Sleeping is great! I love to sleep, but my 3-year-old is not a fan — getting up bright and early every day at 6 a.m., sometimes earlier. Occasionally, she will “sleep in” until about 6:45, and there was one Saturday morning she slept until 7:15. My husband and I still talk about it. We also have a 5-month old who wakes up around 4 a.m. each morning for a quick snack before going back to sleep. So, whether I want to be or not, I am a morning person. However, I’m not great at it, and I want to be better. Who doesn’t want to wake up feeling energized and excited for the day? If you want to be a better morning person, it starts with good sleep.

The first and hardest step to being a good morning person is NOT hitting the snooze button. I know, it’s so rough, but when the alarm rings, it’s best to do the impossible and get up right away. Once you get over that initial hurdle of getting out of bed, you’ve committed to being awake, as opposed to having those back-and-forth negotiations of eking out a few more minutes of sleep.

Next, don’t look at the clock when you wake up in the middle of the night. Instead, get comfortable and close your eyes. Checking the time can be just enough of a stimulus to wake up your brain, making it harder to fall back asleep. Try not to think about the time, or how little is left to get in some shut-eye. Whenever I see how late or early it is at night, I immediately start thinking of all the things I need to accomplish in the coming day, and my mind starts churning. A working mind is not conducive to sleep. So, stop thoughts in their tracks by ignoring the clock, especially if you wake up multiple times throughout the night.

Leave the curtains open. Waking up with sunlight can be quite invigorating. If you can get that natural light into your room, it’ll help you innately wakeup and feel less groggy. Before bed crack the blinds, or leave the curtains partially open — you don’t want to compromise your privacy — to let the natural light of dawn organically help you wake up. If your bedroom is on the west side of your house, consider a Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock that simulates sunlight to help roust you out of bed.

Shut down social media and apps. Taking your phone or Fitbit to bed handicaps you both in getting to sleep and how you feel about the sleep, you’re not getting. Checking email and social media before bed do not help your brain to relax. On the flip side, rushing to check your sleep data first thing in the morning, depending on the results, can be frustrating and set you up for failure the next night.

Keep to a bedtime even on the weekends. Staying up late on Friday or Saturday disrupts your sleep pattern, making Monday mornings harder than they need to be. Sure, it’s fun to blow off some steam after a hard work week by spending time with friends or binge-watching your favorite show, but just because you can push your bedtime past midnight, doesn’t mean you should. To get a good night’s sleep, you need a consistent sleep schedule.

Another weekend barrier to good sleep is too much alcohol. A glass or two of wine won’t mess up your sleep, but overindulging does not a good morning person make. Not only can alcohol give you a hangover, but it can also cause you to wake up throughout the night, neither of which are recipes for a refreshed morning.

Another thing you can do to be a better morning person is exercise. A workout might be the last thing on your mind when you’re feeling exhausted, but, if you can, you should get some exercise. Waking up and putting on your running shoes, is a good trick for getting yourself up and going in the mornings. But any activity during the day will help you have more energy overall. However, late night runs can be counterproductive to good sleep. Your body needs time in the later evenings to relax and unwind.

Speaking of unwinding, you don’t want to be working or doing projects past a certain point in the evening. Pick a time when you stop doing and starting relaxing as part of your bedtime routine. Everyone is different, some may need just 15 minutes, while others a full hour. Whatever works best for your internal clock, create a bedtime ritual that allows you to shut down not only your mind but also your body, for a fuller and deeper sleep.

Lastly, if you’ve tried all these tips and tricks and you’re still not getting good sleep, you may need to see a specialist. Conditions like sleep apnea affect nearly 22 million Americans. While you may not have a sleep disorder, it’s never a bad idea to get a checkup for your overall health if it’s been awhile.

Whether or not you are naturally a morning person, you can train yourself to get better sleep, which should make you less of a grouch in the a.m. If you’re in the same boat as me with young children, try to get to bed as early as you can. But always prep and set the time for the coffee before bed, no matter how late. You’ll be grateful for it once six o’clock rolls around.