5 KEYS TO A PRODUCTIVE MORNING ROUTINE
Greetings friends! Now that the “New Year, New Me” memes + quotes + rants are over, I want to share some real practical ways with you all to have a real bomb morning. A bomb morning means an amazing day, & who doesn’t want to kick some butt today?
I find some mornings are more complicated than they need to be, and that’s usually because I spend too much time doing things I have no business doing [in the mornings]. Things like:
Checking social media on my phone as soon as I wake up
Reading the New York Times + Twitter to see what happened in the world while I was sleeping
Rolling back over into bed and falling asleep for another half an hour
And the list goes on.. and on.. but you get me. How you start your morning can really shape how the rest of your day goes.
So here are five ways I start my good mornings off:
[1] QUIET TIME
Quiet the mind so deeper thoughts can emerge and guide you through your day
Quiet time means different things to different people. For some it could mean to:
♡ set intentions for the day
♡ recite affirmations
♡ pray
♡ meditate
♡ journal
♡ having a devotion;
the list goes on and on but the key theme of them all is to quiet the mind so deeper thoughts can emerge and guide you through your day. Call me crazy but when I take time to do any of the following above, I actually have a better start to my day. If you’re new to quiet time try setting a timer for 2 minutes a day this week and see how it works for you. I’m sure you’ll notice a difference.
[2] H2O
Imagine working an entire 8 hour shift without any liquids (for those who do this, I’m judging you.. you need to hydrate!)
After sleeping 6-8 hours your body will naturally become dehydrated. Imagine working an entire 8 hour shift without any liquids (for those who do this, I’m judging you.. you need to hydrate!) Drinking water in the morning is necessary because it immediately helps rehydrate the body. For me personally I like to fall asleep with a glass of ice cold water near my bed so when I wake up in the morning the cold water kind of shocks my system and helps me wake up faster.
EXERCISE
“exercising in the morning is a GAME CHANGER.”
I used to take morning exercise for granted and sometimes I still do but exercising in the morning is a GAME CHANGER. For me the hardest part has always been just getting to the gym. Waking up early and rolling out of bed feels like it should be a sin but nothing feels better than walking out of the gym before 9am knowing you don’t have to think about working out for the rest of the day. Morning gym seshs also elevate my mood by 100 and keep me upbeat with a little more energy throughout the day.
MAKE YOUR BED
He was absolutely right when he said “no matter what happens that day, you will be at peace to come home to a made bed”.
So my dad taught me this one. One day I was asking him how to be better at sales and he simply replied with “by making your bed every morning”. Now of course I have not made my bed every morning since he’s told me that buuuut I will say he was absolutely right when he said “no matter what happens that day, you will be at peace to come home to a made bed”. And that my friends, is real.
DRINK FLUIDS TO WAKE THE BRAIN UP
We already talked about drinking water, so why mention drinking more fluids? It might just be me.. but I find that when I drink coffee or green juice in the morning, my brain accelerates and I’m able to think waaaay faster than the mornings I do not have the extra liquid boost. Now, ONE THING TO GET STRAIGHT IS: the order of how to drink green juice and coffee.
Green Juice = 1st thing in the morning on an empty stomach
WHY? the way green juice is structured, your body is ready to absorb + digest all those yummy nutrients BUT, your body still needs time to absorb them. SO, if you drink coffee with or right after your green juice you’re essentially flushing out all the nutrients before your body can absorb them.
HOW SO? coffee = caffeine = diuretic = hello bathroom, bye bye nutrients
Coffee = 1 hour after waking up AND/OR 1 hour after drinking green juice
For those of us who wake and brew on an empty stomach, we’re just asking for trouble. Coffee essentially messes with our cortisol (aka hormone that helps us feel alert and awake). By drinking coffee first thing in the morning you’re replacing your body’s natural ability to wake up on it’s own and that’s where the addiction comes into play.
Now I’m no angel when it comes to getting my extra morning fluids in and sometimes I cheat my body by having coffee on an empty stomach.. but on the days I go green juice first then coffee my eyes are peeled back and I AM READY TO GO!
Remember friends, not every morning is a perfect morning but we do have control of how we start our day. Developing a morning routine and sticking to it can create so much more clarity and happiness throughout your days. Do you have your morning routine established? If so, tell me what gets you going in the morning for a great productive day.
Until next time my loves!