Smashing your early morning classes is all about your routine the night before.

Get out your guacamole face masks and ready your alarm clocks – here is your step-by-step guide on how to be a chirpy morning person and get your 8am class done and dusted.

The Night Before

16:00: Do not nap after 4pm. This may disrupt you circadian rhythm and result in some difficulty falling asleep at bedtime.

19:00: Eat a good dinner. Ideally, you should be eating approximately three hours before you go to bed, so adjust your dinnertime to suit your bedtime. This way you are avoiding the chance of increased blood sugar levels disrupting your ability to fall asleep right before bed.

19:30: Prepare and organise all of your stuff tomorrow so you aren’t stressed with too much to do early in the morning. Plan out your outfit and pre-cook your meals.

20:30: Have a good ol’ blue light binge before you have to…

21:00: …Stop using all electronic devices. Yes, we understand that a new episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians is airing at 9:30pm, and no, we don’t care whether or not you’ll be the first to know if Kim is going gluten free like Kourtney. Sleep scientists have talked about the negative effects of blue light on your natural sleep cycle. You need to withdraw consciously from technology before falling asleep if you don’t want to impact your deep sleep and you do want to wakeup feeling refreshed.

21:45: Leave showering as the absolute last thing you do before hopping into bed. The hot water and steam relaxes you and can put you in the best state to cosy-up in bed and fall straight asleep.

22:00: Bed time. Double check your alarms and start counting sheep. Also, make sure to open your blinds/curtains the night before — the bright, morning sunlight will make it much easier for you to wake up. Little hint for if you’re finding it hard to fall asleep — make an early start on you most boring readings for the week. I guarantee it’ll knock you out.

The Morning Of

06:00: After 7-8 hours sleep, wake up. Do NOT snooze your alarm. Sleep scientists have stated that snoozing your alarm actually makes it harder for you to get up in the morning. That extra 10 minutes doesn’t allow for any more restful REM sleep — you’re actually just wasting time and confusing your body.

You can even try leaving your phone across the room at night, so that you’ll have to get up and walk over to turn off the alarm. There are some super cool apps such as Spin Me, which alternatively forces you to stand up and spin with your phone multiple times to stop the alarm.

06:05: Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Need I say more?

06:15: Eat an apple. There have actually been studies that have shown apple to be more efficient than caffeine at waking you up in the mornings.

Then, depending on your commute, leave the house with another steaming beverage of some sort. Then get those classes done and dusted!

You have to admit the how amazing and motivating it is to have completed a three-hour class by 11am. Follow this routine and we guarantee early mornings won’t seem as bad.

However, consistency is key. If you have a regular routine, you won’t even need an alarm to wake up. Good luck, morning people.

(Lead image: Clueless/Paramount)