. Wouldn’t it be better to stay in your warm bed? No it wouldn’t! But how can you stop sleeping in?

If you’re not a morning person, getting up can be a battle on its own. But it’s even worse in the winter. Even with the benefit of daylight savings, some people still struggle to get out of bed. People miss out on morning classes because they’re off picnicking with Mr. Sandman. Sadly attendance is a big factor in grades at BYU-Idaho. So you really need to get out of bed and hit the ground running. Here’s some ways to help you do that!

Breakfast Bribes

If you struggle getting up in the morning, you might just need an incentive. Having your favorite breakfast can be a great motivator. The issue is you’ll have to prepare it, which will take more time. Which deters some people from this tip. But here’s your loophole. Prep your breakfast the night before during your downtime or while watching TV. Not only will you have a nightly snack, but you only need to heat up your meal in the morning. It’s a great way to meal prep and get your butt out of bed.

Morning Workouts

Working out together is one of the cheap date ideas.

If breakfast doesn’t work you could give yourself an extra boost. How about you stop sleeping in and try going for a morning workout. It might be hard to get up the motivation. But a morning run or lifting session will really wake you up. Try an energy drink or pre workout to get the motivation to get up and moving. But don’t become overly reliant on them. If you really want to get up and moving, try a morning swim. The cold water is the perfect thing to wake you up!

Schedule Your Favorite Class in the Morning

BYU-Idaho Enrollment Winter 2020

Do you have a class you know you’ll look forward to? Maybe there is a special someone in your class you can’t wait to see? This is the motivation I use to get out of bed on those chilly winter mornings. Plan out your favorite subject for the first class of the morning. You’ll almost never want to skip your favorite class. It really works and even if I get up begrudgingly, I still get up. You’ll have to think twice before you hit that snooze button.

Get to Bed Early

There’s always a simple solution for a difficult problem. If you struggle getting out of bed in the morning, try sleeping earlier. Most college students I know are night owls. Everything worth doing happens at night. Whether it be a party, campus event, date, or movie, everything happens at night. But life can’t be a party all the time. You’re at school for class (well some of us are). So prioritize being there. Save fun activities for the weekend and get yourself to bed on time. If you need to take sleep medication until you can adjust to your new sleep schedule. But make sure not to overdo it.

Don’t Overdo It

Speaking of not overdoing it. A common problem among students is that they overwork themselves. I know a friend who took 21 credits every semester for the last year. Which is insane. Taking a heavy course load combined with work, social life and the regular stresses that accompany them can be too much. Eventually you’ll burn out. Which can make it hard to wake up. What good are you to yourself or your friends if you’ve overloaded yourself? So take a responsible number of credits. The minimum for a full time student is 12 each semester. Take the amount you can successfully handle and try not to cram your schedule with too many additional responsibilities. You’ll sleep better with less on your plate.

Rules

If none of these help, it might be time to turn to pure willpower. You’ll need to set some rules for yourself. For example, you can’t hit the snooze button at all. Or you’ll leave your alarm on the opposite end of your room so you have to get up and get it. Whatever works to get you up and moving. The more you move in the morning the more awake you’ll be.