The weather’s getting colder, the sun comes out a little later, and the bed just feels like the best place to be in the morning. Although our brains are all wired towards the coming holidays and Christmas break, a lot of us still have school and work to crawl through each day, and those two things don’t stop just because the bed’s being extra cozy. This is especially hard when you just got your first good night’s sleep in a while, and the next thing you know, you have to face the dreary responsibilities of the real world.

Here are some quick reminders for everyone out there struggling right now to get in the proper mindset for school and work in the morning:

 

SET A GOOD ALARM

You probably already have an alarm on your phone to wake you up in the morning. But try using lively music for your alarm, and that might lift your spirits up to get you started with the day. Bring on the dance music, or punk rock tracks, to really wake yourself up with a proper song to sing and dance to (or a song you hate might do wonders to get you out of bed and turn your phone off).

 

STRETCH / WORKOUT

A good stretch and workout will wake up your mind, body, and soul to get you energized for the day. There’s nothing like a full workout to get your heart pumping, and your body sweating, and get you mentally and physically prepared for all the tasks you need to accomplish throughout the day. Just be sure you don’t wear yourself out and get so exhausted with your workout that you’ll be too tired to do anything else.

 

HAVE A FILLING BREAKFAST

As they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That’s generally because it sets the tone for the entire morning, and can get you in the right mood to face whatever you need to throughout the day. Fix yourself up a cup of coffee, get a breakfast plate full of your favorite food, and fill yourself up with all the good energy to get through your to-do list.

 

WRITE DOWN YOUR TO-DO LIST

It’s a lot easier to conquer a day of hard work when you know what you’re in for, and to-do lists have always been the first step in having a productive session, no matter how much you don’t want to look at all the things you have to do. Once you’ve gotten the rhythm of working sometime in the morning, crossing out tasks on your lists would be something to look forward to—especially when it’s time to stop and you look back on everything you’ve accomplished within the day.

 

WATCH OR LISTEN TO SOMETHING THAT WILL HYPE YOU UP

A Ted Talk, an episode of your favorite podcast, or the latest vlog from a content creator of your choice—different things inspire and hype us up. But the one thing they have in common is that they can get our minds reeling with ideas and inspiration, enough to fuel the energy we need to work. Just don’t get so distracted that you spend more time than necessary consuming content and forgetting about your duties. One episode should be enough to excite you to create your own piece of content or submit that assignment.

If you haven’t noticed, all of the things we mentioned above are just regular everyday things you can do to get ready for the day, regardless if it’s the holidays or not. But it’s important to remind ourselves of the basics when we just don’t know how to properly motivate ourselves with work, in light of everything going on and the December vibes coming in strong.

Just take it one day at a time, and sooner or later, it’ll be the holiday break welcoming us with warm hugs and longer days in bed (because it’s not like we’re going anywhere this Christmas).