Improving your mornings

 Starting your day off on the right foot is one of the best forms of self-care. It can greatly increase your productivity and reduce stress. I will give you some tips on how to have a good morning and have more productive (and hopefully happier) days.

1. The night before

For workdays, I would say to clean up the surfaces that you're going to use in the morning and to set out your clothes. Clearing off your surfaces helps you to get right to morning skincare without having to move things out of your way. This should remove stress and give you less to worry about in the morning. And for setting out your clothes, this gives you less to worry about you can just get dressed and not have to worry about if what you need is in the wash or not. You can also prepare clothes for just getting ready in the morning such as a robe. This can help you be comfy while you get ready and keep you from wetting your clothes while washing you face.

You can also benefit from making sure you have everything you need for breakfast in the morning or plan accordingly so that when you get ready to make breakfast you know what you're making. You can also meal prep breakfast either by chopping up ingredients to throw together or make it to heat up in the morning. You can also do the same for your lunch, so you have less to do in the morning.

2. Waking up

Giving yourself an extra hour of wiggle room in the morning will keep you from rushing and allow you time to relax and wake up. If you have the habit of sitting for a 5 to 20 minutes after your alarm goes off to fully wake up that extra hour can help allow you to do that and not worry about the time you've wasted. 

If you wake up before the sun comes up, I would say to keep the light on the dimmer side but bright enough to get ready. But if you wake up while the sun is up, open the blinds/curtains and bring in the light. I have found that the light that you choose in the morning helps your body to understand the time of day while also understanding that it's time to get up.

Drink water before and after each task. Hydrating early help your body to wake up and refresh itself. Your body with be able to digest and function better because your body isn't in a state of water retention. You will also find that you won't feel like you need to eat a whole lot in the morning because the feeling of hunger is just another way that the body interprets the need for water.

3. Routine

Whether you workout before work or go straight to work in the morning, having a plan of action or order of operation helps you to know what you need to do and keep you from forgeting something important. When making a routine write it down and make sure it is realistic. Do not add things that do not aid your productivity and overall happiness because having too much to do in the morning will only add stress. 

Your routine should be something that makes sense to you in a way that you can learn it fast, and you feel good during and after it. 

Example routine:

1. Wake up
2. Drink water
3. Open Blinds
4. Brush teeth
5. Put on workout clothes
6. Pre-workout
7. Fill water bottle
8. Go to gym
9. Shower
10. Skin Care
11. Makeup & Hair
12. Breakfast
13. Update planner
14. Enjoy coffee
15. Get dressed
16. Go to work

I hope this is helpful and helps you guys out.

Stay Hydrated. 💧