After waking up at the Krakadorn every day for forty days, I’ve become something of an expert in how to enjoy waking up early.
Here’s how I did it:
- Get a good alarm clock.
- Get excited about the novelty of getting up so early. It’s so ridiculous that it’s funny – now jump out of that bed!
- Imagine you are going somewhere really cool and exciting.
- Go somewhere really cool and exciting (use your imagination).
- Stare at the sun, wonder at the natural miracle of dawn. It does this every day, while you are normally snoring your head off. Think about how lucky you are to be watching this celestial event.
- Take pictures, draw pictures, write a paragraph. Use your creativity to get inside the morning.
- Find something or someone to laugh at. (This isn’t hard – even at this ungodly hour there are plenty of commuters) (But don’t be cruel. Maybe bake them some flapjacks.)
- Look closely at the world as it’s waking up. These are things you don’t see normally. The frost still on the ground, rubbish bags ripped open by rats overnight, the morning call of the birds, the soft hum of the milkman’s float. Appreciate.
- Return home and reward yourself with a breakfast fit for royalty. Make it a real feast of tasty goodness, none of this cold muesli rubbish. Why should breakfast be boring? Cook something you love, or copy something you once had at a fancy cafe. Make shakshuka or pancakes. Be creative.
- Forget the hasty shower: treat yourself to a long hot bath (with bubbles). Yeah!
- Then look at the clock and see it’s only half eight.
That is how you learn to love the dawn.