How Do *You* Perfect Your Morning Routine?
It’s fair to say that there are better and worse methods for starting your day. You might not know what makes for a perfect morning routine, but you no doubt know what makes a poor one - waking up, browsing your phone for hours on end, stewing and not getting up, falling asleep again several times, perhaps eating an unhealthy breakfast and then vegetating in front of the television. Of course, if you have a morning free, you are absolutely welcome to spend it how you like. It’s your life!
But as we get older, we tend to find that the momentum we live with can often define our whole day. If you image a morning routine as the first strike in a pool match, where breaking the balls will determine the flow of the rest of the game, you can see why the decisions here are so important.
So, we’d like to ask you, how do you perfect your morning routine? What does that kind of approach look like? In this post, we hope to discuss some options you may wish to consider:
The Previous Night’s Preparation
A good morning doesn’t begin when your alarm goes off, as it often starts the night before. At least, if you want to get through the day without stressing out and trying to find everything at once, having it hanging and ready for you is going to be nicer to wake up to in the morning. For example, if you need to wear an ironed shirt for work, having it hanging and ready for you is going to be more pleasant than not.
As such, taking ten minutes in the evening to prepare for the day ahead can lift a surprising amount of weight from your shoulders. That might mean laying out clothes, prepping breakfast or lunch, or writing down tomorrow’s priorities in a way that gives your thoughts somewhere to land.
None of this needs to feel rigid, of course, but if you’re tired of flapping each morning (as we’re all guilty of), the preparation you put in place can help.
Getting Up & Stretching
Movement is the first thing that helps you reclaim your body from the stiffness of sleep and the cobwebs associated with it. Thankfully, you don’t have to launch into a full workout or anything demanding. You may just begin rolling your shoulders, stretching your arms overhead, or reaching down to your toes with a few slow breaths. Even just breathing deeply can be enough.
This way you can bring awareness back into your limbs, and gently remind your system that it’s time to start again. If you’re young and can bound out of bed as normal then perhaps that’s fine, but trust us, when you hit your thirties this is going to feel like a balm.
Fresh Air
Even with a cracked window your room isn’t going to be as refreshing as your outside area, so open a window, step out onto the porch and perhaps commit to a light chore such as walking the recycling to the bin or letting your dog out. Whatever gets you in contact with the outside world for a moment, perhaps with a morning tea is worthwhile.
A deep breath can be comforting and also helps you feel rejuvenated, while also removing some of the lethargy you’ve been struggling with.
Hydration, Tea, Coffee
After several hours of sleep, your body’s usually running low on fluids, and that can leave you feeling slower than you need to be. It’s important to hydrate as soon as you wake up, then, because your body is crying out for it even if you don’t feel so thirsty.
If you enjoy tea or coffee, this is a good moment to make something you actually enjoy. If you can, try to avoid anything too sugary or with too much of a caffeine hit (without balancing out that with water). So for example, a simple latte is fine, but try to avoid energy drinks.
A Healthy Breakfast
Not everyone eats breakfast, and if you’d prefer to fast that can be fine. But fuelling yourself is generally considered important, as you want something that keeps you steady, not something that sends your energy spiking and crashing.
That might mean oats with fruit, eggs and toast, a smoothie with peanut butter, or whatever version fits your budget and time. What matters is that it tastes good and gives you a sense of support without necessarily dumping a huge amount of sugar into your system. Go as healthy as you can with nutrient-dense foods - oats are usually great because they’re a complex carb, can be made it any number of ways, and feels filling without giving you a hard crash later on.
Reading & A Gentle Brain Teaser
Giving your mind something to focus on can help shake off the sluggishness that sometimes clings to our early hours, as we all experience now and again. We’d recommend a page or two from a novel, a few minutes with a word search puzzle, or a slow scan of the headlines depending on if you really want to ingest all the chaos there can at least perk you up.
Try to avoid thinking of this as major self-improvement and just a nice means of setting yourself up for the day. It will have a positive effect in general but you have to focus a little.
A Little Self Pep-Talk
It’s good to give yourself a little pep talk in the morning. That’s not because you need to be motivated to take your kids to school, but because we often forget that a day is a big deal. You might need to remind yourself what you’re doing it all for, or that you’re going to nail this presentation.
Some people use affirmations in this way, such as reminding themselves with a little self-developed aphorism about why they woke up so early and conformed to that disciplined schedule to begin with. It’s a nice way to look out without any form of cynicism.
With this advice, we hope you can nail that perfect morning routine with confidence.
