Have you ever had trouble waking up early and getting out of bed right away?
Well, me too. I know from experience it can be hard to figure out how to handle mornings when you’re not a morning person.
That’s why I decided to share my morning routine that I crafted after many years of trial and error. It works for me, but we’re all different. So feel free to take what inspires you and leave the rest if you don’t feel like it’s for you. But most of the things I do are proved efficient and good for your health. Give it a try and let me know if it helped.
1. Switch off your alarm
This is the first step to start your day. Turn it off completely, don’t just hit snooze. If you’re using your phone as an alarm, don’t open your phone. Just turn off your alarm and set it aside.
On my Samsung phone, I have this cool feature that I use every morning. To turn off my alarm, I just have to flip my phone screen down. This allows me to not look at the screen and to be tempted to start scrolling.
You can also invest in a small digital clock with an alarm function. I bought one recently. I’ve been using it to wake up, but I still bring my phone to bed because I need it to fall asleep. I know, bad habit. I’m working to correct it.
2. Open your eyes wide
Once your alarm is off, you have to open your eyes. It seems dumb, but let’s be honest here: how many times have you fallen back asleep after switching off your alarm? That’s why you have to force yourself to open your eyes wide.
3. Start Moving
My biggest problem is that once I’m awake, I don’t want to get up right away. I usually stall time on my phone.
I thought about how I could replace that habit. I’ve been doing this a few times: while still lying down, start moving a little, only the wrists and ankles.
Now I also include a few neck warm ups to wash out the night’s stiffness. I just sit in bed and roll my head slowly a few times in each direction.
4. Think about what you will do today
While you start your first movements of the day, you can prepare mentally for what’s gonna come next.
Think about what you need to do this morning, in what order, what you’re gonna wear and what you’re gonna eat.
5. Get out of bed
Now, my friends, it’s time to get out of bed.
As I get older, I find that my bladder keeps me from staying in bed too long… so I guess I should thank my bladder. If it’s not yet your problem, good for you. Just fake a smile, sit up, and get out of bed.
If you live in a place where mornings are cold, keep warm clothes next to you so you can wear them before stepping out of your warm blanket. I know that cold weather can make it harder to be productive.
6. Splash your face with cold water
That habit can benefit you for many reasons.
First, it allows you to wash your face and eyes (please check for remaining sleep crumbs).
Then, the cold water can help you feel more awake.
Lastly, it is scientifically proven that splashing your face with cold water (or taking a full cold shower) triggers dopamine release, the slow kind of dopamine, aka the good kind. It can make you more motivated to keep completing tasks early in the day.
7. Drink water and take your medicine
After a full night of sleep (hopefully), your body needs water. Water that body down like it’s a wilting flower.
If you take vitamins or other medicine in the morning, you can take it now to make it a habit. If it’s something you have to take while or after eating, you will have to wait for breakfast.
8. Do some stretching or work out
Again, this is good dopamine and helps you feel more awake.
But personally, I didn’t start morning stretching because of dopamine. I started it when I was still living in my parents’ house. I was consistently waking up with back pain. Some light morning stretches did wonders for me. Now, as I’m nearing my thirties, I noticed I tend to wake up with random body pain sometimes, so stretching it out is a must.
If you’re feeling too lazy, all you need is a child pose, sideway stretches in child pose, a couple of cat-cows, and some low lunges with side arm stretching. It will take you 5 min and it will make a big difference, trust me. You can try this 5-min stretching routine on Fit On for free.
Bonus points if you make sure to breathe slowly and move in synch with your breathing, that is so relaxing.
Doing something relaxing in the morning is important because cortisol (the stress hormone) peaks when we wake up. If you’re someone prone to anxiety like I am, take some time to relax first.
If you feel like it, you can even do a full workout. Just be sure to have enough time to shower after that.
9. Put away the clean dishes from the day before
When you’re done stretching and/or working out, you can now invade your kitchen.
While your coffee water is boiling or your eggs are cooking, take 5 min to put away the clean dishes from yesterday night to start the day with a mess-free kitchen.
10. Eat your breakfast
You’ve earned it. Take time to eat something nutritious.
My go-to breakfast is usually a hot chocolate or coffee and a few peanut butter toasts. I use whole wheat bread and peanut butter with no added sugar.
If you’re not hungry in the mornings (I used to be like that), hopefully, everything you’ve done before will have made you hungry. But if you still don’t feel like eating, get dressed first, do your makeup or skincare, prepare your bag or work for the day, and come back when you’re hungry.
Don’t just skip breakfast.
When you’re done with those steps, you need to add some time to brush your teeth, get dressed, do makeup/skincare, do something with your hair if you need to, make sure you have everything you need in your bag, feed your pets and leave the house. All of this should take you from 1h to 1h30.
I like this routine because it’s the absolute bare minimum but it’s still packed with healthy habits. And it’s actually doable, even on low-energy days.
Every person is different, and so will be their morning routines. The key is to find what works for you. Analyze what a typical morning looks like for you now. What is the biggest obstacle to your waking up and feeling good? How can you bypass that obstacle make it easier for yourself? Give yourself time to figure it out, it doesn’t happen in a day.
If you already have your own morning tricks figured out, I’d love to hear it and learn from you. You can drop a comment or subscribe to my newsletter and email me back.
I’ll see you in the next one!