It’s 6:00 o’clock in the morning – time to get ready for school, but you’re groggy and your alarm won’t stop buzzing. You tell yourself, “5 more minutes!” and proceed to shut off your alarm, roll over in bed, and close your eyes again. Before you know it, you’ve left yourself with only ten minutes to get ready! We all dread mornings. They just aren’t fun to deal with, especially after being rudely awakened by a blasting alarm. As a senior in high school, I’m always looking for ways to alleviate any possible stress, and so I start by trying to make my mornings more enjoyable.

As tempting as it may be to keep my phone nearby, I always try to put my phone far away from where I sleep so my first instinct when I wake up isn’t to check it. Checking e-mails in the morning already sets you up for stress – you’re already busy before walking out the door. I keep my phone on my desk so I can’t grab it, and I wake up and stretch a bit to get myself to loosen up instead. It really works wonders!

I also always have breakfast. Many of my friends at school say that they “don’t have enough time in the morning for breakfast”, but they should reconsider changing their schedules to make sure they have a meal in the morning. I always like to have my favorite breakfast (oatmeal) because I feel refreshed and the fiber in the oatmeal keeps me full all the way until lunch time.

I think your attitude for the day can be influenced by the kind of morning you’ve had, so make the most of the early hours and keep yourself happy for the long day ahead!

-Jessica