How I did it: I'll be honest. I've never been a person that will continue something after it's "required". If I was reading Harry Potter casually, then it suddenly became "required reading", it was immediately dropped.

Mornings were no exception.

Before grade school began, I always woke up. Happy to eat my cereal, happy to just be up with my mom and start my day.

The moment she enrolled me in school, however, that all went out the window.

I'd spent years from the age of 5 until I was 17 in High School being a MONSTER in the mornings!! My mother couldn't talk to me, couldn't speak when serving me breakfast. Don't nag at me while dressing. DON'T NAG AT ME. I'M PUTTING ON MY SHOES, MOM! NO, I HAVEN'T BRUSHED MY TEETH YET!!! I'M HUNGRY!!! SHUT UP! I'M DOING IT ALREADY! UGGH!!! I DON'T WANNA GO!!

...Yeah.

Monster.

Well, when I was 17, I moved out and got the reality check of moving in with another person that wasn't so willing to put up with my shit as my mother was. My mother bended to almost everything I needed. A lover that was fully matured, long out of high school, and wanted a GIRLFRIEND and not a baby? She isn't a morning person either, but she found me absolutely unlivable.

Oh, and let's top this off. I get a job that, after about five months of them keeping me on the night shifts, they decide to put me on the morning shifts!

=D!!!

It was forced, I SWEAR it!! I HATED this! But.....It's gotta be done.

Lessons & tips:

1. For GOD'S SAKE GO TO BED EARLY. I am NOT an EARLY TO BED PERSON!!! I've tried going to bed at 3am and waking up at 7:30. Not happening. But! If you can at least get yourself to hold in 6+ hours of sleep, you'll be fine if you assure yourself a meal and a good beverage in the morning. If you don't like sleeping early, then at LEAST get in th 6. You SHOULD get 8, but 6 works.
2. Don't over sleep. Getting any more than 8 hours (depending on the person, but usually) makes you groggy. Get yourself 6-8 on the dot.
3. Start off small, and work on big. The longer you have to be awake before contact with people, the longer you'll feel awake and more at your normal mood. Like me, I have to be AT work by 8am. I started by waking up at 7:45am to get the hell out of dodge. I found that rushing was a good way (FOR ME) to start off my regimen. I then went to 7:30; Now, because I have to let the dogs out, I'll wake up anywhere from 5:30-6:30 to let them out...Maybe giving yourself an obligation works, too. I'd be up until 7:00, and if I still feel really, really sleepy, I'll let myself get in on :30 more minutes. Definitely don't deny yourself sleep. I continue that today. ***HOWEVER, I have from 8-9am to be by myself at work, and get my attitude positive. Always allow yourself this time to mentally prep yourself for your day, you won't be sorry. Some wonderful ideas I've collected over the very few years I've had living with a significant other who, although she isn't a morning person either, found me unlivable:
4. 1. Pump yourself up.
   2. Get yourself looking good! If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you sell/communicate/act good!
   3. Listen to music! Make a playlist on your iPod, or make a "Wake up!" CD! <3 <3 I love these things because I'm doing something I love and lifting myself up for something I hate. Put some of your most "hardcore" music on there. Remember, you're trying to wake up, not lull back into sleep. We want Eye of the Tiger and Soulja Boy, not Dust in the Wind and Enya. SING ALONG WITH THE SONGS! Dance! Seat dance while driving!! Have the windows down! This is the opening of your movie, you're the star!! =D!!
   4. Ensure yourself breakfast and a good beverage. I usually go with my delicious bagel. I used to have hot chocolate, now it's like Arizona Green Tea, or the Doubleshot Espresso stuff you can buy at gas stations. Forget it helping you wake up, it's GIVING MY HANDS AND BRAIN SOMETHING TO FOCUS ON. Gotta be slightly intelligent to eat!! LMAO.
   5. This is the last one, I promise you. Remember, you WANT to have a good day. It's not like any of us WANT to be monsters, and if you do, your logic is probably, why does morning have to exist? Well, it does, unfortunately; and we can't escape. So what the hell ever, just...go for it. Go big or suffer. Who can say you look stupid? So what? At least you're awake!! Laugh at yourself, TALK to yourself, think, converse, be merry. Morning sucks, shyeah, but don't stink it up more than it already stinks for itself.

Simple enough? Hard as hell but it's gotta be done? Usually it's one of the two, but either way, it DOES have to be done.

Resources: I work at a cafe, and I'm almost always the opener; I went from receiving customer complaints about how grouchy I was, and, quote, "I don't understand how a person could hate their job so much." to being a preferred barista in the mornings.

With how many customer complaints I received, I felt bad. I didn't want people to think I was a bad girl. I really, really am a nice person. However, my mornings were just such a bad time to catch me. I needed to resolve this. Desperately. For my confidence and for other people. So finally I bit the bullet and encouraged myself in the mornings. Now I get compliments and requests aplenty.

"My gosh, you're just so chipper, and...friendly this morning! It's so nice to wake up to a warm person...!"

Serving coffee in the mornings, I am, sometimes, the first person people see in the morning.

...So why not leave a great impression, be happy with myself, and make others happy too?

I really, really hope this helps...!!

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Apr 30, 2009, 05:19PM PDT | 2 comments | 8 cheers