Kick-start Your Morning with a Routine
A big lifestyle trend right now involves setting routines. I’ve heard this from at least five motivational speakers in the past four months. As a Type A, recovering perfectionist, and recovering workaholic, I happily nodded along when I heard routines are good for us.
You see, it’s because I’ve been setting routines my whole life! While there can be something said for going over the top with routines, AND I probably do that, I have been able to master a few tips to help others get started.
While I have different routines throughout the day, if you’re new to setting one, let’s start with a morning routine. When beginning a new routine, the best thing to consider is what works and feels good for you. Also, be patient with yourself. It probably won’t feel good the first few days, but try it for 1-2 full weeks and then see where you may want to make adjustments.
Here are five suggestions for an energizing morning routine:
Wake Up an Hour Early! Yes, you read that correctly. Wake up an hour earlier than you usually do. This allows you to get more time for a routine and to energize yourself for the day. Plus, when you start doing this you will most likely be waking up before anyone else in your home, if others are living with you. Of course this also means you may need to go to bed earlier so you don’t compromise those 7-8 hours of sleep.
BONUS tip here. Use an actual alarm clock. Ditch the phone alarm because then you’re tempted to start scrolling through social media and emails as soon as you wake up. Get a $10 alarm clock and set it for an hour earlier than you usually wake up.
No electronics for 1 hour: We are overly connected to our phones, computers, and other electronic devices these days. Allow your body and mind to wake up naturally, with natural light. Not only does this hour physically help your body calibrate for the day, it allows you to start your day off with minimal stress. You don’t have to worry about jumping straight into work mode when you can barely open your eyes. Nor do you have to start the judgmental comparison spiral many of us do when scrolling through our social streams. Even if this is the only tech-free hour of your day, it’s the most important one to be tech-free.
Drink hot water with lemon: Drink this before ANYTHING ELSE. This not only boosts your metabolism for the day, but boosts your immune system, aids digestion, promotes hydration, improves your skin, supports weight loss, and several other amazing benefits…all from just lemon and water. After you get this needed hydration, then go for that cup of coffee or tea.
Write! Start with 3-5 things you are grateful for. When you start the day with gratitude you get yourself out of the negative self-talk (I’m tired, I don’t want to work out, I don’t want to go to work, blah blah blah). I feel all that too, but when we focus on gratitude, we are literally rewiring our brains to focus on the good and calm our fight/flight/freeze mode.
KEEP IT SIMPLE though!!! Definitely be grateful for the big things in life, but don’t forget the little stuff. That cup of lemon water or coffee, the funny thing your pet did, your cozy socks. These little thoughts of gratitude bring us back to feeling good when life starts back on that crazy roller coaster.
If you struggle with finding things to be grateful for, just start journaling. You’ll be amazed at what you can put on paper when your mind is less cluttered and you have more focus.
Move Your Body: Try adding in some exercise, even if it’s just 10 minutes of some yoga poses. Moving for 20-30 minutes is optimal, but even 10 minutes will begin to work out the lactic acid and start activating the nitric oxide we all need. It will also give you an additional energy boost.
While there are many other habits to add to a morning routine, try some of these out and see how much increased energy you have after two weeks.