I woke up early this morning and looked at my phone… only to see that it was 21 degrees outside. After checking that I wasn’t having a nightmare or that I hadn’t somehow set my phone to Celsius, I laid there for a bit, not quite ready to start my day. Cold, dark mornings are far from my favorite. But, winter is coming* and staying in bed until spring is not an option, so I had to get up. Last I checked, cold weather is not a reason to miss class.

Yes, I use emojis in my alarm labels. Nothing wrong with a little cheer at 7 AM.

I’ve found a few things that motivate me to get up and get on with the morning. One of those things is actually the snooze button. I know that snoozing my alarm isn’t good for me, and that it wastes precious time. But sometimes there is something so satisfying about having 10 more minutes to do nothing in the morning, especially when I have a busy day coming up.

Mixing my fall and winter holidays into one delicious cup of coffee

My other go-to way to get up in the morning is to bribe myself with a cup of hot coffee. In addition to a nice caffeine boost, coffee has the added bonus of keeping me warm in the winter. My travel mug even works as a makeshift hand warmer. While I drink my coffee, I have a chance to think of the day ahead of and come up with a list of all of the things I need to do. Making a to-do list and breaking it down into manageable amounts is usually just the motivation I need to start my day off on the right foot.

My to-do list today includes writing thank-you notes, outlining two papers, starting a final project, and doing chores around the house. Once I scheduled a time to do all of these things (and planned them around my work and class schedule), I was feeling great… until I walked out the door and it was still only 25 degrees outside. Thank goodness I bundled up!

Anyone here share my pain when it comes to below-freezing mornings? Or do you secretly love the cold weather? Let me know in the comments, I love hearing from you guys!

*I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say “winter is coming” again without thinking of Game of Thrones