How to Wake Up Without Crying (And Without Doomscrolling Your Soul Away)

Let’s just admit it already because there is no point in denying it anymore. Our parents were right, it is indeed the phone, the snag, and the master manipulator. Not the morning itself, not the sunlight, not even the idea of waking up early. The real culprit is that glowing little device that steals our last thought before sleeping and demands to be the first thing we look at after opening our eyes.

We do not just wake up and experience the world gradually anymore. We do not sit with ourselves, or the silence, or the slow unfurling of daylight. Instead, we wake up and immediately plunge into everyone else’s life - WhatsApp status updates, Instagram stories, tweets from your god (yes, the celebrity you worship as though they’re the reason for your existence). Before our feet even touch the floor, we have already consumed news, opinions, drama, comparisons, perfectly curated photos, and tragedies happening continents away. And our poor, just-awake brain is not built for that kind of collision, not at all.

So of course mornings feel heavy now. It makes you want to cry, it makes you want to not wake up anymore, and, therefore, the first instinct is to sigh, hide under the covers, and negotiate with fate. It isn’t because we are lazy or unmotivated. It’s because we are starting our day overloaded, without even realizing it.

Somewhere along the line, we traded the natural rhythm of morning for a screen. We swapped sunlight for blue light, fresh air for notifications, slow waking for instant overwhelm. And we forgot that mornings were once supposed to be gentle. That’s how sad our lives have become.

Now that we have successfully insulted the phone and admitted that our parents were, in fact, right about it (painful, I know), and that our days would feel better if we could just wake up early in the morning, it is time to address the real question:

How do we actually wake up early without crying?

These are just steps, not Harry Potter-level magic. If waking up was a spell, half of us would’ve been expelled from Hogwarts already.
Let us start soft and slow:

• Put the Alarm in Another Room: Do not and I repeat, do not let your phone sleep beside you like a toxic situationship with mixed signals, that drains the life out of you. Keep it away, and if you have to physically walk to turn it off then congrats, you’re already conscious. 

• Do Not Choose a Delusional Wake-Up Time: If you currently wake up at 7 a.m then do not suddenly decide that you’re going to transform yourself into a 5 a.m yoga goddess. That level of transformation is only possible in fiction. Shift by 15 to 30 minutes slowly. Mornings are gentle, not dramatic.

• Jump out of your bed: Yes, I mean that literally. Say no to snooze and literally jump out of bed and do five jumping jacks, not for weight loss or fitness. Just enough movement to tell your body, “We are alive and we are choosing life again today.” Shock the sleep out, gently but firmly.

• Walk towards the Light: And by light, I mean the sunlight. Walk out of your room and let light fall on your face like a blessing and a personal attack at the same time. Your brain literally switches itself on when it sees natural light. Give it that moment. We’re not much different from plants after all. 

• No Thoughts, Only Water: Sip before you think and then continue to overthink. Your body wakes up faster when it is reminded that it is made of oceans, not chaos. Stop figuring out your love language through pinterest quizzes for a moment and make hydration your love language. 

• Play the Main Character Playlist: Say no to doomscrolling, no to notifications and no to chaos. Just music that makes you feel alive and fills you with hope and perhaps it wouldn’t be too wrong to pretend that you’re the main character in your k-drama. It is okay to romanticize survival sometimes. 

• Reward Yourself with Something Tiny and Lovely: Tea, coffee, green tea, your favourite cookie, or buy that tasty treat you’ve been wanting to try all along, at the end of the day. Let waking up feel emotionally rewarding, not exhausting. Your brain deserves to be treated nicely, it works 24/7. 

• Name One Thing You Are Looking Forward To Today: It does not have to be something very deep or meaningful (it obviously can be but it’s not mandatory) It can be your bed waiting for you tonight. Just let your brain know that today is leading somewhere, not nowhere.

• Say Out Loud: “Okay, We Are Doing This”: This is not exactly a manifestation, this is just a little enthusiasm to exist. You know life is crazy but reassure yourself that you can work it out. 

Waking up early doesn’t have to be so hard, you’re not going to war. Neither does it mean that you have to become a brand new person overnight. You are not an app update; you are a human who is trying, and trying itself is impressive. Some days you’ll wake up feeling like the sun blessed your forehead. Other days you’ll wake up feeling a bit too attracted to the idea of nihilism- nothing matters anymore, life has no purpose, it doesn’t matter if you try. But the fact that doesn’t change is that both days are okay. Growth is slow magic. Be kind to yourself, be patient with your mornings, and do not lose the connection with nature.