You need a break from the old routine
A great morning routine can kickstart your day, helping you leave the house raring to go. Breaking old habits and learning new ways to brighten your mornings. Here are 5 ideas to get your day off to a flying start, helping you create a positive morning routine.
It’s been a long day. You crawl into your bed and let your body sink into that mattress. A little contented smile spreads across your face as you nuzzle your face into your pillow. It’s pure bliss !!!! Hell I love to sleep, my mum used to say I could sleep for England ! And I would have done given half the chance. I love to sleep so much that in no time at all I am in a deeeeeeeeeeeeeep sleep, one where I barely move all night and I often wake up laid in exactly the same place !
Deep sleep isn’t all it’s cracked up to be !
Not everyone gets to sleep like that , I know friends and family who have really shitty sleep patterns and do you know what ?? I feel for them, I really do.
There is a down side to being a deep sleeper and that for me is waking up every morning feeling absolutely shattered. I don’t feel rested in any way, my eyes are heavy, my head hurts, my back aches from being laid in the same position too long. In fact I don’t feel like I’ve been asleep at all, I feel like I’ve been out saving the world all night with my buddies Peter Parker and Clark Kent !
Either way, we all have to wake up at some point, and I’m willing to bet the majority of us share the same feeling of despair at having to get out of that warm, cosy pit.
So folks lets start the day as we mean to go on by adding these steps into your morning routine.
Appreciate the start of a new day
Jump start your morning routine by setting your alarm a little earlier to give yourself time to come round. No ! Dont hit that snooze button, it’s the worst thing you can do. “Just 5 more minutes !!!! “ ???? I hear you cry. Well rather than taking that time to snooze, it is nice to spend the time expressing gratitude. Be thankful for waking to another day. Without sounding morbid there are many who won’t wake to a new day. Be grateful for being lucky enough to have a bed and a home to wake up in. You really are lucky, you know ?.
Make your bed
Each morning after I have managed to prize the kids out of my bed, I always make the bed. Shake that duvet and plump those pillows. Make it look nice and neat ready for the next night. You don’t have to go all hotel style here, and start making swans out of towels, but make a bit of an effort to straighten it out.
Incorporating this ritual into your morning routine does a number of things;
- It signifies bed time is over. Once you have made your bed, your less likely to climb back into it for another little snooze.
- It announces to the world that you are ready to start your new day.
- It makes you feel as though you have accomplished something already. This is significant to people with mental health illnesses such as depression. Just by making your bed you have taken the time and effort to make a positive step forward in your day and this is a very powerful feeling.
- When it’s time to go to bed next, your bed will look amazing, inviting and tidy. All the key ingredients to aim for a good nights sleep.
Drink a glass of water
We all know that we should drink more water and if we are honest with ourselves, there will be many of us not reaching our daily water intake target. So fitting a glass of water into your morning routine will help it become a habit. A glass of water as soon as you get up will help to kickstart your body and get all your internal organs fired up for the day ahead. It’s recommended we aim to drink 8 glasses a day, so your 1 down straight away. Another great way to start the day !
What’s your plan of action
Ok so you have your usual things you need to do….. school run, go to work, do housework, settle a multimillion pound contract …….? maybe?
Either way we all have our everyday life. The things that tick over and fill up our schedules.
But what else are you going to do today ? What could you do to make this day different? I mean think of all the incredible people who have walked this earth past and present……. the inventors, the engineers, the scientists, the surgeons. They too wake up each day and go about their business, but what sets them apart is that they have a plan. Yes people, a plan !
I get up in the morning looking for an adventure
George Foreman
Albert Einstein will have woken up every day and done the usual mundane day-to-day activities we all do. He may have even made his bed on a morning ? ? As does Oprah Winfrey , although she might have someone make her bed for her, in which case she is missing out on a key part of her daily ritual !! But you get my meaning, these people are and were regular people. The difference is, they have/had a passion and a drive. A fire in their belly to pursue whatever it is that makes them tick. Successful people make it a part of their morning routine to outline the day ahead.
So… what I’m saying here is, as well as the day-to-day stuff, what are you going to do today? What’s your dream, your goal, ambition etc.
Need some success inspiration ? Check out these top tips!
Visualise
A great place to set this time aside is “ drum roll please !” ???? in the bathroom. YES you did read that right. This is especially helpful to those with small children who might not get a minute to themselves from the moment they wake up.
In the morning, in the bathroom, on the toilet, whilst brushing your teeth, whatever ….lock the door if possible and take a moment to visualise your day ahead. Really think about what you want from your day. Dont hold back here, joking aside, the power of visualisation is incredibly powerful. Everything in life started with a thought and your thoughts carry just as much weight behind them as the next person. Truly see yourself living your dream, really feel yourself in that moment and the emotions that come with your thought. Click here to read more about the power of thought.
Picture everything going to plan, just the way you want it to. Think about how that makes you feel and embrace that feeling. There are tons of books out there which talk about the power of visualisation, or you may have heard it called the law of attraction. 5 minutes each morning projecting this type of positivity will energise your day.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
The worst thing you can do on a morning is rush around like a headless chicken. We have all been there, you wake up late, you forgot to make your packed lunch. You stump your toe on your bedside table and then shout at the bedside table because it obviously jumped out at you!!!
Where are your keys? Where did you last have your phone? Ohhh noooooooo you didn’t send that email !!!!! That’s it, the day is shit and it hasn’t even started. What’s the point? Why do you even bother???????????
Slow down a minute.
Things go wrong sometimes. We forget things because we have lots going on in our lives. You can’t find your keys sometimes because you are human and humans lose things. We even stump our toe sometimes and by god does it hurt ! I mean really hurt ??? but after a minute or 2 that pain eases off. And we still have a toe ! ??♀️ Hooray.
On those mornings when things start to go wrong just slow down a minute and breath. Your not going to find your things whilst panicking. If you have forgotten to do something important then, ok it’s not the end of the world. Worrying about it and giving yourself an ear bashing isn’t going to fix things either.
You have the power to turn it around
Dont just assume that because things have got off to a bad start that you can’t turn things around. All it takes is a fresh approach, some deep breaths and to pause for a moment. You will begin to think straight again and rationalise that the world is not out to get you. That all of those little things are just that, little things that you must not let destroy your day before its got going.
Make sure as you leave your home for the day that you do so calmly and rationally. You are in complete control of your day ahead and you control what mood you start your day in.
So there we go people. A few ways to help you develop a happy and healthy morning routine, giving your day the best possible start. Practice them, if you forget, try the next morning, keep at it and eventually you will make new habits.
Do you have a morning routine in place? Are there any tips you would like to share that you feel work well for you?
Wake up fresh peeps!
Becky ?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Ashley. Yes I agree, you need to fill your morning with a positive action to help you get your day started.
I love this article. I recently have been adopting a new morning routine to combat my depression. Of course it is still hard to get out of bed every morning, but it’s getting easier. I think making yourself looking forward to getting up is half the battle.