Waking up in the morning always used to be a struggle for me. My alarm would go off and I would hit snooze multiple times, until I was left with only 20 minutes to get ready, eat breakfast, pack my lunch, and run out the door. I was always in a rush and my mind was always racing. This wasn’t a great way to start my morning and didn’t set me up for productive day at school or work. While I was in college, I finally started to develop a morning routine that allowed me to start my day on the right note. I am going to share with you my top 8 tips that I use every morning to get a jump start on my day and leave me feeling productive all day long.
1. Set your alarm 20 minutes earlier! Setting your alarm 20 minutes earlier than you normally do makes a huge difference. If I want to wake up at 8am then I will set my alarm for 7:40am. I do this so that I have dedicated time to scroll through social media and respond to any texts from the night before. It also allows me to hit snooze one more time if I really need it, visualize my daily goals, and mentally prepare myself to get out of bed. You will notice a difference in your productivity when you start doing this and feel 10x more awake.
2. Open your blinds! As soon as I wake up, one of the first things I do is open my blinds to let some light in. Sometimes, I’ll even sleep with my blinds open to allow my body to wake up naturally to the sunlight. It’s so much easier to wake up with the sun instead of an alarm. When I sleep with the shades open, I always wake up before my alarm goes off and I love it! I can’t stand the sound of my alarm, so it’s always a great day when I’m awake and already starting my morning routine before my alarm starts buzzing.
3. Wash your face with warm water! Washing your face is going to help wake yourself up and help you feel clean and refreshed. Right after washing I apply my Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting moisturizer. I discovered this product a few months ago and I love it! This moisturizer immediately hydrates your face and smells amazing! It’s a citrus-y scent that energizes you and gets you ready to take on the day.
4. Eat a Healthy Breakfast! Eating breakfast is extremely important and if I don’t eat anything when I wake up, I tend to feel light-headed throughout the day. For breakfast, I usually have toast with either a banana or clementine, and a glass of water. My breakfasts are usually pretty light because I pack small snacks for myself to eat throughout the day.
5. Fill your Water Bottle! Do this before you leave for school or work. Whenever I fill my water bottle in the morning, I am more likely to drink it throughout the day. If I forget to fill it before I leave, then I usually forget to fill it up later in the day, partly because it can be hard to find a bubbler if I’m running errands or on the go.
6. Take 5 minutes to Stretch! If you set a short time limit for your stretch session, you will be more likely to consistently stretch in the morning. 5 minutes is the perfect amount of time to get your body moving and relaxed. Sometimes I will switch it up and focus on ab or leg exercises, but I still only do this for 5 minutes because I don’t want it to turn into a full work-out session. These 5 minutes dedicated to stretching are just a way to get my body awake and my brain thinking, nothing more. I save my actual high intensity work outs for after I get home from work.
7. Write down your Priorities! Before you leave your house for work, school, or to run errands, write down your top 5 priorities that you want to complete for the day. That way you know the top tasks that you want to get done and can focus on completing those before you concentrate on any other projects. If you try to tackle too much, usually you end up doing none of it. By keeping your priorities to a smaller number, it will be easier to manage.
After writing down my priorities for the day, I usually take a few minutes to journal. I currently am using the 52 Lists Project as my weekly journal and a small, blank notebook as my day-to-day journal. I write down any thoughts I have, goals, to-do lists, projects I want to complete, etc. This is a great way to visually see your daily tasks or physically see your goals! You are more likely to complete a task if you write it down!
Also, look out for my blog post on how I use the 52 Lists Project journal once a week as my method of journaling. 🙂
8. Listen to Podcasts! On your drive to work, bus ride, walk, etc. listen to a podcast! I have been so interested in podcasts lately and they are a great way to get you thinking. There are so many podcasts out there so you can really find any topic you want to listen to! I encourage you to try listening to a podcast instead of instantly turning on Spotify. If you didn’t already know, most podcasts are free and already downloaded onto your phone! (It is the purple app titled ‘Podcast” on your iPhone.) You can look at the recommended podcasts or search for ones that you want to listen to.
Here’s a quick five to get you started:
- -10% Happier with Dan Harris
- The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast
- Being Boss
- How I Built This with Guy Raz
- Young House Love
Hope you enjoyed!
XO
Cassie
