Mornings are so important in life. The way you spend your morning reflects on how you spend the rest of your day. And if mornings account for the time from 6:00am-10:00am, that's four important hours of the day, and about 124,100 hours in your life that you can spend being productive, peaceful, and healthy. So where do we start?!
1. Go to bed early. Mornings start long before you wake up. They begin by going to bed early. I believe that anyone can be a morning person with adequate sleep. If we go to bed around 10:00pm each night, 8 hours later takes us to 6:00am. That 8 hours of sleep will help us function better each day, and I think when our bodies get acclimated to waking up with the natural flow of the sun, it becomes easier. Even if you go to bed at 11:00pm, I recommend allowing yourself to sleep for 8 hours, our bodies seem to function best on that amount of sleep. However, if you feel like you function better with 7 or 9 hours, then adjust accordingly. Listen to your body.
2. Don't press SNOOZE. Pressing snooze actually leads to less restful sleep and can make you feel more tired when we get up. If we are getting adequate amounts of sleep each night, then we won't even need to press snooze when we wake up because we will feel well rested. Adjust your alarm clock accordingly to how much sleep you need and when that first buzzer goes off in the morning, get up. You got your 8 hours of sleep and that's all you need. Falling back asleep will just make you feel more tired when you wake back up.
3. Wake up positive. The first minutes of your morning set the tune for the rest of the day. I know when I have slept past my alarm and am late for class or work, I panic. I stress out and get so frustrated with myself, with leads to a stressful and frustrating day- not just morning. However, waking up positive starts with getting enough sleep (going to bed early), and leaving yourself enough time to get ready in the morning. When you get adequate sleep, it's so much easier to wake up in a positive mood, ready to tackle the day.
4. Exercise. I can't stress how important this is. Whether your exercise is yoga, running, or going for a walk, it's important to get something in each day. It doesn't have to be very long, but the exercise will get your body and mind moving for the day. If you can get outside, this is even better. The fresh air is good for your mind and helps wake you up even more. However... I know there are cold and rainy places where this can't always happen, in that case- opt for the gym or even your living room. There are tons of at-home workouts available- even if all you do is some stretching. I put exercising at #2 because I think it's easier to do first thing in the morning before you sit down and work on other things. However, you can change the order of these around as you feel best.
5. Eat a healthy breakfast. It is so important that you eat a healthy breakfast each morning because it fuels your body for the beginning of the day. I like to start the day with something quick but nutritious, and that will keep me going for a couple hours. I like to make either eggs, toast with healthy toppings, a protein packed smoothie, or oatmeal with blueberries. Eating an unhealthy breakfast can cause you to crash half way through your morning, making it extra hard to be productive.
6. Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and relax. Put your distractions aside, open the windows and allow fresh air to fill the room, grab a good book (I usually choose my Bible), and read. Allow nothing to distract you and just be in that moment, reading and waking up, smelling the fresh air and adapting to the morning light.
7. Make an agenda for the day. I love lists. I love writing out what I need to do for the day because it helps me be productive and check things off of it. If you aren't a list person, go over in your head what you need to accomplish for the day. If it starts stressing you out, I would suggest writing down the things that NEED to be finished by today, and then extra things that you can work on if you finish. Recognizing the things I need to do and putting them on paper not only helps me not forget about different things, it helps me feel more organized and at ease for the day.
8. Stay off social media for the first hour. This goes with all of these first suggestions. Who reading this wakes up, turns over in bed and grabs their cell phone or computer to check Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.? And how much time do we waste scrolling through our feeds? I know for me, I spend way more time than anticipated looking at different pictures and profiles and a lot of times- it leaves me feeling down because I start comparing myself, and it already starts my morning out negative. Put down your phones and computers at least for the first hour- and focus on yourself and the day ahead of you.
9. Clean up your surroundings. I like to end my morning time with a clean space. I like to make my bed, put away my clothes, make sure all the dishes are clean, and my area and apartment are clean. It helps me feel less stressed and more organized, able to take on the day and be more productive. How many times do we leave a mess because we'd rather go do something else, only to come back and not have time to clean it up- as it becomes a bigger and bigger mess. Then something that should have only taken 10 minutes to pick up in the first place, now ends up needing an hour of work. If we maintain cleanliness all around us- we can be more productive doing other important things. All this takes is maybe 10 minutes each morning.
These are just 9 simple rituals that I like to do to help me make the most of my morning. I know I feel way better throughout my whole day having accomplished these things than sitting around on my phone eating pop tarts for breakfast and doing nothing. Do you have any other suggestions to add? Comment below and let me know what you like to do to make the most out of your mornings!
1. Go to bed early. Mornings start long before you wake up. They begin by going to bed early. I believe that anyone can be a morning person with adequate sleep. If we go to bed around 10:00pm each night, 8 hours later takes us to 6:00am. That 8 hours of sleep will help us function better each day, and I think when our bodies get acclimated to waking up with the natural flow of the sun, it becomes easier. Even if you go to bed at 11:00pm, I recommend allowing yourself to sleep for 8 hours, our bodies seem to function best on that amount of sleep. However, if you feel like you function better with 7 or 9 hours, then adjust accordingly. Listen to your body.
2. Don't press SNOOZE. Pressing snooze actually leads to less restful sleep and can make you feel more tired when we get up. If we are getting adequate amounts of sleep each night, then we won't even need to press snooze when we wake up because we will feel well rested. Adjust your alarm clock accordingly to how much sleep you need and when that first buzzer goes off in the morning, get up. You got your 8 hours of sleep and that's all you need. Falling back asleep will just make you feel more tired when you wake back up.
3. Wake up positive. The first minutes of your morning set the tune for the rest of the day. I know when I have slept past my alarm and am late for class or work, I panic. I stress out and get so frustrated with myself, with leads to a stressful and frustrating day- not just morning. However, waking up positive starts with getting enough sleep (going to bed early), and leaving yourself enough time to get ready in the morning. When you get adequate sleep, it's so much easier to wake up in a positive mood, ready to tackle the day.
4. Exercise. I can't stress how important this is. Whether your exercise is yoga, running, or going for a walk, it's important to get something in each day. It doesn't have to be very long, but the exercise will get your body and mind moving for the day. If you can get outside, this is even better. The fresh air is good for your mind and helps wake you up even more. However... I know there are cold and rainy places where this can't always happen, in that case- opt for the gym or even your living room. There are tons of at-home workouts available- even if all you do is some stretching. I put exercising at #2 because I think it's easier to do first thing in the morning before you sit down and work on other things. However, you can change the order of these around as you feel best.
5. Eat a healthy breakfast. It is so important that you eat a healthy breakfast each morning because it fuels your body for the beginning of the day. I like to start the day with something quick but nutritious, and that will keep me going for a couple hours. I like to make either eggs, toast with healthy toppings, a protein packed smoothie, or oatmeal with blueberries. Eating an unhealthy breakfast can cause you to crash half way through your morning, making it extra hard to be productive.
6. Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and relax. Put your distractions aside, open the windows and allow fresh air to fill the room, grab a good book (I usually choose my Bible), and read. Allow nothing to distract you and just be in that moment, reading and waking up, smelling the fresh air and adapting to the morning light.
7. Make an agenda for the day. I love lists. I love writing out what I need to do for the day because it helps me be productive and check things off of it. If you aren't a list person, go over in your head what you need to accomplish for the day. If it starts stressing you out, I would suggest writing down the things that NEED to be finished by today, and then extra things that you can work on if you finish. Recognizing the things I need to do and putting them on paper not only helps me not forget about different things, it helps me feel more organized and at ease for the day.
8. Stay off social media for the first hour. This goes with all of these first suggestions. Who reading this wakes up, turns over in bed and grabs their cell phone or computer to check Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.? And how much time do we waste scrolling through our feeds? I know for me, I spend way more time than anticipated looking at different pictures and profiles and a lot of times- it leaves me feeling down because I start comparing myself, and it already starts my morning out negative. Put down your phones and computers at least for the first hour- and focus on yourself and the day ahead of you.
9. Clean up your surroundings. I like to end my morning time with a clean space. I like to make my bed, put away my clothes, make sure all the dishes are clean, and my area and apartment are clean. It helps me feel less stressed and more organized, able to take on the day and be more productive. How many times do we leave a mess because we'd rather go do something else, only to come back and not have time to clean it up- as it becomes a bigger and bigger mess. Then something that should have only taken 10 minutes to pick up in the first place, now ends up needing an hour of work. If we maintain cleanliness all around us- we can be more productive doing other important things. All this takes is maybe 10 minutes each morning.
These are just 9 simple rituals that I like to do to help me make the most of my morning. I know I feel way better throughout my whole day having accomplished these things than sitting around on my phone eating pop tarts for breakfast and doing nothing. Do you have any other suggestions to add? Comment below and let me know what you like to do to make the most out of your mornings!
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