Morning Routine For People Who “Could Never Do a Morning Routine”.

Don’t freak out about the title. When I first heard the words morning routine I was pretty intimidated. To think there was people who have an entire routine scheduled before they even head to work? Wtf lol. I’m lucky enough to be able to say I never really liked sleeping in too much I hate wasting my days, but I never knew that getting up to prepare for your day was like, a thing. Typically I would wake up with juuuuust the right amount of time to shower, get ready, and hit the road. Since I started getting up an hour earlier and taking some me time BEFORE the day even starts makes me feel like I could take on anything (a bit over the top but you get it) . But of course, I’ve yet to stick to it on a consistent basis, right now I’m performing this routine 3-4 times a week but one of my 2019 goals was to commit to 5 days a week and making it an actual habit. I’ve been feeling super motivated the past few days too, I’m fully ready to start committing to it, it’s that much of a game changer. Now for all of you people who say “I just like, love sleeping in. I’ll never be a morning person!” YOU are the type of person that annoys me the most. (#SNS) You are already starting this out with a negative pre-conceived thought you have about yourself, wipe that slate clean girl you are NOT your thoughts. You’ve just been conditioned to think that’s who you are because you’ve probably never attempted to change. Now let’s get into all this fun life changing stuff.

First of all…

Step #1: STOP SAYING YOU’RE NOT A MORNING PERSON.

There are so many reasons as to why mornings are such an amazing time to do all your important shit. It’s pretty basic, when you wake up from your sleep your brain is at its peak point for taking in information, it’s rested because basically no ones bugged you yet. If you have control over your mornings wouldn’t it be that much easier to control your day? Days = weeks, and weeks = months, and you get it. Start looking at your mornings as an opportunity to have an amazing day and stop waking up, already waiting for the day to be over. Some people don’t even wake up from their sleep, ever think about that? Bet not.

Step #2: PUT THE DAMN PHONE AWAY.

This may be the hardest one to get used to but for the love of god nothing good comes from scrolling through instagram first thing in the morning. This actually starts at night time, about an hour (or more) before bed I put my phone on do not disturb or airplane mode and you just let it charge. Simple, but not easy. The moment you pick up your phone in the morning is the exact moment you’re letting everyone else in the world control your day and how your feeling. I’m to the point now where I actually hate looking at my phone, because the moment you do it’s just people taking all these little pieces of your precious energy and using it all up until it’s gone. Ever heard of decision fatigue? The more decisions you have to make during the day, the more energy you use up = the more burnt out you are by nighttime. Instead of picking your phone up first thing, why not actually just take a minute to appreciate the fact you’re given one more day on this earth (dramatic but true) why not take a minute and actually notice how you’re feeling in the moment. Don’t let anyone take up your precious me time, you are the most important person in your life after all + it’s most likely the only point in time you have to yourself ALL day, embrace it.

Step #3: SHOWER + MOVEMENT. (15 Mins)

The way my schedule works, I have to be out my door at 8:30 AM. Currently I’ve had my alarm set for 6:45 AM, by the time I’m out of bed it’s 7 AM. Funny enough I used to get out of bed at 8 AM so this is a big jump for me. (I promise I will get to 5 AM one of these damn days) I go into the bathroom and turn on the shower and when you’re still in that weird half asleep/feel drunk phase I actually have started doing 15 squats. So, yes. You will look stupid af, but you’re half asleep so who cares. But just doing some type of movement first thing in the morning get’s your heart race up, blood pumping and even wakes you up more than the shower and it just makes you feel good. Next, hop in that shower and actually realize you’re in the shower, don’t be thinking about everything else under the sun, this is YOUR time. Once I’m out, I actually put my PJ’s and a comfy sweater back on and get all ready for my fave part of the routine, meditation.

Step #4: W-A-T-E-R. (Like 3 Mins? Not sure who tf actually times this)

If I seriously have to write one more sentence about the importance of water. Your body is the most dehydrated when you wake up the AM. It’s dying of thirst, force yourself to drink as many glasses as you can without feeling too sick. Your hair, skin, nails, gut, organs will thank you for it. Ps. To make it easier fill up your water bottle before bed and set it right next to you, that way your lazy ass doesn’t even have to get up. I also take a Vitamin D supplement every morning with my water, being one of those crazy Canadians in winter where it gets dark at like 5 PM, it is a necessity.

Step #5: MEDITATE. (10 Mins)

Oh yes. The meditation. This is seriously one of the biggest life changers I’ve experienced I know you may feel weird at first but it’s only because you’ve never actually paid attention to your own body/mind this much which is actually sort of sad. Now, it’s the one part of my morning routine that I never miss because I feel like my day would be so lost without it. If you’re just starting out use a mindfulness app like Headspace or Simple Habit. If you feel like you’re ready for something more, instead of paying $175 a month for a premium subscription, head on over to YouTube and type in 10 minute morning meditation and you’ll find 394692865892. This is what I’ve been doing and ya girl is feelin zen af all before 8 AM.

Step #6: JOURNAL. (20 Mins)

Another major key for my morning routine: write down whatever tf I’m feeling at that current moment and make sure you write AT LEAST 5 things you’re grateful for. The feeling of gratitude is extremely powerful, look around you, that mirror?! Imagine your life without that mirror. Imagine if mirrors just never existed? So don’t tell me you can’t find 5 things to be grateful for. This, along with meditation, have honestly changed my life. News flash, it’s no longer cool to hold in all of your feelings and not tell anyone about it!!! For real though, coming from a former cynic I was the queen of just sweeping everything under the rug until I realized how bad that is not only for your mental, but physical health. Nothing good comes from keeping everything in, no matter what your mood: stressed, anxious, sad, motivated, happy, confused. Write. It. Down. Just throw up on the paper (figuratively, of course) and just let it out. Remember mornings are your clean slate, and you can’t have a clean slate with a messy mind.

Step #7: READ. (20 Mins)

This one is pretty self explanatory. Since we were kids everyone always told us to read. I personally set a timer for 20 minutes and dive into whatever book I’m currently reading. There’s nothing like starting your day off with some motivation. For those of you in school, I know the last thing you probably want to do is read when you’re about to go to class all day, but think about it as your little escape to learn something you actually care about. Because we both know learning anatomy or advanced financial accounting isn’t going to bring a spark to your life.

By the time I’m finished it’s usually around 8 AM which leaves me plenty of time to throw on an outfit, bit of concealer and hit the road. This may seem like a lot right now, especially if you’re currently sleeping in until like 10 AM every day, but do not worry one bit. Try adding in just one of these components and see how you feel, then two, three and so on. Once you realize how awesome it makes your day you’ll slowly start to craft your own and find what works for you. For the last week or so this has been working for me extremely well which is why I’m sharing it, it honestly has taken me almost 4 months to realize what routine works and what doesn’t and I’m still smoothing out some rough patches. In the grand scheme of things, nothing is going to work if you don’t have a strong enough reason. This all comes back to that same old self love BS I keep preaching but there’s a reason we keep coming full circle. You have to WANT to change, maybe you’re at a point in your life where this just isn’t that important and that’s okay too! The last thing I want is to make anyone feel guilty for not having a morning routine. To each their own baby. I’m putting this into the universe as something you can always come back to, whenever you need it. It’s helped me in sooooo many ways which is why I just had to share but I can’t force you to do it. Take your own time and once you start, LET ME KNOW. I seriously want to start engaging with anyone and everyone who is reading this, let me know if you already have a morning routine!? If so I’m dying to know. Comment, DM, e-mail, etc, etc. I don’t bite.

PS. Thank you for alllll of the wonderful support I’ve been getting already. It actually blows my mind that any of you are listening to some 23 year old gal trying to find her way yet still likes to drink a lil too much + eat a lot of treats. It’s all about the journey I guess. Also kinda wanna start taking this a tad more seriously because I LOVE writing these posts. Let me know what YOU want to hear next, you know where to find me.