The Art of Being a Morning Person (Even if You’re Actually Not One)

My oldest child has always been an early riser. He doesn’t sleep beyond 6 am, and 6:30 is a juggernaut. He sleeps off from bed as my husband and I take our coffees, reaffirming his excitement to start the new day with lots of shaky grunting.

As a night owl, I often marvel at how I created this morning lark, mainly because sleep experts say our respective sleep patterns are at least partly hard-wired – however, it is not inviolable.

“Everybody’s ‘clock’ is set a little differently,” explained Leisha Cuddihy, associate professor in psychiatry and psychology at The University of Rochester’s Comprehensive Sleep Center. “You may never wake up totally ready to go and wanting to do stuff,” she said, pointing out that she’s not an early riser.

But, if folks like us are looking to feel more awake upon awakening — which is a sensible objective, considering the time of school and work– there’s no reason to despair, according to Dr. Cuddihy. I contacted her and other experts in sleep medicine and habit-changing to offer strategies to make the mornings more pleasant and productive.

Set your wake-up time.

When people attempt to change their sleeping patterns, they often focus on sleeping earlier. However, that’s not the most effective method, according to doctors. Rafael Pelayo is a clinical professor of psychiatry and the behavioral sciences of sleep medicine at Stanford Medicine and the author of the book “How to Sleep.” He believes the key is establishing an unchanging wake-up time and sticking to it throughout the day.

“It’s biologically easier to force yourself to wake up than it is to force yourself to fall asleep,” Dr. Pelayo said. “You can tell me what time you went to bed last night, but you can’t tell me what time you fell asleep.”

It usually takes around one month for the body to adapt every hour you change the morning wake-up time, according to Dr. Pelayo, but it could take up to at least six weeks to fully adjust.

Accept your nature.

Even if you’re naturally a morning person and you are a morning person, you might not get up ready to begin your day — or at a high level of happiness. The clinical term for the grogginess and grouchiness many of us experience after waking up is “sleep inertia.” It tends to last. The session length is”>30 up to sixty minutes, but the duration and intensity vary depending on the person and the circumstances.

“A lot of people, no matter what time they wake up, just need a minute,” Dr. Cuddihy stated. “I don’t like talking to people within 30 minutes of waking up.”

She added that accepting reality is a simple way to bring a sense of calm and peace to your day. Find ways to ensure that you have a tranquil time: Perhaps you’ll lie in your bed and take some inhalations. You can also combine it with a technique that can boost your wakefulness, for example, soaking in some sunshine (or bright artificial light) or moving your body, according to Dr. Cuddihy.

You deserve it — immediately.

People are likelier to alter their behaviors when they feel enjoyable and easy. It’s easy and rewarding, according to Wendy Wood, a professor of business and psychology at the University of Southern California and the author of “Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick.”

Dr. Wood said that if you aim to get up earlier or to reduce the early morning grouchiness, it is crucial to invest in immediate benefits. Think about what you would like to do when you get up. Perhaps it’s a tasty breakfast she suggested or playing music you like.

Take your time with you. “Habits are very persistent, and you shouldn’t expect them to change immediately,” Dr. Wood said. “If you set in place ways to reduce friction, and ways to increase rewards, you’re more likely to be able to change.”

Change mundane routines into essential rituals.

“When you shift something from a routine into a ritual, it makes it more special,” said Cassie Mogilner Holmes, a marketing professor at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the co-author of “Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time and Focus on What Matters Most.”

Concentrate on something you regularly do, such as getting up for your morning coffee. Instead of rushing through the procedure without much thought, mark it as your “coffee ritual,” Dr. Holmes said. With curiosity, please make an effort to see what it feels like as you go through each step, having a specific cup or sipping a tasty cup of coffee.

“All of a sudden, it puts you in a different frame of mind,” Dr. Holmes said. “One of the reasons mornings can feel so stressful is because time is sort of taken from us, and we lose that sense of agency.”

I’m not convinced I’ll somehow be able to outwit my genetics (and I’m skeptical of our culture’s obsession with extremely choreographed rituals for waking up). However, if I can find something unique in a cup of coffee that can make me get up and sing with the morning chorus, I’m ready to try it.