7 ways to turn yourself into a morning person (but actually for real this time)

To people who are not morning people, morning people can be so annoying. Sorry, early birds, but your satisfying run, home-cooked breakfast, and chipper demeanor, all before 9 am, make non-morning people want to maul you. Often, it’s because non-morning people are a tad bit jealous. For non-morning people, getting out of bed and being happy about it is a mystery. But here’s the thing: There are ways to turn yourself into a morning person. Really. It just takes a little work, and you know, actually getting out of bed in the morning.

Morning people are supposedly healthier and happier humans beings.

Maybe that’s just in their genes or something. Maybe it’s that they make room for a little exercise, feed themselves, and get ahead of their day and their stress. Giving yourself an extra hour each morning can sound impossible, and sure, it’s not going to happen right away. Becoming a morning person takes time — here’s how it can work.

1Get up at the same time every day, slowly.

Ease yourself into early riser thing. Set a time to wake up every morning and stick to it. Try to think of sleeping in as a luxury, at least for the first week or two of waking up at the same time every morning. If you want to, say, start waking up at 7 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. every morning, you can start slowly. Go for 8 a.m. first and then work backwards. After a while, your body will just know it’s time to get up.

2Go to bed a little earlier.

OK, that sounds obvious. But if you want to be well-rested in the morning, you have to change your night routine. Try going to bed earlier and turning off all of your devices and lights before nodding off. This way, you start to tell your body that the nighttime is the right time for sleeping, and morning time is for getting up and at ’em.

3Expose yourself to light.

Black out curtains and dark rooms are very, very tempting. But your body responds to sunlight, which is why sometimes, even on the weekends, you get up early even if you don’t have to. If you don’t get natural sunlight in your bedroom, you can always buy a light that gives off natural light to improve your mood.

4Get *right* out of bed.

Just not hitting the snooze button is a victory, we know. But once you shut off the alarm, get right out of bed. Don’t scroll through Twitter or read the news in there, tempting as it might be. Get up and out of you room, which should be a sleep sanctuary.

5Treat yourself.

Make sure you have all of your favorite snacks ready to go in the morning. Set up the coffee maker so it’s ready to roll. You can even make a smoothie or juice the night before and keep it in the fridge, so you know you have something delicious. If liquid kale isn’t your thing, stock up on bagels and lox or use the extra time to stop at that French bakery on your way to work. You have time now. Use it deliciously.

6Remix your beauty routines.

Just because you have yourself some extra time in the morning doesn’t mean you have to spend it doing your hair (unless that’s what you want). Try taking a shower at night if that’s possible, or going for a different make-up routine that makes your life easier in the morning. Lay out clothes the night before so you don’t fight with yourself about what to wear all morning. Make your life easier for yourself and your mood will get better.

7Work out before work.

There are two kinds of people in this world: People who love to work out and people who have to force themselves to work out. If you’re not into running every morning, you don’t have to. But doing some stretches, squats, or hanging a pull-up bar in your door way for a quick rep or two is not only a good way to stay in shape, but it will get all your hormones flowing in a good way.

You really can fake it till you make it when it comes to being a morning person — but no one’s promising it’s going to be pretty.