HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY STUDY IN THE MORNING
There are a number of reasons you might need to study in the morning. Your brain might be more alert and absorb more knowledge when you first wake up. You might work full time, have kids or other commitments and the mornings might be your only free time. No matter what your reasoning is, to become a morning studier you need to ensure you are doing a couple of things first.
Personally, I started studying before work because I found I would get less distracted. I would get up at 5.45am and study from 6 am until 7.30am each morning. It wasn’t easy to start with but once I got into a routine it became second nature.
Below are my tried and tested tips on how to successfully study in the morning.
WHAT TO DO THE NIGHT BEFORE
GO TO BED AT A REASONABLE TIME
It goes without saying but if you don’t go to bed until midnight, it’s not going to be easy to get up at 5.30am to study. Some of those unicorn people out there can run off 3 hours sleep but most of us need around 8. However, everyone is different so listen to what your body needs.
if you are someone that needs to least 8 hours sleep like me and you want to start studying at 6 am, that means you need to get up around 5.30am. To get your 8 hours sleep you would need to go to sleep at 9.30pm. This means you should head to bed around 9 pm.
If you have trouble getting to sleep, have a read of The Fit Lady’s post, 9 Sure Ways to Get Your Anxious Mind to Sleep. There are some really good methods to help you to relax and get to sleep earlier. For some weird reason whenever I know I have to get up really early, my mind doesn’t want to shut off and go to sleep. I find the breathing method mentioned by The Fit Lady really helpful when I can’t turn off.
MAKE A PLAN
To make the most of getting up early to study, you need to have a plan of what you are going to get done.
If you wake up with no idea of what you need to achieve, you are going to waste the first 15 minutes working it out. When you sit down at your desk you need to know exactly what you want to get done and how long it should take you.
If you are not using a study planner to keep track of what you need to get done and when everything is due your nuts. Your study planner doesn’t have to be anything fancy, it can be the last few pages of your notebook or a scrap of paper. The important part is having a list and plan for what you need to study/achieve.
Before you go to bed, write down what you want to achieve in the morning and how long you have to do it. This also helps get everything off your mind before you go to sleep if you are a little stressed and struggling to switch your brain off.
MAKE SURE YOUR STUDY SPACE IS CLEAN
Having a clean space helps you have a clean mind.
Before you go to bed, ensure that your study space is clean. If you can’t even see the table top, what chance do you have of finding your notes that you need read over?
Make sure all the materials you are going to need are ready and at your study area ready to go. If you need your laptop, make sure it’s on the charger so you have no excuses in the morning.
You are not waking up at the crack of dawn to stuff around and clean up. You waking up early to be productive and get as much studying done as possible.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU WAKE UP
DO NOT HIT SNOOZE
This is one of the most important steps in order to successfully study in the early hours of the morning.
You cannot hit snooze! Once you start, you won’t stop, trust me. As soon as that alarm goes off, get out of bed. Literally, stand up.
You can’t go straight from bed to your desk because your mind needs a minute to wake up. Wash your face, do some jumping jacks, go outside for some fresh air. Do whatever it takes to wake you up and get you energised.
MAKE YOURSELF YOUR FAVOURITE DRINK
Before you sit down to start studying, go to the kitchen and get yourself a drink.
If you’re a coffee drinker, get yourself a hot cup of coffee. Do you love tea? Then brew a tea. If you love a green juice, whip one up. Knowing you are jumping out of bed to have a drink you love will make getting out of your warm bed a tiny bit easier. In winter, my go-to his a coffee with some coconut oil it in and in summer it’s a coffee frappuccino.
Not only do you get to drink something you love, but this is also a chance for your body and mind to wake up a little more.
READ OVER YOUR PLAN
The plan you prepared last night should be on your desk ready to go.
Read over your plan and choose what task you’re going to start with.
SET A TIMER ON YOUR PHONE
This is one of my number one study hacks. If your anything like me, you get easily distracted by your phone. There is no point waking up early and getting organised if you’re just going to spend an hour scrolling through Instagram.
To avoid wasting any precious study time, set a timer on your phone for how long you want to study for and then put your phone on the other side of the room. Once the timer goes off, you know you can get up, finish studying and check your phone. If you are planning to do a few hours of studying, I would suggest breaking up your study session into blocks so you can have little breaks.
STUDY
Don’t get out of your chair, don’t reach for your phone, or turn the TV on. Just study!
You’ve gone to all the effort to get this far and now it’s time to actually put in the work. For the next 30 minutes, an hour or however long you have to study, just focus and get the work done.
I would love to hear if these tips helped you get up early and smash out your study goals.
Let me know any tips you have that make waking up before the sun a bit more bearable.
Happy studying Hustlers!
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