What Happens When You Wake Up Early For An Entire Week

Waking up early is something all college students dread. With late-night study sessions and juggling your much-needed social life, all you want is to savor those final seconds of sleep — even if it means racing to class in your pajamas. But it’s the early birds who seem to have things under control. The morning gym-goers and fresh-eyed 8 a.m. class attendees appear to have mastered the art of making use of every hour of the day. How much of a change can waking up early make? Valley had me put this to a 5-day test and the results might surprise you.

Day 1: Monday

I started off my week off slowly. With Mondays Wednesdays, and Fridays being my only 9 a.m. classes, you would think I’d be on top of getting up on time, right? Wrong. I usually manage to drag myself out of bed around 8:20 a.m., scarf down a granola bar, and head for the bus.

My first step of this week-long endeavor was simply managing a good 7:30am wake-up time; one that doesn’t involve hitting the snooze button. I did prevail, but I was far from happy about it and the bags under my eyes seemed heavier than ever.

Baby steps, everyone.

Day 2: Tuesday

Granola bars, Poptarts, half-eaten toast — these are common breakfast staples for college kids who are on the go. While these morning snacks may hold you over until lunch, they aren’t providing you with enough nutrients to start your day off right.

Waking up early and making eggs and toast made for a much better start to my day. Not only did it hold me over for my first class, but I found myself not wanting a large lunch later on. Getting out of bed early to have time to cook isn’t easy, but it was definitely worth it once I was out the door.

Day 3: Wednesday

I’ll admit, I had a momentary relapse on Day 3. I was back to my 8:20 wake-up time after hitting snooze. Twice.

Day 4: Thursday

When you don’t have class on Thursdays, it’s easy to want to sleep until noon. However, I decided stick to the plan and wake up at 7:30 a.m. for a pre-class gym sesh. I was apart of the morning gym rat crew as if I finally had my life together for a moment.  It almost feels impossible to get up early for the purpose of exercise, but I had no regrets. Afterwards, I was energized and more awake, even feeling more focused when settling down to do work.

Day 5: Friday

My favorite day of the week, and not just because its Friday. Waking up on this day as opposed to the beginning of the week wasn’t as difficult, and I even decided to walk to class instead of waiting for the bus. It’s the little things.

What I Learned

It isn’t impossible to become a morning person, but it definitely takes an extra kick of motivation. You’ll feel more awake and have a boost in productivity rather than sleeping away those extra few hours. That’s time you can devote to taking better care of yourself and getting work done!