Tips for a Better Morning

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am not a morning person. At all. So don’t mistake this “tips for a better morning” post as me having glorious mornings where I wake up peacefully at 6 am, spring gracefully out of bed and start my day with light and love because well, that is not how my mornings go down at all. I’m a HUGE fan of the snooze button and will basically stay in bed until the last possible second.

However, as an avid hater of mornings, I have become pretty good at lessening the pain of waking up in the morning. In fact, my mornings are (slowly) becoming one of my favorite parts of the day (behind my night-time routine and my time at the gym).

So here are my tips!

Find a routine & stick to it

We really are creatures of habit. If you can get into a routine, where you are going to bed and waking up around the same time every day, your body will get used to this and you will have an easier time falling asleep and waking up.

Set your alarm across the room 

It is soooo easy in the morning to roll over, hit the snooze button, and go back to sleep. Or even worse, turn your alarms off completely and go back to sleep (I’ve totally done that countless times). Setting your alarm across the room makes you have to get up out of bed to turn that annoying beeping noise off and hey, then you’re up.

Drink water

I have a 24oz wide mouth Nalgene water bottle with an On The Fly top that I fill up at night and leave on my nightstand.  Drinking water is the first thing I do after turning off my alarm. When you wake up in the morning your body is in starvation mode from fasting all night, but is dehydrate as well. Hydrating first thing in the morning helps jumpstart your metabolism and your digestive system. It also helps the body remove toxins and improves overall body function throughout the day.

Five-minute journaling 

I’ve started journaling in the morning. After turning off my alarm and drinking water, I grab my journal and fill out 3 things that I am grateful for, 3 things that would make that day great, and a daily affirmation. I follow the format of the Five Minute Journal, which I heard about from Mimi Ikonn.  The Five Minute Journal conditions you over time to really focus on the positive and not dwell on the negative. There’s a morning section and a night section. Its a nice way to start and end the day. Sometimes I forget to do it in the morning, and if that happens I’ll just fill out both sections before bed that night.

Good tunes 

In the morning, I am usually jamming out to some old jazz. I’m talking Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, gaaahhh. I love it. It makes me happy. Go listen to some jazz right now.  Here’s a link to my jazz playlist on Spotify.

But, okay honestly, whatever music puts you in a good mood, listen to that in the morning. It sets your day off in the right direction.

Let the sunlight come in

If its still pitch black in my room at 9 am, I’m not waking up. And if by some stroke of magic I am waking up, I can promise you that I’m not happy about it. The light in the morning sends a signal to your brain saying that its time to stop sleeping, just like the darkness at night tells it that its time to start. If light isn’t coming into your room in the morning then your brain doesn’t get the signal that it’s time to wake up, which leaves you feeling groggy and tired when you finally do wake up. I have blackout curtains, which are awesome at blocking out any artificial light coming into my room at night, but can turn my room into a cave during the day. So I have to leave them open a crack so that when the sun rises in the morning the light shines in and wakes me up. When I get out of bed in the morning, after journaling,  drinking water, and turning my music on, I will open my curtains and, if its nice out, I’ll open my windows. The fresh air helps me wake up in the morning and also helps put me in a better mood.

Make your bed

That awkward moment when your mom is right lol.

Seriously though, shout out to moms everywhere because making your bed is a great way to start the day. Making your bed in the morning not only makes your room look clean and nice, but it has been shown to increase productivity throughout the day. Its a simple task that makes you feel accomplished early on. It starts your day with an easy check off of your to-do list and motivates you to continue being productive during the rest of the day. So make your mom proud and make your bed. 😉

Healthy breakfast

You’ve heard this before, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day and blah blah blah”.

Buuuuut it really is. It sets the tone for how well you’re going to eat and feel for the rest of the day. My worst days, where I feel the most sluggish and lethargic are the days that I either skipped breakfast or had something sugary and processed. So put something nutritious into your body in the morning. It makes for a much better day and also gets your metabolism moving, which can encourage weight loss. 

I hope these tips help your mornings suck a little less or if you’re a morning person, I hope these tips make your mornings more awesome than they already are 🙂

Always,