5 Tips for Waking Up for Early Morning Classes

By Lorena Roberts on April 9, 2018

One of the greatest things about college is getting to choose your class schedule. Many times, coming out of high school, the thought of having a break during the day or only having classes in the afternoon is the coolest thing about being in college. However, we all know it doesn’t always happen this way. Depending on when the professor/department wants to hold their class, you have to be flexible in choosing a schedule that ensures you check all the boxes for completing your degree.

This flexibility often results in having to wake up for 8:00 a.m. courses. Though students probably woke up and began school even earlier than this in high school, for some reason it seems much harder once you’re in college. I’d venture to guess that 8:00 a.m. classes are among the most skipped classes for students, closely followed by Friday afternoon classes.

If you “aren’t a morning person,” it can be really tough to make sure you get to class on time (or at all.) Whether you make it a habit to show up late or not depends on how disciplined and organized you are the night before. Lucky for you, here are five tips to help you wake up on time for your early college classes:

via Pexels.com

1. Get organized the night before.

If you get your materials together for class the night before (and maybe even sleep in your clothes), you can sleep for those five-ten extra minutes in the morning. It might not seem like a big deal, but when you hit snooze one too many times and you have three minutes to get across campus, you’re going to be thankful your laptop is charged and in your backpack.

2. Have a snack/morning coffee easily accessible and ready to go!

I had a hard time going to class without eating. For my early morning classes, I found that having a granola bar sitting next to my already prepped Keurig machine was the best way to start my day. It was easier to motivate myself to get up if I knew I had food and coffee ready to go!

If there’s a snack shop on the way to class — stop in and get what you need. Morning fuel is very important – especially if you have an early-morning foreign language.

via Pexels.com

3. Accountability partner.

Find someone in the class you can be friends with. Chances are, they’ll hate waking up early for class as well. Exchange numbers and promise to hold each other accountable when it comes to waking up on time. Whether it’s a phone call or a text, having someone say “get out of bed”  is all the motivation you need.

If having one person text you isn’t enough, ask multiple people to hold you accountable. Even if that means you need your mom to call you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:50 a.m. so you can run across campus and slide into your seat, do it. Early morning classes are no joke, people. If having your mom call you to wake you up is embarrassing, use that to make yourself get there on time!

4. Change your alarm!

I think there’s something to be said when it comes to using the same tone for your alarm. Your body and mind get used to hearing the same noise and it’s much easier to hit snooze. However, if you change the tone of your alarm frequently, your body will wake up faster. It’s much harder to ignore a sound you aren’t used to — isn’t it?

I recommend a snooze button (which seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it?). But using multiple alarms can be the difference between getting to class and not. If you set an alarm for 15 minutes before you really need to be up, you can have a little bit of time to ease into the day. I’m not one of those people that pops out of bed right away.

5. Treat yourself… seriously.

Promise yourself that if you make it to class on-time every day for one week, you’ll treat yourself to that $5 Starbucks coffee. Having those little motivational rewards can be the difference between you showing up for class and not. Which can also lead to passing or failing the class you need to graduate. Don’t let the reason that it’s at 8:00 in the morning stop you from earning the degree you’re working towards.

All college students have to settle for a schedule that’s less than perfect. If you have an early morning class, you’re probably not happy about it. And sometimes, it’s easy to fall into a routine of skipping class. But remember what you’re here for – you’re working towards a degree. Be thankful for all the times you got to choose mid-morning or afternoon classes (especially those online ones that you didn’t even have to show up for!). You won’t always have to have class this early in the morning — so just get through this one semester. You can do this!

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