Morning Routine To Start Your Day Right

Hello Beautiful People. Let’s talk mornings. How are they for you? Do you wake up refreshed and full of energy, or groggy and unmotivated? Does getting your head off the pillow feel like climbing a mountain? Well my friend, don’t fret. I have a super easy morning routine for you to start your day right.

Why is a morning routine so important?

To put it simply, if you have a positive start to the day, you are more likely to have a positive day overall. It enables your mind to think more clearly and you will feel more productive and able to face any challenges along the way.

We’ve all had those mornings, right? You stub your toe going to the bathroom, spill the milk all over the side while making your cup of tea and then you can’t find your keys; you’re running late, you feel rushed and now your anxiety is through the roof before the days even really begun.

After a morning like this, you can guarantee the rest of the day goes south just as quickly. Why? Because those first few things set the precedent for the day. Remember, negative attracts negative.

By trying to follow the same morning routine every day, you develop new habits, you’ll have a sense of predictability and structure and as humans, we need these things to function in a productive way. Our brains don’t like the unknown, they fear it.

Allowing ourselves to achieve something before the day has even got going, will bring you into a mindset of positivity and accomplishment, and with that, you can achieve ANYTHING.

Follow these simple steps to start your day right.

Ok, let’s get into it.

The night before

To really set yourself up for success, you need to start the night before. Make a plan and let go of all the things that are worrying you, to give yourself the best chance of a good night’s rest.

Get yourself a planner or a to-do list (this could be a notepad or a digital planner, whichever you prefer) and each night before you go to sleep make a note of all the things you need to do the following day, I like to highlight my priorities and make it all colourful and pretty (it helps me stick to it) but you can write in any way you like.

I also find doing a “brain dump” really helps too. Use some space to make a note of all the things that are worrying you and making you anxious, let it all out onto the page. Completely empty your mind of all thoughts and feelings to help relax your mind.

By writing it all out and planning your day you are far less likely to lay awake in bed for hours with thoughts and worries whirling around your brain. If these do occur, get up and write them down, allow the thoughts to leave your brain and remind yourself that you can pick them back up tomorrow.

Some other simple things you can do the night before to ensure you start your day right are:

Setting out your clothes for the next day
Turn off social media and electronics an hour before you go to sleep
Have a quick 10-minute tidy
Wash the dishes so you don’t wake up to them
Relax – read a book, meditate, stretch…
Prepare tomorrow’s lunch

And finally, I think this one is self-explanatory but make sure you go to bed at a reasonable hour. Aim to be in bed a minimum of 8 hours before you need to be up to ensure you feel refreshed and ready to face the day.

Do NOT hit snooze

Ok, so we’ve all done it, the alarm goes off at 8 a.m. but before you know it you’ve hit snooze 5 times and you’ve got 10 minutes to be up and out the door; now you’re rushed and frustrated before the day has even begun.

There are many reasons why hitting that snooze button is bad for us, but mainly because it disrupts our natural sleep cycle and increases sleep inertia (that awful groggy feeling when you wake up).

When you hit snooze and roll back over, your brain thinks it’s ok to start the sleep cycle again, but 9 minutes isn’t long enough for you to get any real amount of rest, so your brain is woken multiple times from an incomplete sleep cycle and each time you will feel worse. So it really is better to just get up!

If this is something you think you will really struggle with, try leaving your alarm on the other side of the room, this means you will have to get up to turn it off. Once you’re up, make a promise to yourself that you WILL NOT get back in that bed.

Make your bed

The best way to make sure you avoid the temptation of climbing back under the covers is to make your bed IMMEDIATELY. It doesn’t have to be fancy and Instagram-worthy, just fluff up the pillows, straighten the duvet and start your day right.

Not only will it stop you from wanting to climb back in, but it also means that you have achieved something within the first few moments of the day. It may seem like a small step, but when you’re struggling with your mental health, making the bed can be a BIG deal. Allow yourself to be proud of achieving this and let it set the precedent for all the other things you can achieve today!

Use affirmations

Now you’re up, it’s time to start that positive self-talk. Be your own biggest cheerleader and push away those self-limiting beliefs.

I find affirmations work best when you say them to yourself in front of a mirror, preferably with a smile on your face. Personally, I like to go into the bathroom, splash cold water on my face (a great way to instantly feel refreshed), brush my teeth and repeat my affirmations over and over again to myself while I freshen up.

Choose your favourites and repeat them to yourself until you can feel the power of the words coursing through your body. Make yourself really believe them! You could even write them on sticky notes and place them around the house so you are reminded of them regularly.

Here are some of my favourite morning affirmations to get you started:

I am strong and capable of anything today brings my way
Tomorrow is gone, I cannot change the past but I can use today as a fresh start
Today is going to be a good day
I believe in myself and my ability to reach my goals
I am proud of myself for how far I have come
I am grateful for the blessing of life
I give myself permission to heal
I am worthy of love and happiness
I am excited for the day ahead
I have the power to be anything I want to be

Hydrate

Drinking a large glass of cold water first thing in the morning will help flush out all the toxins in your body and rehydrate you from a waterless night. Around 60% of your body is made of water, so good hydration is vital for the proper functioning of your vital organs and helps boost your mental performance; which is exactly what we’re aiming for right?

Allowing yourself to become dehydrated will lead to headaches, fatigue, lack of concentration and light-headedness (along with other things), as well as increasing your risk of conditions such as kidney stones and urine infection. So start your day right and give your body what it needs to be the best it can be!

Tip: Try adding a slice of lemon to your water to add even more health benefits.

Get moving

Now I know this is a hard one (or at least it is for me) but bear with me, getting your body moving in the morning really does increase your energy levels, boost your mood, lower anxiety symptoms and just make you feel like an all-around badass.

It’s important to remember that it DOES NOT have to be some fast-paced, 45-minute long, extra intensive workout to see the benefits (unless this is your jam of course), all you need to do is get moving, it could be over in as little as 10 minutes and you will still feel like you can face anything once you’re done.

If exercise really isn’t your thing, and you want to run away and hide from this step, try some of these quick and easy ways to get started:

Do 20-star jumps and 20 squats
Dance around the living room to your favourite song
Shake your whole body out for 5 minutes, realising all the tension you’re holding
Go for a 10-minute brisk walk
Walk up and down the stairs 10 times
Do a 10-minute yoga workout
Check out some of these easy morning routine videos
Do a seated workout

Remember: Take this at your own pace, only do what feels comfortable and NEVER pressure yourself to do more than you feel able to. This will take time, but gradually you will find it gets easier and you can increase as needed. The main goal is just to get your blood flowing and get you pumped to face the day!

Eat a wholesome breakfast

I know you’ve heard this one before, but breakfast really is the most important meal of the day! It gives you a much-needed energy boost, increases your focus and can even lower your risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Some great breakfast options include:

Eggs (dippy eggs and soldiers, fried eggs on toast, scrambled egg… there are just endless options with these little beauties and they are absolutely full of goodness)
Porridge (I absolutely LOVE porridge, especially in the colder months… you can honey, syrup, fruit, peanut butter, nuts, or whatever you like to suit your taste)
Fruit… good old-fashioned fruit, as it is, chopped up in a bowl or topped with yoghurt, you just can’t go wrong here
Greek yoghurt with berries/seeds/nuts mixed in
Wholegrain toast with your favourite topping
Even protein shakes and smoothies will give you what you need if you really aren’t an ‘eat in the morning’ kind of person.

Do something you love

Self-care is something you will hear me talk a lot about, prioritising yourself is a MUST, not an option! By spending just 10-15 minutes in the morning doing something you love you will free your mind, allow your creativity to flow and have much more energy to give to others now that you are taken care of.

Read a chapter of a book, draw, paint, walk, take photographs, dance, sing, write, play a game… the list goes on, but whatever you love, do it, now! Don’t put yourself last and say you’ll do it later, then run out of time again, put yourself first and you will be amazed at the results!

Avoid the socials

We all have that one app that we just can’t seem to break up with, we spend all day checking the feed for any update we might have missed, FOMO kicks in as soon you close it and two minutes later it’s somehow open again, just in case. It’s usually the last thing you look at in bed and the first thing you want to check when your eyes open. I get it, that’s what it’s designed to do, our phones have become all-consuming, and it feels incredible to just zone out in the moment, but it is NOT helping you!

Social media can have a hugely detrimental effect on our mental health, the constant overload of information, expectations and unrealistic standards just fry our brains. So I want you to try your absolute best to use them less. I’m not saying stop, there are also huge benefits (I mean hello, we wouldn’t be friends without it) but just reduce your exposure to it. Take in the world around you and allow yourself to be present.

Challenge: When you wake up in the morning, wait at least 30 minutes before you pick up your phone and check the socials. Focus on all the things we’ve talked about instead, allow yourself to mentally and physically prepare for the day, and get into that positive and abundant mindset and it will be life-changing!