How to Be More Motivated at Night

“The early bird gets the worm.” It’s a saying almost everyone has heard at least once in your life. People are able to get up early in the morning are applauded for being successful and on track, since starting your day early gives you more time to get everything done. Here’s how to be more motivated.

But what about people who have to work at night? You may work a nights for your job or have to stay up late studying for a class you’re taking. That’s when waking up early does more harm than good, making it difficult to stay awake.

If you’re looking for some help with your night schedule, try out these easy tips. They’ll teach you how to be more motivated at night, so you can power through your responsibilities and get back to the fun parts of your day.

1. Find Your Body’s Schedule

Everyone has a routine they stick with during the day, which is what they base their work schedule around. They know if they have coffee by nine, they’ll be awake until lunch. Lunch will keep them going until the famous three o’clock slump.

That kind of schedule doesn’t directly translate to working at night, which is why you should give yourself time to find out your body’s schedule. A great example is noticing that your energy slumps before or after midnight, which will help you structure your work.

2. Form a Healthy Sleep Schedule

Believe it or not, you can absolutely form a healthy sleep schedule when you have to work through the night. Something you may want to try is napping before your evening begins.

Naps longer than 30-40 minutes will make you engage in deep sleep, which makes you more alert when you wake up. Aim to sleep for at least 2-3 before your night starts if you’ve already been awake during the day.

3. Avoid Too Much Caffeine

Most people figure the best answer to how to be more motivated is coffee. During the day, you may rely on coffee to get you through the early morning hours, but don’t use it to stay up during the night. Caffeinated drinks can ruin your night in two ways.

The first is the caffeine crash that follows any extra energy. That crash will draw on your growing desire to sleep, making an accidental nap more likely.

Drinking it too late in the night will also make it difficult to fall asleep in the morning. It’s not healthy to throw off your established sleep schedule with something like caffeine, so avoid it if possible. Chew gum or take walk breaks instead to stay awake.

4. Don’t Push Yourself

Staying up through the night is harder for some people than others, so if you feel yourself struggling, it may just be in your nature to sleep early.

When that isn’t possible, remember not to push yourself too hard. Practice self care by eliminating bad habits. Those bad habits could look like giving in to high anxiety habits or eating bad food to make up for not following through with your schedule for the night.

Being kind to yourself will get you much farther and make night shifts much more easy, so learn how to balance trying to stay awake and trying too hard by listening to what your body tells you.

How to Be More Motivated: Try New Helpful Habits

The first time you have to pull an all-nighter at the library or get through a night shift at work won’t be easy, but you can make it easier in the long run by trying new helpful habits.

Figure out a sleep routine that will recharge your body before a long night. Eat healthy foods, avoid caffeine and listen when your body tells you that it’s time to hit pause on what you’re doing. You’ll eventually find what works for you, so staying up through the night becomes second nature.