#it's a nice day out it's cloudy but it's almost 60 degrees f. i should go for a walk

[supercantaloupe]

i'll be damned if i don't enjoy my oatmeal and morning tea on my scarce days off

[sweetsandstudies]

All summer, I have been staying up past 12:00 am doing God knows what. From binge watching Friends on Netflix to scrolling through Tumblr, I was sleeping till 10:00 am or later.

There’s my problem, I’m staying up late and also sleeping in late. Why is this a problem, you may ask?

Because I have to get up at 5:30 am when school starts.

That’s right, FIVE F**KING THIRTY AM ^

This is because the bus comes at 6:30 am and it takes around an hour to get to school with all the stops. With how I’m sleeping now, I would only get 2-5 hours of sleep (at my age I need 8+), which basically means I’ll be dead the whole day unless I bring coffee with me to school which I don’t have time to make/buy coffee in the morning. 

I have put together this list of ways to make falling asleep and waking up early for school easier. Hopefully some of you find this helpful!

Sorry the intro was so long. Also, please bear with me, as this is my second time typing this because the first time I was almost done and it deleted. THE STRUGGLES.

Start now

 If you have not started school yet, start waking up early now. Each day, work your way to the time you need to wake up for school. For example, I’m starting by waking up at 9:00 am, and slowly working my way to 5:30 am. I would make sure you get to the time you need to wake up at a few days before school starts, though, so you can get on a schedule.

Don’t go on your phone before bed

It’s a distraction, and the bright screen won’t help. Try reading a book instead; it should unwind you after a long day, making it easier to fall asleep.

Invest in a diffuser and essential oils or scented lotion

There’s this thing called essential oils. What a diffuser does is you put water and a drop or two of essential oil into the diffuser and it diffuses the essential oil into the room. There is lavender essential oil, and lavender scent is useful for relaxing/calming you before bed, making it easier to fall asleep. Putting the lavender essential oil in the diffuser will make your room smell of lavender, thus making it easier to fall asleep.

If you don’t want t get a diffuser, I also love the sleep lotion from the aromatherapy line at Bath and Body Works. It also has lavender essential oil in it. I recommend the lavender chamomile one, but the lavender vanilla scent is just as nice.

Mini workout or yoga

I’ve been trying to do a mini work out before bed each night (I forget a lot but I’m begin inning to get more consistent). It helps me burn a bit of energy before bed, allowing me to fall asleep easier. Here’s the mini work out I do:

10 squats

40 second plank

10 jumping jacks

10 sit-ups

15 leg lifts x2

5 push ups

Another option is yoga. There are some yoga poses that relax you and help you fall asleep

Also when you wake up, doing a few jumping jacks or something should help you feel more awake.

Tempereature

The comfortable temperature to sleep in is 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit or around 15-21 degrees Celsius.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body that manages your sleep and wake schedule. Eating foods at have good amounts of melatonin or that help make melatonin will help you fall asleep. Some foods include:

tart cherries

oats

bananas

There are also melatonin tablets people take to help them fall asleep. I personally did’t see any effect, but it might work for you. (heads up if your not a adult ask your parents first!!)

Set multiple alarms

One alarm does not work for me; I turn it off and go back to sleep. So since I use my phone for my alarm, I set 2-4 alarms before the actual time I want to wake up. That way by the time I turn off the last alarm, as the last alarm is the time I originally wanted to wake up, I’m up. 

For example, I have to wake up at 5:30 am when school starts. So along with my 5:30 alarm, I will set alarms for 5:15, 5:20, and 5:25. By the time I reach the 5:30 alarm that morning, I will not go back to sleep/ will be semi up becuase I had already woken up 3 times. It sounds crazy, but it works for me.

Also, if you use your phone for your alarm, choose the song your most into at the moment to be the alarm sound you wake up to. So instead of waking up to an annoying af rining/siren sound you’ll be waking up to your favorite song! I’ve been really loving the live action Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. If you also like the songs from the live action Beauty and the Beast, I would reccomend using the song Belle (not the repraise) for your alarm. It has this nice begining that’s very calm and peaceful which makes it a great song to wake up to.

Bedtime on iPhone

If you have an iPhone, in the clock app there is a section called bed time. It has you put in what time you need to wake up, how many hours of sleep you need, and how many days of the week you want the alarm set. It will then send you a reminder when you need to go to bed and have an alarm set for the time you need to wake up every day or for the days chosen. I’ve tried it and I think its a really cool feature.

Sit at the edge of your bed

This is a really weird tip, but I find that if I sent on the edge of my bed with my feet on the ground once I turn off my alarm, and I just sit there for a few seconds, it helps me wake up.

Go outside!

Once you wake up, going outside and exposing yourself to sunlight will help you feel more awake. Take a deep breath, enjoy that sunlight! Don’t do this if it’s all cloudy, mucky, and rainy, though. That would be a terrible way to start the day. 

If all else fails..

Didn’t get enough sleep? You can always fake it. Puffy under eyes? Try ice cubes, chilled spoons, or slices of cucumber. Grab your concealer for those dark circles. Throw a k-cup into your keurig or make a pot of coffee. Have a cup and take some in one of those cute travel coffee mugs to school. Tea works, too. Nobody will know that you didn’t get enough sleep because you accidentally watched a whole season of Friends! 

Whew, that was a lot of writing! 

Again, I hope some of you benefit from this. I would be very happy if you did.

^if you wake up earlier than 5:30 am and find what I said sort of offensive, i’m sorry! I am a total night owl that does not like/struggles waking up early, and 5:30 is an hour earlier than the time I woke up for middle school. also sry for swearing, I just really hate getting up early.