It honestly doesn't take more than a few easy steps to better your day!
If I had a dollar for every time I got asked “why/how are you always so happy” whether it is early morning at work/school or late at night when everyone is winding down…I would have enough to open my dream coffee shop & support my family for 10 lifetimes😂. This is a little dramatic and you might be like “umm okay” but I’m being real here and I want to share with you some things you can do every morning that help me feel great in the morning before I go about my day.
I’ve been following the same morning routine for about 3 years and I truly believe that the way we start the day has a lot to do with how we’ll feel during the rest of our day. It’s not all about using certain products and consuming certain vitamins, it’s a state of mind and it’s doing a few things each morning and the night before bed that can make all the difference. I’d love to share my thoughts/ideas on this because feeling happy and productive during the day feels incredible.
Okay, let’s get to it! Here’s what I do EVERY morning for a great day ahead. It’s the little things that add up to make us feel put together and good about ourselves. I’ve also added some links to sites where you can read more about the impact of doing these things because if I go off on each point this blog will be multiple essays long (as this blog goes, JJ talks, and I can talk hunny).
Don’t Hit Snooze
If I have an alarm for work/school, I wake up right away and don’t hit snooze! Here’s a good article from the HuffPost on Why Hitting The Snooze Button Will Screw Up Your Entire Day. Otherwise, if I'm not using an alarm clock and waking up whenever, I try not to reach for my phone as soon as I wake up because that usually wakes me up even though I might need a little bit more sleep. Otherwise, without an alarm clock, I try to lounge around in my bed long enough to do a bit of a stretch, wake up my brain, and then I get up before I start feeling lazy.
Tidy Up Your Bed
As soon as I’m up I fix my bed, leaving it tidied up feels good and leaves my room feeling put together. Here is a piece from The Spruce on 5 Reasons to Make Your Bed Every Day.
Skincare
I do my skincare, brush my teeth and then sit down to get ready (hair and makeup, if it’s that kind of day). I am not a morning shower person but if I was this is when I’d do that. I find that having a skincare routine makes me feel put together and I like knowing that I’m doing what I can to take care of my skin. Here are the the blogs I wrote where I elaborate on my morning skincare routine and nighttime skincare routine if you’re curious.
Reflect on What You Have To Do In Your Day
I do this while getting ready and I think of what I have that day and that week. However, the key is to plan this the night before and add little things to get excited about. We set our milestones, it’s necessary to set attainable (and sometimes very easy) daily goals so that we get that “yess I just did that” feeling. Here’s a great read from The Guardian on The Psychology Of The To Do List and why our brain loves ordered tasks.
Water💦
I drink a glass of water when I get to the bathroom or at my desk while getting ready because it is a great way to rehydrate (I add vitamin D to mine) and sometimes I sip on decaf tea if I have the time to make that. Hot/cold water and lemon is also a go-to for many, so choose the liquid you enjoy the most. Some say that this stimulates digestion, improves blood circulation and more! Here’s a read from USA Today on Why You Should Drink Water First Thing Every Day.
Breathe
Yes, breathing. Not the kind you’re doing now but deep breathing which can help relieve anxiety, alleviate stress, and more. I use it to clear my mind and feel better. I get comfy in my chair or on my bed and focus on the deep breaths I’m taking. As I breathe in I imagine the air filling up with calmness and when I breathe out I imagine all the stress (and there’s too much of it haha) and tension leaving.
Hold the Caffeine
I know a lot of us love caffeine (tea or coffee) and personally one of the things I look forward to the most in the mornings is making coffee or treating myself and buying some. The whole process is therapeutic, and coffee is wonderful (biased about this hehe). However, having coffee as soon as you wake up leads to your body building a tolerance to it and it diminishes its effect. Our cortisol levels are highest in the morning and caffeine tends to interfere with its production which leads to our body producing less cortisol and relying on the caffeine. Let your body do its thing and wait around 2-3 hours to have your caffeine fix. In the meantime, stick to water (or lemon water) and decaffeinated tea! Read up on this on Global News if you’d like.
I think it’s important to set goals that we work towards daily (big and small) and to have a routine that we can get into that makes us feel better. It doesn’t have to be an intensive 20 step routine; any routine is healthy and helps build habits. Routine gives structure to our life so that it makes sense to us. It helps you wake up feeling organized and ready to go! Actively working towards a daily routine instills good habits because when we decide what we want to do every day in our routine, we choose things that make us happy! We then build habits and once we have that habit we don’t have to think about it and it becomes part of our daily routine.
There are so many simple things that we can do every day that can lead to a better us 😊.
Until next time!
- Jana with a Y
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