New Morning Routine for 7 Days

   

 For one week I decided to do a change in lifestyle, which I would significantly alter my daily routine by waking up an hour early. In leading up to this experiment I had a number of different questions to see how this would effect my social life, sleep patterns, school work, and psychologically through out the day. While reading the article, "The benefits of Waking up Earlier: A college students perspective" Casey McAarney explains how our society is based on a, "9-5 system" and how we can utilize every minute of the day. Hopefully from this experiment I can learn to "sync" my daily activities into a block of time and become a more efficient person. 

Preparation: The day before I started the experiment I planed out goals for this week. In the morning I set out a list of tasks that consisted of, making my bed, eating a well balanced meal, scheduling out a to do list, and making it to class in a punctual manner. After the day is over I would check off my list, to see If i actually accomplished what I set out to do. 

Day 1: On my first day I found that it was difficult to motivate myself to wake up at 7 o’clock, but I got up anyways to start my day. After taking a shower and getting dressed, I prepared my books and homework and double-checked that I was fully aware what I needed. Secondly, I went to grab a meal. I had an omelet with hash browns and a cup of water. I felt relaxed and not in a hurry to get ready. I began to read the Lawrence Journal and reading about current events, like the student protest on Mass Street. After that I went to class, then my job, then came back home. When I came back home I was exhausted and went to bed immediately.

Day 2: As my alarm went off at 6:00 am I thought to myself this idea may have been the worst decision of my life, but I decided to push on and started to zombie walk to the shower. While in the shower I pondered about going on a run or going to the rec, so I got ready and ran for a mile around campus. While on this jog I came back to my house and felt energized and fully alert. I thought to myself, “that wasn’t that bad.” It was 7:20, so I began to eat an apple and a bowl of cereal before going to my English class. Then I continued as usual to my classes.

Day 3: Once again my phone went off and I got up, but today I decided to go to the rec, which is a student and staff gym 10 minutes away. This was something I normally don’t do early in the morning. Unlike the afternoon the rec was less crowded, and I got my routine done in a quicker matter. In high school I dreaded waking up early in the morning for sports, but I have now found that is a excellent way to start the day. While walking to classes I had a boost in confidence, I’m not fully sure why I had this feeling, maybe due to the fact I felt a sense of happiness.                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                              Day 4:  Unfortunately by the 4^th day I slept in for a hour, because the night before I stayed up very late completing sociology paper. It was 7:00 o’clock so I dragged myself out of my bed. I was so tired to get up that I didn’t take a shower that morning.  I grabbed my laptop and started to watch YouTube videos, like a lazy college student. I guess technically I still was up but I didn’t accomplish anything productive like I planned to do. I continued about my day thinking to myself how lazy I was and I'm disappointed. 

Day 5: After my failed attempt to complete my experiment, in fact I did wake up at my recorded time of 7:00 on Friday. As I checked the weather app it was a cold morning, so I decided to stay in and organize my desk. During this time I threw away needless items, trash, and old papers. My area was neat and organized; in result I had a feeling of accomplishment. Also I stared to start a load of laundry, on Friday afternoons the laundry room gets incredibly busy and it takes forever to get it done.                                       

                                                                        Day 6: Going to bed the night before I knew that the weekend would be my most challenging obstacle to get up. Something was unusual about getting up that morning, I didn’t have a feeling drowsiness and I got up immediately with no problems. I called my Mother and Father and told him I would be coming down for brunch, they said, “of course…we would love to have you down.” When I got the house they greeted me with love and asked, “Is everything okay”? I stated, “yes” and explained to them my English experiment for the week. After brunch we continued to go shopping for winter clothes. During Fall break on the weekend i came at a much later in the day and didn't have time to run these errands.                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                          Day 7: The final Day. I rose up again at 7:00 o’clock saying to myself this is the final day. My days of waking up at horrible times in the morning is over. For the 7th day I decided to go on an another jog around the block. I had no present plans for this Sunday, but I went downstairs and asked my father if he wanted to play golf, he said, “sure”. So after we played it was 11 am. Keep in mind my weekends consisted of waking up at noon. Then after I started on my homework for the next day. 

                                                                                                                                          Reflection: I believe it takes a lot to motivate any lazy college student to wake up an hour early they he or she needs to. While completing this I noticed I concentrated a lot better in my first morning classes and did not feel like I was going to doze off like I usually do during his lectures, however I did feel exhausted after work, most likely due to that fact that my body has not adjusted to this sleep change. While reflecting about my morning I thought how I struggled to get out of my bed. After this experiment I noticed a huge increase in my productivity in the mornings. My eating habits have changed in the morning by eating more nutritious complete meals. Most of the time I’m in such a rush to get out the door that I actually don’t eat a meal. This affects my energy levels through out the day. Although I did fail to wake up at my required time, I still believe that I accomplished a great deal. This isn’t a scientific experiment, but something to encourage other people to try something challenging. I’m glad I chose this and this morning routine can vastly change how you feel about yourself. 

Work Cited: McAnarney, Casey. "The Benefits of Waking Up Earlier: A College Student's Perspective." Carpejuvenis.com. N.p., 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.