A Simple Habit Helped Me Become a Morning Person, Overnight

Here’s an embarrassingly cold take: waking up early and exercising has changed my life.

The kicker, however, is that I went from being a late-rise-lifer to a workout-before-work kind of girl almost overnight.

Since I was little, I would repeatedly snooze my alarm clock each morning until I had to get up. The evidence on whether this makes you feel more tired is mixed, but I would get stuck in a state of sleep inertia, prolonging the period of confusion and sleepiness when you first wake up. It left me feeling anxious, and I would struggle to focus all day.

But for the last eight months, I’ve forced myself out of bed when my first alarm goes off (no snoozing!) and done a yoga or reformer pilates class (sorry) before work most days. Sometimes, if my body is too tired, I’ll just go for a walk or grab a coffee.

I feel more energetic, less anxious, and generally in better spirits. Is that surprising? Definitely not. But it’s still a massive win.

I used jet lag to my advantage

Fed up with feeling so sluggish, I set my sights on becoming a morning lark about a year and a half ago, but each time I set my alarm and planned to get out of bed early, I just couldn’t manage it by morning. However, I was able to make the shift after I returned to London from a vacation in Sri Lanka in March.

For those first few days, I took jet lag waking me up at sunrise as an opportunity to book myself into a morning yoga class. At the time, I did around three evening yoga classes per week, building my fitness and strength with an activity I genuinely love. But fear of the unknown meant I was scared of morning classes. What if I couldn’t handle a full hour of exercise at that hour? What if it made me too tired to concentrate at work?

As I went to sleep the night before my first 7:30 a.m. class, I was nervous and presumed it would take my body at least a few test runs to adapt. But I was pleasantly surprised when I felt more energized than usual.

I loved starting my day with movement, giving myself time to wake up before work, and doing something for my own enjoyment and well-being before locking in for eight hours. I discovered a whole world that had been going on while I was usually asleep.

I hate to say it, but I was instantly hooked.

As time went on, I adjusted to U.K. time and the novelty wore off, which made it more challenging to get up when my alarm went off pre-7 a.m.

But I felt no more rested on the days I went back to my snoozing ways.

I learned a big lesson: Waking up is painful either way! I feel fine after 10 minutes, but when I snooze I end up feeling tired all day.

Waking up for something I enjoy and am financially tied to helps me get out of bed

Jet-lag helped kickstart my new routine, but I think three things helped me make it into a habit.

Firstly, I wake up early to do something enjoyable, whether that’s yoga or walking to get a coffee. It wouldn’t work if I were forcing myself to go to the gym, do a run, or meal prep because I don’t like those things.

Secondly, booking myself into a class is essential because I wake up with a sense of urgency. The class operates a zero-minute lateness policy, and as a law-abiding citizen, the idea of breaking a rule fills me with panic. Plus, there’s the financial incentive: If I don’t show up I will be fined up to £12 ($15.70). At times, I’ve told myself I’d follow a YouTube yoga video at home in the morning instead, but that never happens.

Finally, I know how much better I feel all day when I do this, and as someone who struggles with low mood and anxiety, the alternative is just not worth the extra time in bed.

This is what my average morning looks like:

• Wake up around 6:45 a.m.
• Get straight out of bed, brush my teeth, wash my face with water, and put on SPF.
• Turn on BBC Radio 4 and listen to the news while I put on my workout clothes.
• Do a 45-minute to one-hour class.
• Walk home and get a coffee on the way.
• Log on to Slack at 9 a.m.

Tons of successful people — from Dolly Parton to JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon and the longevity bro Bryan Johnson — are early risers, usually because they say it’s their most productive time.

But my motivation for becoming a morning person is more about feeling good than getting more done.

The next time you have jet lag, why not give it a go?